1965 Los Angeles Dodgers season


The 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the regular-season with a 97–65 record, which earned them the NL pennant by two games over their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in seven games over the Minnesota Twins.

Offseason

Season Recap

The Dodgers won the World Series in 1963, but injuries and poor play saw them fall to 6th place in 1964. Despite their weak offense and the trade of power hitting Frank Howard for Claude Osteen during the off season, they were expected to contend in 1965 with their strong pitching. However, one month into the season, they lost their best hitter Tommy Davis when he fractured his ankle sliding into second base. Most experts thought this ended any hope the Dodgers had of winning the pennant. To replace Davis, the club called up journeyman Lou Johnson; his infectious cheerful attitude and knack for timely hitting helped keep the club in contention.
The National League pennant race was a thriller, with 6 teams in contention throughout a summer that saw the Dodgers, Giants, Braves, and Reds all take their turns in first place. With these 6 teams tightly bunched heading into September, the Giants went on a 14-game winning streak to take a 4 1/2 game lead with two weeks to play. Then the Dodgers went on a 13-game winning streak, and won 15 of their last 16 games to win the pennant by 2 games over the Giants.
The Dodgers were led by shortstop Maury Wills with 94 stolen bases, Sandy Koufax, and Don Drysdale Drysdale also chipped in with 7 home runs and was the club's only.300 hitter.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

Game log

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C136437102.233857
1B154542129.238851
2B157544136.2501269
SS158650186.286033
3B111372104.280439
LF131468121.2591258
CF142558133.2381057
RF158555152.274970

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
7818640.215120
5615036.240313
10410518.17115
538918.202111
418117.210110
347820.25607
176015.25009
22417.17112
52274.14800
9134.30802
1060.00001
430.00000
8111.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
43335.22682.04382
44308.123122.77210
4028715152.79162
27134763.4363

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
3878753.1247
1542225.3628
510.1019.589

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
616792.9777
5966182.2453
193221.8231
112106.7516
20000.001

1965 World Series

Game 1

October 6, 1965, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota

Game 2

October 7, 1965, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota

Game 3

October 9, 1965, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

Game 4

October 10, 1965, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

Game 5

October 11, 1965, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

Game 6

October 13, 1965, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota

Game 7

October 14, 1965, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota

Awards and honors

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Albuquerque

[1965 [Major League Baseball draft]]

This was the first Major League Baseball draft. The Dodgers drafted 30 players this year in the June draft and an additional 2 in the August Legion draft. The first player the Dodgers ever drafted was a shortstop from Bakersfield High School named John Wyatt. He played in the teams farm system through 1970 but never advanced past Class-A.
The most notable player drafted this year was Tom Seaver, who was picked in the 10th round from the University of Southern California, but he did not sign with the team and re-entered the draft the following year, where he was selected by the New York Mets.

June draft

RoundNamePositionSchoolSignedCareer spanHighest level
1John WyattSSBakersfield High SchoolYes1965–1970A
2Alan FosterRHPLos Altos High SchoolYes1965–1976MLB
3Michael CriscioneCSyracuse UniversityYes1965–1967A
4George MercadoOFBishop Dubois High SchoolYes1965–1967A-
5John RadosevichLHPWest Virginia UniversityYes1965–1968A
6Peter BarnesOFSouthern University and A&M CollegeNo
7Larry GriffithRHPAnadarko High SchoolYes1965–1967AA
8James JohnsonOFLas Vegas High SchoolYes1965–1970A
9Paul Dennenbaum1BSyracuse UniversityNo
10Tom SeaverRHPUniversity of Southern CaliforniaNo
Mets −1966		1966–1986MLB
11Joseph Austin1BUniversity of Southern CaliforniaYes1965–1966A
12Richard BinderLHPWaterloo High SchoolNo
13Terrance DerringerRHPSouthwest Miami High SchoolNo
14Stephen McGreevy1BUniversity of KansasYes1965–1967A
15Leon EverittRHPPemberton High SchoolYes1965–1969MLB
16Michael McCallSSGreenville High SchoolNo
Red Sox −1965		1967–1970A
17Johnny AlexanderINFWhitmire High SchoolNo
18Rod AustinOFSanta Clara UniversityNo
19George LewarkSSUniversity of ColoradoNo
20William MaxwellRHPCentral High SchoolNo
21Daro QuiringRHPStanford UniversityNo
22Eric Krumlauf3BShaker Heights High SchoolNo
23Rich HintonLHPMarana High SchoolNo
White Sox −1969		1969–1979MLB
24Frederick MoulderSSOklahoma State UniversityYes1967–1972AAA
25Jon KeirnsOFEdmond High SchoolNo
26Robert Harvey3BJohn Marshall High SchoolYes1966–1968A
27Rhett Thompson3BDel Mar High SchoolYes1965–1967A-
28Gary MooreOFUniversity of Texas at AustinYes1967–1971MLB
29Kyle CarlinRHPSulphur High SchoolYes1965–1969AA
30Dennis JensenSSJacksonville UniversityYes1965A

August Legion Draft

The August Legion Draft was for College players who had participated in summer amateur leagues.
RoundNamePositionSchoolSignedCareer spanHighest level
1Barry SnyderCNo
2Frank Stanek1BNo