Norm Sherry was the oldest brother to Dodger reliever Larry Sherry, and shares the honor of being the first pitching/catcher Jewish sibling battery in the game. He was principally a backup catcher for the Dodgers; behind John Roseboro.
His claim to Dodger fame is that he is often credited with helping transform Sandy Koufax into a future Hall of Famer. As the story goes, he suggested to Koufax that he should ease off on his fastball in order to gain more control of the pitch. At the time, Sandy was still wild and erratic before finally being able to dial it all into a complete package.
BTW, the Sherry brothers and Koufax were very close friends, and often hang out together on the road. From a SABR biography written by Ralph Berger:
One time in Philadelphia, Sandy wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant so they hopped into a cab and went to a restaurant, but Sandy said no to eating at this restaurant. Three more restaurants were visited before Koufax said OK. Larry Sherry asked Koufax, "What's the big difference?" Sandy replied. "If you go to a Chinese restaurant it has to have an awning. This one has an awning so it must be good." The two Sherry brothers from Southern California looked at each other, not comprehending that Sandy, a New Yorker, always looked for Chinese restaurants with awnings for that was what all Chinese restaurants in New York had.Below are complete scans of every page from Norm Sherry's 1961 Union Oil Dodger Family Booklet. Click any pic to embiggen.
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