NEW YORK 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, August 11.

Batting stars:  Earl Battey was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a run.

Pitching stars:  Garry Roggenburk pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.  Dick Stigman struck out four in two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, allowing four unearned runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts.  Ray Barker was 1-for-3 with a double.  Clete Boyer was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to an early lead.  A single, an error, and a two-out intentional walk to Mincher were followed by a two-run single by Battey and an RBI single by Rich Rollins to make it 3-0.  The lead held until the fifth, when the Yankees scored all five of their runs.  A double, five singles, and an error did the damage.  The Twins cut it to 5-4 in the sixth when Jerry Zimmerman's single-plus-error brought home a run.  The Twins had the tying run on second, but a line drive double play ended the threat and the Twins did not get a man past first after that.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a run.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4.  Bob Allison was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Mudcat Grant pitched four innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The win snapped the Twins' six-game winning streak and made their record 73-40.  Baltimore lost to Boston, so the Twins' lead remained 8.5 games.

Notes:  Battey was replaced by Zimmerman in the sixth inning following an RBI single by Joe Pepitone.  One suspects Battey may have been shaken up on a play at the plate.  Battey would be back in the lineup the next day...Oliva and Battey were now each batting .306, with Hall dropping to .303.

MINNESOTA 7, NEW YORK 3 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Tuesday, August 10.

Batting stars:  Earl Battey was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in two.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Al Worthington struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Whitey Ford pitched seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and no walks with four strikeouts.  Hector Lopez was 2-for-3 with a triple, scoring twice.  Mickey Mantle was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixteenth.

The game:  The Twins started the scoring early, as Rich Rollins had an RBI double and Tony Oliva a run-scoring single to take a 2-0 lead.  It stayed 2-0 until the fifth, when Lopez tripled and scored on a Clete Boyer single to make it 2-1.  The Yankees had two out and none on in the seventh, but a walk, an error, and a Ray Barker single tied it 2-2.  Things worked out for the Twins, though, because Barker pinch-hit for Ford, against whom the Twins had done little since the first.  Pete Mikkelsen came in and it looked as if it might work, as the Twins had a man on second with two out.  A walk and an error put the Twins up 3-2.  Then came an RBI single by Jimmie Hall, a two-run double by Battey, and a run-scoring single by Don Mincher to make it 7-2.  Mantle homered leading off the eighth, but New York never threatened to get back into the game.

Of note:  Rollins was 1-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Bob Allison was 0-for-5 with a run.

Record:  The win was the Twins' sixth straight and made their record 73-39.  Baltimore split a doubleheader with Boston, making the Twins' lead 8.5 games.

Notes:  Oliva's average stayed at .307.  Hall fell to .306.  Battey raised his average back to .300...1965 was Whitey Ford's last year as a rotation starter.  He had the worst ERA of his career at 3.24.  He also pitched the fewest innings that he had since 1960, at 244.1.

MINNESOTA 8, BOSTON 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, August 8.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 4-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in three.  Bob Allison was 1-for-2 with a triple and three walks, scoring twice and driving in one.  Don Mincher was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game shutout, giving up two hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Felix Mantilla was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dave Morehead pitched five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

The game:  It was close for quite a while.  Mincher singled in a run in the first to put the Twins up 1-0.  It stayed 1-0 until the fifth, when Allison tripled in a run and scored on a balk.  Mincher delivered a two-run triple in the seventh to make it 5-0 and in the eighth, Oliva had a two-run double and Jimmie Hall an RBI single to round out the scoring.  The Red Sox did not have a hit until Mantilla's two-out double in the seventh, which was the only scoring threat they had.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5 with a run.  Hall was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI.

Record:  The win made the Twins 72-39.  Baltimore split a doubleheader with Kansas City, meaning the Twins' lead was now eight games.

Notes:  Oliva and Hall both raised their averages to .307...Dave Morehead would lead the league in losses in 1965 with eighteen.  It is the only black ink on his baseball-reference page.

MINNESOTA 9, BOSTON 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 7.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifteenth) a stolen base (his fifteenth) and two runs.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a triple, scoring twice and driving in one.  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on nine hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Frank Malzone was 3-for-4 with a double and a run.  Felix Mantilla was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifteenth) and a walk.  Lee Thomas was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Each team scored once in the first, with the Twins run coming on a Versalles homer.  It stayed 1-1 until the fourth, when Don Mincher's two-run homer capped a three-run inning that put the Twins up 4-1.  Hall hit an RBI triple and later scored in a three-run fifth that made it 7-1.  Solo homers by Carl Yastrzemski in the sixth and Mantilla in the eighth cut the lead to 7-3, but that Twins scored two more in the bottom of the eighth to put to bed any thoughts of a Red Sox comeback.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 0-for-2 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Bob Allison was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Record:  The win made the Twins 71-39.  Baltimore once again lost to last-place Kansas City, this time 7-4, so the Twins lead increased to 7.5 games.

Notes:  Hall's average went up to .306, while Oliva fell to .301...Harmon Killebrew sat out a second consecutive game, with Mincher again at first and Rich Rollins at third.  He would not return until September 21...Jerry Zimmerman started the game, but was removed for Earl Battey in the third inning.  If he was injured it was nothing serious, as he played again a few days later.

MINNESOTA 4, WASHINGTON 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 4.

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI.  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventeenth).  Jerry Kindall was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit home run, his fifth.

Pitching stars:  Dick Stigman struck out five in the shutout innings, giving up only a walk.  Garry Roggenburk pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Jim King was 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, and a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Mike Brumley was 2-for-4 with a run.  Don Lock was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  It was scoreless until the fourth, when King tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to put the Senators up 1-0.  Don Mincher hit an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth to tie it 1-1.  The Senators got the lead again in the fifth, scoring one on a sacrifice fly and another on King's double to make it 3-1.  Allison homered leading off the sixth to make it 3-2.  The Twins still trailed going into the bottom of the ninth, when Kindall opened the inning with a pinch-hit home run off Howie Koplitz.  Koplitz walked Zoilo Versalles and was replaced by Marshall Bridges.  Tony Oliva greeted Bridges with a single and was followed by Hall's RBI single to win the game.

Of note:  Oliva was 2-for-5.  Earl Battey was 0-for-3.  Starter Jim Perry pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk with two strikeouts.

Record:  The win made the Twins 68-39.  Baltimore swept a doubleheader from California, cutting the Twins' lead to five games.

Notes:  Oliva was hitting .303.  Hall was at .305.  Battey fell to .294...Jerry Kindall hit only forty-four career home runs, with a high of thirteen in 1962.  He would hit only six in 1965, his last season...Washington's starter was Leslie Ferdinand "Buster" Narum.  He was a rotation starter (mostly) for the Senators for two seasons, 1964-65.  In those two seasons, he went 13-27, 4.37, 1.44 WHIP.  He hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, one of three he hit in his career (one each in 1963, 1964, and 1965).  I could not find out why he was called "Buster".  Maybe it's not a very interesting story, or maybe he wasn't good enough for anyone to care.  Which is kind of a sad thought, really.

WASHINGTON 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 3 (Game 2 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.  Jerry Zimmerman was 1-for-1 with a walk and a run.  Joe Nossek was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Johnny Klippstein pitched two perfect innings with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Mike McCormick pitched a complete game, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts.  Frank Howard was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighteenth.  Ken Hamlin was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  Howard homered leading off the second and Hamlin had an RBI double in the third to put the Senators up 2-0.  Versalles tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third.  In the fifth Don Zimmer delivered a two-out two-run double to give Washington a 4-2 lead.  And that was it for the scoring.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the fourth but did not get another hit until Rich Rollins doubled leading off the ninth.  The next three Twins went out to end the game.

Of note:  Frank Quilici was 1-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Bob Allison was 0-for-4.  Starter Dwight Siebler pitched 2.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were now 67-39 and led Baltimore by 5.5 games.

Notes:  The Twins used somewhat of a B lineup.  Jimmie Hall, Harmon Killebrew, and Earl Battey all did not start, although Battey pinch-hit for Zimmerman in the seventh and caught the rest of the game.  Siebler, normally a reliever, made his only start of the season...Ken Hamlin was a utility infielder for several clubs from 1957-66.  He was the regular shortstop for Kansas City in 1960, but hit only .224/.297/.271.  He was more-or-less the regular shortstop for Washington in 1965, sharing time with Ed Brinkman, and had his best year, hitting .273/.333/.370...Don Zimmer was in his last year as a major league player and would hit only .199...Mike McCormick had a fine career, pitching in the big leagues for sixteen years, most of them with the Giants.  He made the all-star team twice (1960, when he led the league in ERA, and 1961) and won the Cy Young Award in 1967, when he won twenty-two games with an ERA of 2.85.  For his career he was 134-128, 3.73, 1.29 WHIP.

MINNESOTA 4, WASHINGTON 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 3 (Game 1 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourteenth) and a walk.  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-3 with a double and a run.  Mudcat Grant was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Grant pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on eleven hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  Al Worthington pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Don Blasingame was 3-for-5 with a run.  Frank Howard was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventeenth.  Mike Brumley was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once.

The game:  Ken Hamlin started the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the third, but Tony Oliva delivered a run-scoring single in the bottom of the third to tie it 1-1.  Mincher led off the fourth with a home run and Grant had an RBI double later in the inning to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.  Willie Kirkland singled in a run in the fifth and the Senators had men on first and second with none out, but a strikeout and a double play left the score 3-2.  A pair of errors gave the Twins an insurance run in the seventh and they needed it, as Howard homered in the eighth to make it 4-3.  After that, however, Washington could get only a two-out single in the ninth.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Oliva was 1-for-4 with an RBI.  Bob Allison was 0-for-4.  Earl Battey was 0-for-3 with a walk.

Record:  The win made the Twins 67-38.  Baltimore won and Cleveland lost, so the Orioles regained sole possession of second place, six games back.

Notes:  Jimmie Hall again sat out, with Oliva moving over to center and Valdespino playing right.  Harmon Killebrew also did not play, with Mincher at first and Rich Rollins at third...Oliva's average was now .304 and Battey dropped to .301...The starting pitcher for Washington was Bennie Daniels, who I don't believe I've ever heard of.  He was with Pittsburgh from 1957-60, but only saw significant time on the mound in 1959, when he pitched 100.2 innings.  He was traded to Washington and spent the rest of his career with them.  His best year was 1961, when he went 12-11, 3.44, 1,25 WHIP.  He was mostly a starter, but spent substantial time in the bullpen each season.  1965 would be his last year in the majors.  For his career he was 45-76, 4.44, 1.39 WHIP.  He made his major league debut in the last game played at Ebbets Field, started the last game played at Griffith Stadium, and won the first game played at RFK Stadium (then D. C. Stadium).

MINNESOTA 6, BALTIMORE 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 2.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one.  Jimmie Hall hit a pinch-hit home run, his eighteenth.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt pitched 8.2 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Don Larsen struck out four in 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing only two walks.  Dick Brown was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

The game:  Versalles brought home a run with a double-plus-error and Rich Rollins followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-0 lead in the third.  The lead held until the sixth, when Aparicio homered and Brooks Robinson later had an RBI single to tie it 2-2.  In the eighth, Versalles led off with a double, Rollins had an RBI single, Oliva followed with a run-scoring triple, and Bob Allison delivered a one-out single to put the Twins up 5-2.  It seemed safe enough, but in the ninth Brown came through with a two-out three-run homer to tie it 5-5.  No worries, though, because Hall led off the ninth with a home run off Jim Palmer to win the game.

Of note:  Rollins was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was removed from the game in the sixth inning.  Earl Battey was 0-for-2 with a walk.

Record:  The win made the Twins 66-38.  Cleveland did not play, so the Orioles and Indians were once again tied for second place, six games back.

Notes:  Oliva and Battey were now at .305.  Hall, who batted only once as a pinch-hitter, was at .304...Joe Nossek once again started in center field...Three of Dick Brown's four home runs in 1965 to date have come against the Twins.  He would hit five for the season...The Orioles had quite a bullpen in 1965.  In addition to Larsen and Palmer, Harvey Haddix also pitched in relief in this game.

BALTIMORE 7, MINNESOTA 6 IN MINNESOTA

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 1-for-2 with a home run (his sixteenth) and a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a walk, scoring once.  Earl Battey was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Garry Roggenburk pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Boog Powell was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer, his ninth.  Luis Aparicio was 1-for-4 with a triple and a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.  Dick Brown was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.

The game:  Versalles doubled and scored on a pair of ground outs to give the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first.  Each team scored once in the second, with the Twins run coming on an Allison homer, to make it 2-1.  It was 3-1 Twins after four, but a double, a triple, an error, a single, and two walks produced the Oriole runs and a 4-3 Baltimore lead.  The Twins tied it 4-4 in the fifth and it stayed tied until the eighth, when Battey's two-run double gave the Twins a 6-4 lead going into the ninth.  Al Worthington, who had gotten the last two outs in the eighth, retired the first man in the ninth but then issued a pair of walks.  Dick Stigman came in to face Powell, who hit a three-run homer to put the Orioles ahead 7-6.  The Twins got a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth but did not advance the runner past first base.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 0-for-5.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with two walks.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 with two walks and two runs.   Jim Kaat pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins record dropped to 65-38 but they remained in first place.  Cleveland split a doubleheader with the Yankees, so Baltimore moved back into sole possession of second place, five games back.

Notes:  Battey took over the team batting lead at .308.  Oliva fell to .303 and Hall to .302...As we've chronicled before, Kaat was clearly suffering from overuse.  He had made eight starts in July, two of them on two days' rest and one on one day of rest.  He pitched well in this game for four innings, giving up only two hits, before allowing the three runs in the fifth.

MINNESOTA 2, BALTIMORE 1 IN MINNESOTA (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, July 31.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched eight innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts.  Bill Pleis struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up only a walk.  Al Worthington pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  John Miller pitched 8.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  Brooks Robinson was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Jerry Adair was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  Baltimore opened the second with two walks and a single, loading the bases.  Adair then hit into a forceout, putting the Orioles ahead 1-0.  A double play ended the inning, but for a long time it looked like the one run might hold up.  Only once in the first eight innings did the Twins get a man as far as second base.  In the bottom of the ninth, however, Hall hit a one-out double which was followed by Killebrew's RBI single, tying the game 1-1.  In the eleventh, Oliva led off with a single and was bunted to second by Worthington.  Killebrew was then intentionally walked.  Joe Nossek then hit a grounder to third.  The Orioles got a force at second, but could not turn the double play and Oliva scored all the way from second base to win the game for the Twins.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5.  Frank Quilici was 0-for-5.  Earl Battey was used as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-1.

Record:  The Twins improved to 65-37 and remained in first place.  Cleveland lost 7-6 to the Yankees, so the Indians and Orioles remained tied for second place, but they were now six games behind Minnesota.

Notes:  Oliva now had an average of .307.  Hall and Battey were each at .304...Oliva obviously made quite a baserunning play, scoring from second on a force out...It is interesting that, having already pitched two innings, Worthington was left in the game to bunt Oliva to second.  One wonders if he was considered an exceptional bunter or if the plan was to leave him in to pitch a third inning if necessary.  As a short reliever, of course, he rarely batted--he had only fourteen plate appearances in 1965.  This was one of two sacrifice hits he had that season.  He had twenty-five in his career.