This week in 2026, Woody and Buzz are trending words, as Toy Story 5 is now playing in movie theaters across America.
But I’ve just returned from a virtual trip to 1966, where believe it or not, Woody and Buzz are also trending.
No, I don’t mean the beloved characters played by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. I’m telling you there’s a different Woody and Buzz that have gripped America this week in 1966.
Now I take you back to 1966 to learn about Woody and Buzz in two short stories I’ve just filed.
BUZZ
Dodgers Stadium - July 2, 1966
Buzz is the term. It’s the singular way to describe how the nation is enthralled with Sandy Koufax. Koufax finished the month of June with a 14 - 2 record and a 1.56 ERA, putting him a full week ahead of Dizzy Dean’s 30 win pace. And with at least 22 more starts this season (Koufax pitches ever 4th day) Sandy’s clearly on track for 30 wins. And that’s a number no pitcher in the majors has reached since Dizzy did it with Gas House Gang in 1934.
Accordingly, Koufax’s last 4 starts on the road have drawn capacity or near capacity crowds in New York, San Francisco, Houston, and Atlanta.
Needless to say I was incredibly excited to embark on my virtual trip this morning to read the accounts of Koufax’s latest start last night at Dodger Stadium against the Cardinals.
It was a perfect evening, with the 8pm PT game time temperature at about 70 degrees and the last two World Series champions facing off.
Koufax thrilled the 38,410 fans by striking out Lou Brock to open the game, and then getting the 2nd batter, Phil Gagliano looking for K number 2. Then Curt Flood flew out to Willie Davis in center for a 1-2-3 inning against the 1964 World Series champs.
Koufax pitched to the minimum number of batters through 4 innings, courtesy of double plays in the 2nd and 4th innings that were both started by Dodgers 2nd baseman John Kennedy (that’s really his name!).
Through 6 innings it was still a 0 - 0 game. Koufax had given up just 3 hits, and the Cardinal’s Al Jackson had nearly matched Koufax allowing just 4.
Then in the top of the 7th, Koufax gave up a 1 out single to Orlando Cepeda. Mike Shannon came to the plate next for the Cardinals. Shannon was hitting just .222. Koufax had walked Shannon in the 5th, and here in the 7th, when the count reached 3 and 1, Koufax didn’t want to walk Shannon again. So Koufax served Shannon a fastball right down the middle. It made sense because Shannon was hitless against Koufax since 1964.
Shannon told George Lederer of the Long Beach Press-Telegram that Koufax, “worked fast balls in and out to me all night and I finally got one I could hit.”
Hit it he did!
The ball landed in the left field pavilion for a 2-run homer.
Frank Finch in the Los Angeles Times quoted Koufax about the pitch to Shannon after the game, “Shannon hit a good pitch, a fast ball... I didn’t want to walk him and put a runner in scoring position, so I had to try and blow one by him.”
After the homer, Koufax went back to business and retired the next 2 Cardinals. And in the 8th, he had another 1-2-3 inning capped by his 3rd strikeout of Lou Brock.
But the Dodgers still hadn’t scored. And in the bottom of the 8th, manager Walt Alston had to take Sandy out for a pinch hitter, making this just the 5th time in 19 starts this year that Koufax didn’t pitch a complete game.
However, the Dodgers never did score and Al Jackson recorded a 6-hit shutout to beat Sandy Koufax.
Koufax’s record dropped to 14 - 3. Yet, he is still a week ahead of Dizzy Dean’s 30 win pace.
Koufax had pitched a great game. He had allowed 5 hits, yet only 2 of them were well struck balls, the home run by Shannon and the single to Cepeda. And Sandy had only walked one batter - Shannon, while striking out 10. If the Dodgers had provided decent run support this likely would have been another complete game win for Koufax.
In his 3 losses this season, the Dodgers have scored a grand total of just 1 run with game scores of 3 - 1, 3 - 0, and last night’s 2 - 0. With better run support, Koufax, could be 17 - 0, a start to the season only achieved by Rube Marquard, who won his first 19 games of the 1912 season for the Giants.
Koufax is slated to pitch again on July 5th at home against the Reds. The Sports Time Traveler will be there virtually and baseball fans across America will be eagerly awaiting their newspapers on July 6th to see if Koufax wins his 15th. There is definitely a buzz in the baseball world here in 1966.
WOODY
Shea Stadium - July 2, 1966
Woody is Woody Fryman, a promising rookie pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was not a household name coming into last night’s game at Shea Stadium against the Mets. In fact, many Pirates fans were likely still unfamiliar with him despite the fact that in his last outing he shutout the Phillies in Connie Mack Stadium on just 3 hits and zero walks, facing only 29 batters, as one baserunner was thrown out stealing.
Woody’s time in obscurity was about to come to an end.
Woody was pitching in New York City for the very first time.
In the top of the 1st inning, Mets’ starter Jack Fisher took down the Pirates in order. That was no small feat. This Pittsburgh team is the best hitting team in baseball here in 1966. Pirates’ batters quite incredibly hold the top 4 spots in the National League batting race at this time, including Matty Alou who grounded out leading off, and Roberto Clemente who Fisher struck out to retire the side.
These are not the hapless Mets of 1962. Now in the franchise’s 5th season they’re almost competitive. They have the same winning percentage so far this season as the 2026 Mets. And they’re not even in last place (their usual position the past 4 seasons), as they are 7 games ahead of the Cubs who are currently in the National League cellar.
In the bottom of the 1st, Woody Fryman took the mound at Shea for the 1st time. The very first batter he faced, Ron Hunt, hit a bouncer up the middle.
Lester J. Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press wrote that the shortstop, “Gene Alley took a few steps to his left and tried to scoop the ball behind second base but it took a bad hop and skidded off his glove.”
Second base umpire Augie Donatelli agreed. As the closest observer to the play, he told Biederman, “The ball took a bad hop.”
Alley told Biederman after the game that he didn’t get a good hold on the ball, adding, “If I could have come up with it cleanly, I would have had a chance to make the play.”
Ron Hunt had evaded a ground out and was safe at 1st base with an infield single.
But the Pirates quickly settled the account. Hunt was wiped off the bases when he tried to steal second and was cannoned down by Pirates’ catcher Jim Pagliaroni.
Fryman then proceeded to get Eddie Bressoud to strikeout looking and got Ken Boyer on a grounder to 3rd baseman Jose Pagan.
In the 2nd, the Pirates put up a run when Bill Mazeroski singled home Willie Stargell, while Fryman got the Mets in order.
In the 3rd, Pagan hit a 2-run homer for Pittsburgh, and Fryman again got the Mets in order again.
The 4th, and 5th innings were quiet for both clubs.
In the 6th, Fryman struck out the side. He now had 6Ks and only one hit allowed in 6 innings of work and the Pirates held a 3 - 0 lead.
The top of the 7th was a slugfest for the Pirates. They scored 6 runs capped by a 2-run homer for Maz. The Pirates now led 9 - 0.
In the bottom of the 7th, Fryman got the first 2 batters out on fly balls and then struck out Chuck Hiller for his 7th K.
The Pirates went deep 2 more times in the 8th with blasts by Willie Stargell and Donn Clendenon that extended the lead to a dozen at 12 - 0.
The Mets went down again in order in the 8th, with Fryman whiffing Cleon Jones to pick up his 8th strikeout.
Both sides went down quickly in the 9th without anyone reaching base, and the game was in the books.
Woody Fryman had pitched a 1-hit shutout in his first ever game in New York as the Pirates defeated the Mets 12 - 0.
Not Simply a 1-Hitter
But this was no ordinary 1-hitter. Woody had pitched to the minimum number of batters - 27.
After Hunt singled and was subsequently out at 2nd base on the steal attempt, Fryman retired the next 26 batters.
Biederman celebrated the game in the Pittsburgh Press with this headline:
And he noted in the article, “Fryman came as close to a perfect game as humanly possible.”
Woody also made the front page of the Pittsburgh Press as this mention appeared in middle of column 3:
Joe Trimble of the New York Daily News noted that across Woody’s last 2 starts, he has not only thrown consecutive shutouts, but he has only face 56 batters. Trimble made light of the fact that even Johnny Vander Meer, in his celebrated double no-hitters in 1938, pitched to more than 56 batters.
Trimble then wrote this about Woody to his New York readership, “Fryman now is 6 - 3 and could be for real.”
In Newsday, Bob Rubin quoted Mets’ manager Wes Westrum praising Woody, “Tonight he threw as hard as any left-hander I’ve seen in this league. And he threw strikes.” That’s a remarkable statement considering the National League includes a lefty pitcher named Sandy Koufax.
After the game, Woody Fryman, who perhaps never received national attention before, was suddenly a big name.
The next day, on July 3, 1966, the Nashville Tennesean’s leading sports columnist, Raymond Johnson, made Fryman the lead subject of his piece, opening with this, “One errant first-inning pitch Friday night prevented Woody Fryman was having a no-hitter and probably a perfect game.”
The Boston Globe ran a story on Fryman with a banner headline in an article by Bob Sales:
Bob Sales starts the article in comical fashion, “Woody Fryman can’t be for real. Ring Lardner must have made him up.”
The article makes light of Fryman’s roots as a tobacco farmer who had previously passed up pro baseball for life on the family farm.
Mike Rathet of the AP wrote, “It was a bad night for Sandy Koufax… Woody Fryman stole his thunder.”
And so, Woody and Buzz are the big terms this week in 1966, just as they are in 2026. It’s just not the same Woody and a very different Buzz.
NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler
After returning to 2026, I learned that in 2019, Retrosheet published a paper in which they coined the term “IMPERFECT PERFECTO” to describe games like Woody Fryman’s July 1, 1966 masterpiece.
An Imperfect Perfecto is a game in which the pitcher only faces the minimum batters, but does not pitch a perfect game.
Retrosheet identified for 82 Imperfect Perfecto games through 2019, including Woody’s 1966 game.
But in my research it appears that there is only one other instance in which a pitcher did what Woody did on July 1, 1966, in allowing the first batter to get on base and promptly getting him off the basepaths before the next batter was out, and then retiring the next 26 consecutive batters.
That one other instance of this feat belongs to the immortal Cy Young. Yes, the man who the pitcher of the year award is named after.
On June 30, 1908 Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox gave up a walk to the 1st New York Highlanders batter he faced at Hilltop Park in New York. The batter, Harry Niles was thrown out trying to steal 2nd. And Young retired the next 26 Highlanders. It was a no-hitter for Young.
The only difference between Cy Young and Woody Fryman’s Imperfect Perfectos was that Young actually threw a no-hitter, whereas Fryman gave up the one infield hit.
As a result, Woody Fryman’s game is unique in baseball history. It is the only Imperfect Perfecto in which the 1st batter got on base with a single, was out stealing second, and the next 26 batters went down consecutively.
ANOTHER RECORD
I also researched the 56 batters faced across 2 consecutive shutouts. This was only reported on in 1966 by Joe Trimble of the New York Daily News. What Trimble did not know was that Woody Fryman had tied a major league record. Only one other pitcher in history, Don Newcombe in, May, 1949, ever recorded the same feat of facing 56 batters across 2 consecutive shutouts.
These historical points were not fully grasped back in 1966.
As The Sports Time Traveler it’s these “discoveries” that get me so excited about my virtual journeys back in time.
Loved your article in Buzz and Woody. Wishing the Pirates will return to greatness!