After a short, one year absence, the Los Angeles Dodgers returned to the Fall Classic on the arm of '63 Series winner Sandy Koufax. The postseason-proven lefty had just finished the regular season with a 26-8 record, a 2.04 ERA and a perfect game to boot (his fourth no-hitter in four seasons). Their American League rivals, the Minnesota Twins, were making their World Series debut and many felt that the National Leaguers would have their work cut out for them thanks to the hitting of Harmon Killebrew and Zoilo Versalles. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Game 1 fell on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur rendering Koufax ineligible for the opening start due to religious obligations. Don Drysdale was selected in his place and underestimated the inexperienced Twins. The Los Angeles ace only lasted for 2 2/3 innings at Metropolitan Stadium as he surrendered a base-empty homer off of Don Mincher in the second and a three run homer in Minnesota's three run, third. Relief would not matter either as the devastating inning lasted so long, some players in the line-up batted twice. Frank Quilici for instance, rounded the bases after he singled and doubled before giving the Dodgers their next at-bat. Minnesota went on to win the 8-2 opening shocker behind Mudcat Grant.
A frustrated Koufax returned to the mound the next day determined to put his Dodgers back in stride. Jim Kaat drew the Twins start and matched the lefty sensation pitch-for-pitch through the fifth-inning. Then, after an early error by the Dodgers third baseman Jim Gilliam, Minnesota pulled ahead in the sixth on Tony Oliva's run-scoring double and Killebrew's RBI single. As a desperate measure, Koufax was pulled, but the Twins continued to rough up reliever Ron Perranoski for three runs in the next two innings for a 5-1 final. Not only had the "rookie" Twins beaten the "veteran" Dodgers in their first two outings, they had done so by beating their best two pitchers. Having shown that they could beat the best that Los Angeles had to offer, the American League champs took their two-games-to-none lead to Dodger Stadium. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't beat the Dodgers "third-best" as Claude Osteen (fifteen wins, 2.79 ERA) got payback with a five hit, 4-0 triumph. Johnny Roseboro backed the lefthander up with a two run single in the fourth off Twins starter Camilo Pascual, who had labored long and hard for his Washington Senators-turned-Minnesota Twins franchise since 1954.
Drysdale returned for redemption in Game 4 and found it after striking out eleven Twins on the way to a 7-2, Series tying victory. Ron Fairly who contributed three RBIs and Wes Parker and Lou Johnson (who both added home runs of their own) backed up the "rejuvenated-righty" at the plate. The next day, Koufax followed his counterpart's lead and got his own payback after yielding only four hits (all singles) and striking out ten batters in Game 5. The rest of the Dodgers had stepped up as well with an eleven single, three double, four stolen base effort on the bases and a errorless, three double-play effort in the field. It all added up to a 7-0 victory, in which Maury Wills totaled four hits and Willie Davis snatched three bags. As the contest returned to Metropolitan Stadium, Manager Sam Mele sent twenty-one game winner Grant back to the mound after only two days of rest. The veteran pitcher seemed no worse for wear and maintained a 2-0 lead going into the fifth. Then he put all doubt aside with a three run blast of his own off of Howie Reed, who was working in relief of Osteen. The Twins held on for the 5-1, Game 6 triumph (that tied the Series up at three games apiece), but now were faced with the riddle of beating one of the Dodgers' two pitching greats for a second time.
In a surprise move by manager Walter Alston, Koufax was selected for the final outing (over Drysdale) despite having only two days of rest. Once again Kaat, who had eighteen wins during the regular season, would be his opponent for the third time in the tournament. The Dodger ace showed no signs of fatigue as he tossed a three hit shutout and struck-out ten Twins. His rival did not fare as well and was removed in the fourth after giving up a leadoff home run to Lou Johnson, a double to Ron Fairly and a run-scoring single to Wes Parker. While Minnesota relievers Al Worthington, Johnny Klippstein, Jim Merritt and Jim Ferry shut down Los Angeles the rest of the way, the Twins could not break through and went down to a 2-0 defeat. Despite being outnumbered 5-1 on the mound, Sandy Koufax had done it again and his Dodgers found themselves baseball's World Champions for the second time in three years.
"If anyone would like to make the World Series the best five out of nine games I would be willing to go on with it right now. But Koufax is murder. Great! The best I believe I have ever seen. You hate to lose, but we didn't disgrace ourselves. We were beaten by the best pitcher that there is anywhere." - Minnesota Twins Manager Sam Mele in Koufax (Edward Gruver, Taylor Trade Publishing, 04/03/2003, Page 195)
1965 World Series1965 World Series Official Program 1965 World Series Official Program Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs Minnesota Twins (3) |
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1965 World Series Fast Facts | |||
Game 1 | Date / Box Score | 10-06-1965 | |
Location | Metropolitan Stadium | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Hubert H. Humphrey (Vice President of the U.S.) | Earl Battey | ||
Attendance | 47,797 | ||
National Anthem | Ralph Mendenhall Band (No Vocalist) | ||
Game 2 | Date | 10-07-1965 | |
Location | Metropolitan Stadium | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Cancelled (Inclement Weather) | n/a | ||
Attendance | 48,700 | ||
National Anthem | Ralph Mendenhall Band (No Vocalist) | ||
Game 3 | Date / Box Score | 10-09-1965 | |
Location | Dodger Stadium | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Casey Stengel (Hall of Fame Manager) | Johnny Roseboro | ||
Attendance | 55,934 | ||
National Anthem | Lauritz Melchior (Opera Singer) | ||
Game 4 | Date / Box Score | 10-10-1965 | |
Location | Dodger Stadium | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Dr. Norman H. Topping (USC President) | Rod Dedeaux | ||
Attendance | 55,920 | ||
National Anthem | John Raitt (Actor / Athlete) | ||
Game 5 | Date / Box Score | 10-11-1965 | |
Location | Dodger Stadium | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Craig Swan (Long Beach Pony League World Champs) | Bob Harrison (Baseball Scout) | ||
Attendance | 55,801 | ||
National Anthem | Eddie Fisher (Actor / Singer / Entertainer) | ||
Game 6 | Date / Box Score | 10-13-1965 | |
Location | Metropolitan Stadium | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
None Thrown (Undetermined Reason) | n/a | ||
Attendance | 49,578 | ||
National Anthem | Ralph Mendenhall Band (No Vocalist) | ||
Game 7 | Date / Box Score | 10-14-1965 | |
Location | Metropolitan Stadium | ||
1st Pitch | From | To | |
Karl F. Rolvaag (Governor of Minnesota, 1963-1967) | Earl Battey | ||
Attendance | 50,596 | ||
1965 World Series Fast Facts |
1965 World Series
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1965 World Series Game 1 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
Los Angeles | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1 | |
Minnesota | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 8 | 10 | 0 | |
Los Angeles Pitcher(s) | Minnesota Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Don Drysdale (L) Howie Reed (3rd) Jim Brewer (5th) Ron Perranoski (7th) |
Mudcat Grant (W) - - - |
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Los Angeles Home Runs | Minnesota Home Runs | ||||||||||||
Ron Fairly (2nd) - |
Don Mincher (2nd) Zoilo Versalles (3rd) |
1965 World Series
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1965 World Series Game 2 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | |
Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | x | 5 | 9 | 0 | |
Los Angeles Pitcher(s) | Minnesota Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Sandy Koufax (L) Ron Perranoski (7th) Bob Miller (8th) |
Jim Kaat (W) - - |
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Los Angeles Home Runs | Minnesota Home Runs | ||||||||||||
None | None |
1965 World Series
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1965 World Series Game 3 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 10 | 1 | |
Minnesota Pitcher(s) | Los Angeles Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Camilo Pascual (L) Jim Merritt (6th) Johnny Klippstein (8th) |
Claude Osteen (W) - - |
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Minnesota Home Runs | Los Angeles Home Runs | ||||||||||||
None | None |
1965 World Series
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1965 World Series Game 4 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
Los Angeles | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | x | 7 | 10 | 0 | |
Minnesota Pitcher(s) | Los Angeles Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Mudcat Grant (L) Al Worthington (6th) Bill Pleis (8th) |
Don Drysdale (W) - - |
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Minnesota Home Runs | Los Angeles Home Runs | ||||||||||||
Harmon Killebrew (4th) Tony Oliva (6th) |
Wes Parker (4th) Lou Johnson (8th) |
1965 World Series
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1965 World Series Game 5 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
Los Angeles | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | 7 | 14 | 0 | |
Minnesota Pitcher(s) | Los Angeles Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Jim Kaat (L) Dave Boswell (3rd) Jim Perry (6th) |
Sandy Koufax (W) - - |
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Minnesota Home Runs | Los Angeles Home Runs | ||||||||||||
None | None |
1965 World Series
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1965 World Series Game 6 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | x | 5 | 6 | 1 | |
Los Angeles Pitcher(s) | Minnesota Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Claude Osteen (L) Howie Reed (6th) Bob Miller (8th) |
Mudcat Grant (W) - - |
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Los Angeles Home Runs | Minnesota Home Runs | ||||||||||||
Ron Fairly (7th) - |
Bob Allison (4th) Mudcat Grant (6th) |
1965 World Series
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1965 World Series Game 6 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | |
Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
Los Angeles Pitcher(s) | Minnesota Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Sandy Koufax (W) - - - - |
Jim Kaat (L) Al Worthington (4th) Johnny Klippstein (6th) Jim Merritt (7th) Jim Perry (9th) |
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Los Angeles Home Runs | Minnesota Home Runs | ||||||||||||
Lou Johnson (4th) | None |
1965 World SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
Jim Brewer Willie Crawford Willie Davis Don Drysdale Ron Fairly Jim Gilliam Lou Johnson John Kennedy Sandy Koufax Jim Lefebvre Don LeJohn Bob Miller Wally Moon Claude Osteen Wes Parker Ron Perranoski Howie Reed Johnny Roseboro Dick Tracewski Maury Wills |
p ph of p-2 of 3b of 3b p 2b ph p ph p 1b p p c 2b ss |
1 2 7 3 7 7 7 4 3 3 1 2 2 2 7 2 2 7 6 7 |
0 2 26 5 29 28 27 1 9 10 1 0 2 3 23 0 0 21 17 30 |
0 1 6 0 11 6 8 0 1 4 0 0 0 1 7 0 0 6 2 11 |
0 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 3 0 7 2 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 3 |
0 0 0 0 6 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 3 |
.000 .500 .231 .000 .379 .214 .296 .000 .111 .400 .000 .000 .000 .333 .304 .000 .000 .286 .118 .367 |
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 1 1 |
0 1 2 4 1 0 3 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 5 3 |
0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 3 |
Totals | 234 | 64 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 21 | .274 | 13 | 31 | 9 | ||
1965 World SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
Bob Allison Earl Battey Dave Boswell Mudcat Grant Jimmie Hall Jim Kaat Harmon Killebrew Johnny Klippstein Jim Merritt Don Mincher Joe Nossek Tony Oliva Camilo Pascual Jim Perry Bill Pleis Frank Quilici Rich Rollins Sandy Valdespino Zoilo Versalles Al Worthington Jerry Zimmerman |
of c p p of p 3b p p 1b of-5 of p p p 2b ph of-2 ss p c |
5 7 1 3 2 3 7 2 2 7 6 7 1 2 1 7 3 5 7 2 2 |
16 25 0 8 7 6 21 0 0 23 20 26 1 0 0 20 2 11 28 0 1 |
2 3 0 2 1 1 6 0 0 3 4 5 0 0 0 4 0 3 8 0 0 |
1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 |
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 |
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 |
3 1 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 0 |
2 2 0 3 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 |
.125 .120 .000 .250 .143 .167 .286 .000 .000 .130 .200 .192 .000 .000 .000 .200 .000 .273 .286 .000 .000 |
2 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 |
9 5 0 1 5 5 4 0 0 7 1 6 0 0 0 3 0 1 7 0 0 |
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 |
Totals | 215 | 42 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 19 | .195 | 19 | 54 | 2 |
1965 World SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
Jim Brewer Don Drysdale Sandy Koufax Bob Miller Claude Osteen Ron Perranoski Howie Reed |
0 1 2 0 1 0 0 |
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 |
1 2 3 2 2 2 2 |
0 2 3 0 2 0 0 |
0 1 2 0 1 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 2 0 1 0 0 |
2.0 11.2 24.0 1.1 14.0 3.2 3.1 |
4.50 3.86 0.38 0.00 0.64 7.36 8.10 |
3 12 13 0 9 3 2 |
1 15 29 0 4 1 4 |
1 5 1 0 1 3 3 |
0 3 5 0 5 4 2 |
Totals | 4 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 60.0 | 2.10 | 42 | 54 | 14 | 19 |
1965 World SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
Dave Boswell Mudcat Grant Jim Kaat Johnny Klippstein Jim Merritt Camilo Pascual Jim Perry Bill Pleis Al Worthington |
0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 |
1 3 3 2 2 1 2 1 2 |
0 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 |
0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
2.2 23.0 14.1 2.2 3.1 5.0 4.0 1.0 4.0 |
3.38 2.74 3.77 0.00 2.70 5.40 4.50 9.00 0.00 |
3 22 18 2 2 8 5 2 2 |
3 12 6 3 1 0 4 0 2 |
1 7 6 0 1 3 2 1 0 |
2 2 2 2 0 1 2 0 2 |
Totals | 3 | 4 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60.0 | 3.15 | 64 | 31 | 21 | 13 |
The October 25, 1965 issue of "Sports Illustrated" had some truly great quotes about the 1965 World Series:
"He (Tony Oliva) plays outfield like (Joe) DiMaggio." - Ballpark Fans
"He's (Sandy Koufax) fast." - Twins' Manager Sam Mele
"(Sandy Koufax) belongs in a higher league." - Roger Craig
"The Doyers (Dodgers) were lucky." - Zoilo Versalles
Did you know that the Minnesota Twins were the first non-Yankees team from the American League in the previous nineteen years to take a Series to a Game 7?
When Mudcat Grant went deep during Game 6 he became only the second American League pitcher to hit a home run during a World Series game. The first was launched by Jim Bagby of the Cleveland Indians furing the 1920 World Series.