1965 Minnesota Twins season

1965 Minnesota Twins
1965 Minnesota Twins
American League Champions
League	American League
Ballpark	Metropolitan Stadium
City	Bloomington, Minnesota
Owners	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managers	Calvin Griffith
Managers	Sam Mele
Television	WTCN-TV
Radio	830 WCCO AM; (Ray Scott, Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall)

The 1965 Minnesota Twins won the 1965 American League pennant with a 102–60 record. It was the team's first pennant since moving to Minnesota, and the 102 wins is a team record.

Regular season

On April 27, in addition to being the game's winning pitcher, Camilo Pascual hit a grand slam in the first inning – the second of his career. The Detroit Tigers' Dizzy Trout is the only pitcher to have done that before.

The Twins spent much of the summer in a race for first with the Baltimore Orioles. On July 1, however, the Twins took first place and kept it, ultimately winning the pennant by seven games.

Six Twins made the All-Star Game (which was played in the Twins' home park, Metropolitan Stadium). First baseman Harmon Killebrew, shortstop Zoilo Versalles, outfielders Tony Oliva and Jimmie Hall, catcher Earl Battey, and pitcher Mudcat Grant all appeared in the game.

On September 26 at D.C. Stadium in Washington, D.C. – the city the Twins franchise called home until 1961 — the Twins beat the Washington Senators 2–1 to clinch the pennant. Jim Kaat was the winning pitcher.

Overall, 1,463,258 fans attended Twins games, the highest total in the American League. During the season, the Twins played in front of their largest crowd ever (71,245 at Yankee Stadium on June 20) and their smallest crowd ever (537 at home, September 20).^[1]

Offense

Versalles was named AL Most Valuable Player. He also led the team with 126 runs scored, and won a Gold Glove Award for his play at shortstop. Oliva led the AL with a .321 batting average. Killebrew was limited to 113 games by injuries, but still hit 25 HR and 75 RBI.

Pitching

Grant led the league with 21 wins, becoming the first black pitcher in the history of the American League to win 20 games in a season.^[2] Kaat won the Gold Glove for pitchers.

Season standings

v t e American League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	102	60	0.630	—	51–30	51–30
Chicago White Sox	95	67	0.586	7	48–33	47–34
Baltimore Orioles	94	68	0.580	8	46–33	48–35
Detroit Tigers	89	73	0.549	13	47–34	42–39
Cleveland Indians	87	75	0.537	15	52–30	35–45
New York Yankees	77	85	0.475	25	40–43	37–42
Los Angeles/California Angels	75	87	0.463	27	46–34	29–53
Washington Senators	70	92	0.432	32	36–45	34–47
Boston Red Sox	62	100	0.383	40	34–47	28–53
Kansas City Athletics	59	103	0.364	43	33–48	26–55

Record vs. opponents

1965 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	LAA/ CAL	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–7	9–9	10–8	11–7	11–7	13–5	8–10	13–5	8–10
Boston	7–11	—	4–14	8–10	6–12	11–7	5–13	1–17	9–9	11–7
Chicago	9–9	14–4	—	10–8	9–9	13–5	12–6	7–11	8–10	13–5
Cleveland	8–10	10–8	8–10	—	9–9	9–9	9–9	11–7	12–6	11–7
Detroit	7–11	12–6	9–9	9–9	—	13–5	10–8	8–10	10–8	11–7
Kansas City	7–11	7–11	5–13	9–9	5–13	—	5–13	8–10	7–11	6–12
Los Angeles/California	5–13	13–5	6–12	9–9	8–10	13–5	—	9–9	6–12	6–12
Minnesota	10–8	17–1	11–7	7–11	10–8	10–8	9–9	—	13–5	15–3
New York	5–13	9–9	10–8	6–12	8–10	11–7	12–6	5–13	—	11–7
Washington	10–8	7–11	5–13	7–11	7–11	12–6	12–6	3–15	7–11	—

NOTE: The Los Angeles Angels changed their name to California Angels on September 2, 1965, with the season in progress.

Notable transactions

June 8, 1965: 1965 Major League Baseball draft
- Del Unser was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round, but did not sign.^[3]
- Graig Nettles was drafted by the Twins in the 4th round.^[4]

Roster

1965 Minnesota Twins

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

14 Sam Mele

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Earl Battey	131	394	117	.297	6	60
1B	Don Mincher	128	346	87	.251	22	65
2B	Jerry Kindall	125	342	67	.196	6	36
3B	Rich Rollins	140	469	117	.249	5	32
SS	Zoilo Versalles	148	522	149	.285	20	86
LF	Bob Allison	135	438	102	.233	23	78
CF	Jimmie Hall	160	666	182	.273	19	77
RF	Tony Oliva	149	576	185	.321	16	98

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Harmon Killebrew	113	401	108	.269	25	75
Sandy Valdespino	108	245	64	.261	1	22
Joe Nossek	87	170	37	.218	2	16
Jerry Zimmerman	83	154	33	.214	1	11
Frank Quilici	56	149	31	.208	0	7
Andy Kosco	23	55	13	.236	1	6
Bernie Allen	19	39	9	.231	0	6
Frank Kostro	20	31	5	.161	0	1
César Tovar	18	25	5	.200	0	2
Ted Uhlaender	13	22	4	.182	0	1
John Sevcik	12	16	1	.063	0	0
Rich Reese	14	7	2	.286	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mudcat Grant	41	270.1	21	7	3.30	142
Jim Kaat	45	264.1	18	11	2.83	154
Jim Perry	36	167.2	12	7	2.63	88
Camilo Pascual	27	156.0	9	3	3.35	96

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dave Boswell	27	106.0	6	5	3.40	85
Jim Merritt	16	76.2	5	4	3.17	61
Dick Stigman	33	70.0	4	2	4.37	70
Dwight Siebler	7	15.0	0	0	4.20	15

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Al Worthington	62	10	7	21	2.13	59
Johnny Klippstein	56	9	3	5	2.24	59
Bill Pleis	41	4	4	4	2.98	33
Jerry Fosnow	29	3	3	2	4.44	35
Mel Nelson	28	0	4	3	4.12	31
Garry Roggenburk	12	1	0	2	3.43	6
Pete Cimino	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

1965 World Series

Awards and honors

Zoilo Versalles, Shortstop, American League MVP
Sam Mele, Associated Press AL Manager of the Year

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	Pacific Coast League	Cal Ermer
AA	Charlotte Hornets	Southern League	Al Evans
A	Wilson Tobs	Carolina League	Vern Morgan
A	Orlando Twins	Florida State League	Harry Warner
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Ray Bellino and Pete Appleton
A	Thomasville Hi-Toms	Western Carolinas League	Ralph Rowe
A-Short Season	St. Cloud Rox	Northern League	Jim Rantz
Rookie	FRL Twins	Florida Rookie League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Cloud

Notes

^ "Kansas City Athletics vs Minnesota Twins Box Score: September 20, 1965". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 198, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
^ Del Unser at Baseball Reference
^ Graig Nettles at Baseball Reference