# 1965 Minnesota Twins season

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.
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).

### 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. Kaat won the Gold Glove for pitchers.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 51‍–‍30 |
| Chicago White Sox | 95 | 67 | .586 | 7 | 48‍–‍33 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 94 | 68 | .580 | 8 | 46‍–‍33 | 48‍–‍35 |
| Detroit Tigers | 89 | 73 | .549 | 13 | 47‍–‍34 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Cleveland Indians | 87 | 75 | .537 | 15 | 52‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍45 |
| New York Yankees | 77 | 85 | .475 | 25 | 40‍–‍43 | 37‍–‍42 |
| Los Angeles/California Angels | 75 | 87 | .463 | 27 | 46‍–‍34 | 29‍–‍53 |
| Washington Senators | 70 | 92 | .432 | 32 | 36‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Boston Red Sox | 62 | 100 | .383 | 40 | 34‍–‍47 | 28‍–‍53 |
| Kansas City Athletics | 59 | 103 | .364 | 43 | 33‍–‍48 | 26‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1965 American League recordvte Sources: :
| 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.
** Graig Nettles was drafted by the Twins in the 4th round.

### Roster
## 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 |

## 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