Chris Krug, the former Chicago Cubs catcher who played a pivotal role in Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965, passed away on Jan. 16 in Wildomar, Calif. He was 86 years old.
The passing was confirmed by his daughter, Chrisann Burull, of Riverside, Calif.
Krug had a somewhat overlooked but significant role on the historic night at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 9, 1965, when Koufax became the first lefty in modern history to pitch a perfect game. Koufax was locked in a scoreless duel with Cubs left-hander Bob Hendley when, in the bottom of the fifth inning, Dodgers outfielder Lou Johnson walked, then was sacrificed to second. As Johnson stole third and slid hard into Cubs third baseman Ron Santo, Krug’s throw sailed into left field and allowed Johnson to score what would be the only run in Koufax and the Dodgers’ 1-0 victory.
“I never should have thrown it,” Krug recalled in a 1990 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Lou had it beat.”
“I don’t know if he ever really accepted the fact that he overthrew Ron,” laughed Burull in a phone interview with MLB.com on Feb. 25. “Even though he got the error, he was proud to be part of that history. And when he talked about Sandy, he would always say what a nice, nice man he is.”
Krug actually had a chance at redemption in the top of the ninth. He was the first batter of the inning, with Koufax three outs away from the perfect game.
“I wasn’t thinking anything about the perfect game,” Krug told MLB.com in a 2025 interview. “I was just thinking about being a hitter.”
“My first at-bat was a line drive to center, and they said if I pulled it, it would have been a double,” Krug recalled. “The second time I grounded to [shortstop Maury Wills], and he threw the ball in the dirt at first base and Wes Parker dug it out.”
“And you know what happened in the ninth,” he added with a chuckle.
Krug worked a seven-pitch at-bat before striking out. Two outs later, Koufax completed his perfect game.
“I can still see that third strike,” Krug said. “How in the heck did I miss it? I saw it all the way, it was a strike low and in, and that was my strength. I just missed it.”
Krug relived the moment every time he heard the replay of Vin Scully’s famous ninth-inning call.
“I have no choice,” he laughed. “It comes on all the time!”
Krug’s 11-year professional career included parts of two Major League seasons with the Cubs (1965-66) and one with the San Diego Padres (1969). The first of 14 Major Leaguers who attended Riverside Polytechnic High School, he is a member of the Riverside Athletic Hall of Fame.
Krug was an assistant coach under Hall of Fame head coach Gary Adams at UCLA from 1979-84. But it was during a two-year stint (1977-78) as manager with the New York Mets’ Single-A affiliate in Little Falls, N.Y., that he found his true calling.
“He took it upon himself to manage and groom the field there, and it was the best-looking field in the league,” Burull said proudly.
After his coaching days, Krug took that passion and started Athletic Turfs, Inc., a company that built and installed turf for baseball fields. He worked on many fields big and small in Southern California, including Angel Stadium. His company’s claim to fame, however, was installing the turf in Dyersville, Iowa, during production of the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams.”
As they say in the film, “If you build it, he will come.”
Chris Krug was the man who built it.