On June 30, 1962 Sandy Koufax pitched his first career no-hitter against the new expansion Mets at Dodger Stadium. Koufax struck out 13 batters, including the first three batters of the game on 9 pitches―none of them able to make contact with the baseball. He completed the game despite a growing numbness in the index finger of his pitching hand. The numbness was caused by a freak injury he sustained while batting against Pittsburgh right-hander Earl Francis on April 28. Jammed by an inside fastball, the nob of the bat handle was driven into the palm of his pitching hand. A severe contusion developed into a blood clot that eventually cut off the circulation in the hand and nearly cost him his index finger. By July 17 the pain was so severe that had to be shut down with a record of 14-5 and the team in first place. The loss of Koufax would be catastrophic for the Dodgers. With their best team since moving to the West Coast, they held on to first for another 75 days until the Giants caught them on the final day of the season to force another ill-fated playoff―a heartbreaking repeat of 1951.
This story is told in the book, Finding the Left Arm of God: Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1960-1963 https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Left-Arm-God-1960-1963/dp/0786474157/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Los Angeles Dodgers History in the Koufax Era 