1965 Minnesota Twins season

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1965  Minnesota Twins
American League champions
League American League
Ballpark Metropolitan Stadium
City Bloomington, Minnesota
Record102–60 (.630)
Divisional place1st
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)
  1964 Seasons 1966  

The 1965 Minnesota Twins season was the 5th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 5th season at Metropolitan Stadium and the 65th overall in the American League.

Contents

The 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

American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 10260.63051305130
Chicago White Sox 9567.586748334734
Baltimore Orioles 9468.580846334835
Detroit Tigers 8973.5491347344239
Cleveland Indians 8775.5371552303545
New York Yankees 7785.4752540433742
Los Angeles / California Angels 7587.4632746342953
Washington Senators 7092.4323236453447
Boston Red Sox 62100.3834034472853
Kansas City Athletics 59103.3644333482655

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamBALBOSCWSCLEDETKCALAAMINNYYWSH
Baltimore 11–79–910–811–711–713–58–1013–58–10
Boston 7–114–148–106–1211–75–131–179–911–7
Chicago 9–914–410–89–913–512–67–118–1013–5
Cleveland 8–1010–88–109–99–99–911–712–611–7
Detroit 7–1112–69–99–913–510–88–1010–811–7
Kansas City 7–117–115–139–95–135–138–107–116–12
Los Angeles / California 5–1313–56–129–98–1013–59–96–126–12
Minnesota 10–817–111–77–1110–810–89–913–515–3
New York 5–139–910–86–128–1011–712–65–1311–7
Washington 10–87–115–137–117–1112–612–63–157–11

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

Notable transactions

Roster

1965 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PosPlayerGABRH2B3BAvg.HRRBI
C Earl Battey 13139436117222.297660
1B Don Mincher 1283464387173.2512265
2B Jerry Kindall 1253424167121.196636
3B Rich Rollins 14046959117221.249532
SS Zoilo Versalles 1606661261824512.2852086
LF Bob Allison 13543871102145.2332378
CF Jimmie Hall 14852281149254.2731977
RF Tony Oliva 149576107185405.3211698

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Harmon Killebrew 113401108.2692575
Sandy Valdespino 10824564.261122
Joe Nossek 8717037.218216
Jerry Zimmerman 8315433.214111
Frank Quilici 5614931.20807
Andy Kosco 235513.23616
Bernie Allen 19399.23106
Frank Kostro 20315.16101
César Tovar 18255.20002
Ted Uhlaender 13224.18201
John Sevcik 12161.06300
Rich Reese 1472.28600

Pitching

= Indicates league leader

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Mudcat Grant 41270.12173.30142
Jim Kaat 45264.118112.83154
Jim Perry 36167.21272.6388
Camilo Pascual 27156.0933.3596

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dave Boswell 27106.0653.4085
Jim Merritt 1676.2543.1761
Dick Stigman 3370.0424.3770
Dwight Siebler 715.0004.2015

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Al Worthington 62107212.1359
Johnny Klippstein 569352.2459
Bill Pleis 414442.9833
Jerry Fosnow 293324.4435
Mel Nelson 280434.1231
Garry Roggenburk 121023.436
Pete Cimino 10000.000

1965 World Series

Awards and honors

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
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

  1. "Kansas City Athletics vs Minnesota Twins Box Score: September 20, 1965". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  2. 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
  3. Del Unser at Baseball Reference
  4. Graig Nettles at Baseball Reference

References