# 1965 New York Yankees season

The 1965 New York Yankees season was the 63rd season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 77–85, finishing 25 games behind the Minnesota Twins. New York was managed by Johnny Keane.
This season marked the beginning of a downturn for the Yankees before a resurgence in the mid-1970s. This was the first season since 1925 that they failed to finish either above the .500 mark or in the first division. They would finish last in 1966, their first time doing so since 1912.

## Offseason

* October 21, 1964: Ralph Terry was sent by the Yankees to the Cleveland Indians to partially complete an earlier deal (the Yankees sent players to be named later and $75,000 to the Indians for Pedro Ramos) made on September 5, 1964. The Yankees sent Bud Daley to the Indians on November 27 to complete the trade.
* November 30, 1964: Ellie Rodríguez was drafted by the Yankees from the Kansas City Athletics in the 1964 first-year draft.
* November 30, 1964: Duke Carmel was drafted by the Yankees from the New York Mets in the 1964 rule 5 draft.
* Prior to 1965 season: Al Closter was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.

### First game in the Astrodome

* April 9, 1965: The Houston Colt .45s became the Houston Astros and inaugurated indoor baseball in the Astrodome with a 2–1 exhibition win over the Yankees. In this game, Mickey Mantle hit the first home run in the history of the Astrodome.

## Regular season

Bobby Murcer made his major league debut on September 8. He recorded his first hit on September 14, it was a two-run home run off Senators pitcher Jim Duckworth.
On October 3, Tony Kubek hit a home run in the last at-bat of his career.

### 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

* May 3, 1965: Johnny Blanchard and Rollie Sheldon were traded by the Yankees to the Kansas City Athletics for Doc Edwards.
* June 8, 1965: 1965 Major League Baseball draft
** Bill Burbach was drafted by the Yankees in the 1st round (19th pick).
** Tom Shopay was drafted by the Yankees in the 34th round.

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 | Elston Howard | 110 | 391 | 91 | .233 | 9 | 45 |
| 1B | Joe Pepitone | 143 | 531 | 131 | .247 | 18 | 62 |
| 2B | Bobby Richardson | 160 | 664 | 164 | .247 | 6 | 47 |
| 3B | Clete Boyer | 148 | 514 | 129 | .251 | 18 | 58 |
| SS | Tony Kubek | 109 | 339 | 74 | .218 | 5 | 35 |
| LF | Mickey Mantle | 122 | 361 | 92 | .255 | 19 | 46 |
| CF | Tom Tresh | 156 | 602 | 168 | .279 | 26 | 74 |
| RF | Héctor López | 111 | 283 | 74 | .261 | 7 | 39 |

#### 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 |
| Phil Linz | 99 | 285 | 59 | .207 | 2 | 16 |
| Roger Repoz | 79 | 218 | 48 | .220 | 12 | 28 |
| Ray Barker | 98 | 205 | 52 | .254 | 7 | 31 |
| Roger Maris | 46 | 155 | 37 | .239 | 8 | 27 |
| Horace Clarke | 51 | 108 | 28 | .259 | 1 | 9 |
| Doc Edwards | 45 | 100 | 19 | .190 | 1 | 9 |
| Jake Gibbs | 37 | 68 | 15 | .221 | 2 | 7 |
| Art López | 38 | 49 | 7 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Roy White | 14 | 42 | 14 | .333 | 0 | 3 |
| Bob Schmidt | 20 | 40 | 10 | .250 | 1 | 3 |
| Bobby Murcer | 11 | 37 | 9 | .243 | 1 | 4 |
| Johnny Blanchard | 12 | 34 | 5 | .147 | 1 | 3 |
| Ross Moschitto | 96 | 27 | 5 | .185 | 1 | 3 |
| Archie Moore | 9 | 17 | 7 | .412 | 1 | 4 |
| Duke Carmel | 6 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Pedro González | 7 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 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 |
| Mel Stottlemyre | 37 | 291.0 | 20 | 9 | 2.63 | 155 |
| Whitey Ford | 37 | 244.1 | 16 | 13 | 3.24 | 162 |
| Al Downing | 35 | 212.0 | 12 | 14 | 3.40 | 179 |
| Jim Bouton | 30 | 151.1 | 4 | 15 | 4.82 | 97 |
| Jack Cullen | 12 | 59.0 | 3 | 4 | 3.05 | 25 |
| Rich Beck | 3 | 21.0 | 2 | 1 | 2.14 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Stafford | 22 | 111.1 | 3 | 8 | 3.56 | 71 |

#### 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 |
| Pedro Ramos | 65 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 2.92 | 68 |
| Hal Reniff | 51 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3.80 | 74 |
| Steve Hamilton | 46 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1.39 | 51 |
| Pete Mikkelsen | 41 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 3.28 | 69 |
| Gil Blanco | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.98 | 14 |
| Bobby Tiefenauer | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3.54 | 15 |
| Rollie Sheldon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.42 | 7 |
| Jim Brenneman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 2 |
| Mike Jurewicz | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Mickey Mantle, Hutch Award
* 1965 MLB All-Star Game
** Elston Howard
** Mickey Mantle
** Joe Pepitone
** Bobby Richardson
** Mel Stottlemyre

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Frank Verdi |
| AA | Columbus Confederate Yankees | Southern League | Loren Babe |
| A | Greensboro Yankees | Carolina League | Lamar North |
| A | Fort Lauderdale Yankees | Florida State League | Jack Reed |
| A | Binghamton Triplets | New York–Penn League | Gary Blaylock |
| Rookie | Johnson City Yankees | Appalachian League | Bob Bauer |
| Rookie | FRL Yankees | Florida Rookie League | Chuck Boone |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Fort Lauderdale, Binghamton