COLUMBIA, MO. • Growing up in Ripon, Calif., just east of the Bay Area, Fred Corral spent many days tagging along with his mother at the convalescent home where she worked. Fred treasured visiting with countless folks he’d call his adopted grandparents, listening carefully to their stories about baseball, especially the Los Angeles Dodgers and especially a certain lefthanded pitcher whose legend captivated the child.
Koufax retired in 1966, long before Corral could watch him uncork a fastball. But after his own college pitching career — Corral was an All-Pac-10 lefthander at Cal-Berkeley — he later crossed paths with southpaw royalty.