CHICAGO 3, MINNESOTA 1 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Wednesday, June 16.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 3-for-4 with an RBI.  Frank Kostro was 1-for-4 with a run.

Pitching stars:  Dick Stigman pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits with one strikeout.  Johnny Klippstein struck out two in two perfect innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  John Buzhardt pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on six hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  Pete Ward was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  J. C. Martin was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

The game:  Versalles got a two-out RBI single in the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Camilo Pascual had sailed through the first three innings, giving up only one hit, but four of the first five White Sox batters got hits to start the fourth, and the other batter reached on a fielder's choice on which no out was recorded.  RBI singles by Martin and Ron Hansen gave the White Sox a 2-1 lead and a bases-loaded walk to Smoky Burgess made it 3-1 and led to Pascual's exit from the game.  Jerry Fosnow got the Twins out of the inning with no further damage, but they could not catch up.  In fact, they did not threaten again until the ninth, when a single and a walk put men on first and second with none out.  Three consecutive fly outs ended the game.

Of note:  Rich Rollins was 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-4, dropping his average to .325.  Pascual pitched 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 35-21, still in first place, but only by a half game over Chicago.

Notes:  Kostro replaced Jerry Kindall at second base.  The Twins were looking for a second baseman all season.  Kindall got the majority of starts there, but other who played second in 1965 were Kostro, Bernie Allen, Frank Quilici, Rollins, and Cesar Tovar.  Burgess was nominally a catcher, but at this point in his career was almost exclusively a pinch-hitter.  He would appear in eighty games in 1965 but catch in only five of them.

MINNESOTA 4, CHICAGO 0 AT CHICAGO

Date:  Tuesday, June 15.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh.  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and no walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Eddie Fisher struck out two in two perfect innings.  Bob Locker pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing one walk with one strikeout.  Pete Ward was 2-for-4.

The game:  Oliva homered in the first and Allison homered in the second to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Jerry Kindall drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.  Meanwhile, Grant pitched four perfect innings before giving up a single to Ward leading off the fifth.  Moose Skowron followed with a single, but a strikeout/throw out double play ended the threat.  The White Sox again put two on in the sixth but did not threaten after that.  Rollins hit a home run in the ninth.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Joe Nossek, again replacing Jimmie Hall, was 1-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a run.

Record:  The win made the Twins 35-20 and kept them in first place, 1.5 games ahead of Chicago.

DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN DETROIT

Date:  Sunday, June 13.

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his tenth.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-2 with a home run (his eleventh) and two walks.  Joe Nossek was 1-for-4 with a home run.

Pitching star:  Bill Pleis pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Willie Horton was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his thirteenth), a double, and a walk, scoring twice.  Al Kaline was 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.  Dick McAuliffe was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Kaline doubled in a run in the first and Horton hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.  The Twins chipped away, getting a solo homer by Killebrew in the fourth and another from Nossek in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2, but the Tigers scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to again take a three-run lead at 5-2.  Allison hit a two-run homer in the eighth to again cut the lead to one at 5-4, but the Twins did not get another baserunner after that.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4.  Rich Rollins was 0-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a run.  Jim Kaat pitched only three innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Record:  The loss dropped the Twins to 34-20.  They remained in first place, but their lead over Chicago dropped to a half-game.

Notes:  Nossek played in place of Jimmie Hall, who was rested.  As we've seen, the notion that the Glorious Guardians of the Game have put forward, that in the old days everyone played every game unless they had a broken leg and even then they'd try to hop around if they could, is not true.  Players got days off for rest back in the 1960s, too.  Pitchers were handled a lot differently then, though.  Mickey Lolich came in to pitch the ninth of this game and got a save.  He had just pitched seven innings on two days earlier and would pitch 6.2 innings three days later.  Lolich made six relief appearances in 1965 and got three saves.  He also pitched three shutouts that year.  I wonder what the record is for "as many shutouts as saves" or, looking at it the other way, "as many saves as shutouts".

DETROIT 8, MINNESOTA 5 IN DETROIT

Date:  Saturday, June 12.

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh) and a double, driving in four.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks, scoring twice.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with two runs.

Pitching star:  Johnny Klippstein pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Don Wert was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times and driving in one.  Jerry Lumpe was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch, scoring twice and driving in one.  Willie Horton was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and four RBIs.

The game:  Hall hit a two-run double-plus-error in the top of the first, but the Tigers got the runs right back in the bottom half, aided by three walks and an error.  In the second, Horton hit a three-run homer to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead.  The Twins got those runs back in the third on Hall's three-run homer.  It stayed 5-5 until the sixth.  The Tigers put two on with a single and an error, Wert had an RBI single, Lumpe drove in one with a double, and a sacrifice fly plated a third.  The runs came off reliever Jerry Fosnow, who was in his fourth inning of relief.  The Twins got only two hits after Hall's homer in the third.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5.  Frank Kostro, filling in at third for Rich Rollins, was 0-for-5.  Camilo Pascual lasted only 1.2 innings, giving up five runs on three hits, three walks, and a hit batsman, striking out two.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 34-19, but they remained in first  place by 1.5 games over Chicago.

Notes:  Rollins was simply being rested and was used as a pinch-hitter.  Hall raised his average to .328.

MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 4 IN DETROIT (12 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, June 11 (Game 2 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-5 with a home run (his tenth), scoring twice and driving in two.  Bob Allison was 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI, and a stolen base (his seventh).  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-2 with a triple and an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Mel Nelson pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts.  Al Worthington pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up only a walk.

Opposition stars:  Mickey Lolich struck out seven in seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks.  Fred Gladding struck out five in three perfect innings.  Don Demeter was 2-for-5 with a home run (his third) and a double.

The game:  Killebrew homered in the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when Killebrew's RBI single doubled the Twins lead.  George Thomas led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to cut the lead in half and Demeter homered in the eighth to tie it 2-2.  There was no more scoring until the twelfth, when the Twins started the inning with three singles (one an RBI hit by Allison) a sacrifice fly, and a Hall RBI triple to give the Twins a 5-2 lead.  The Tigers came back in the bottom of the twelfth, as Jim Northrup hit a two-run homer to make it 5-4.  Detroit did not get the tying run on base, however, and the Twins swept a doubleheader, with both games going extra innings and ending 5-4.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Jerry Kindall was 0-for-5.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 with a run.

Record:  The doubleheader sweep improved the Twins' record to 34-18, still in first place by 1.5 games over Chicago.

Notes:  Earl Battey and Hall were rested, with Jerry Zimmerman and Joe Nossek taking their places.  Hall was used as a pinch-hitter in the tenth inning and played the rest of the game.  Nelson was usually a reliever--this was one of only three starts he made in 1965 and only eleven in his career.  He had only once pitched more than two innings in a game in 1965 prior to this and in that case he pitched three.  He would never be allowed to pitch into the eighth inning in that situation today.

MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 4 IN DETROIT (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, June 10 (Game 1 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-2 with three walks and a run.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-3 with three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Bill Pleis pitched two perfect innings with one strikeout.  Dick Stigman pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Norm Cash was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Jim Northrup was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.  Don Wert was 1-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in two.

The game:  The Twins got one in the second and the Tigers matched it in the fourth to tie it 1-1.  Hall's two-run single in the top of the sixth gave the Twins a 3-1 lead, but Detroit got a two-run triple by Wert and an RBI double from Bill Freehan in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-3 Tigers.  That lead held up until the ninth, when two walks and a pickoff error (Twins Baseball!) tied the score.  In the tenth, Valdespino and Frank Kostro opened the inning with singles, advanced on a bunt, and Valdespino scored on a Hall sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 5-4 advantage.  The Tigers did not get a baserunner after the sixth inning.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Rich Rollins was 0-for-2.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Mudcat Grant pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The win snapped a brief two-game losing streak, gave the Twins a record of 33-18, and kept them in first place by 1.5 games over Chicago.

Notes:  Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison were both rested, though each was used as a pinch-hitter.  The lineup that would be the world champion 1968 Tigers was already pretty much in place in 1965, with the only addition being Mickey Stanley.

CLEVELAND 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, June 10.

Batting stars:  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Dave Boswell was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Pitching star:  Johnny Klippstein pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Sam McDowell struck out nine in eight innings, allowing one run on eight hits and five walks.  Camilo Carreon was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Leon Wagner was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

The game:  An RBI single by Vic Davalillo and Carreon's two-run homer gave the Indians a 3-0 lead in the second.  The Twins got a two-out rally in the second and scored their only run on a Boswell single, but left the bases loaded.  Wagner homered in the third to make it 4-1 and the scoring was over.  The Twins had other chances, leaving two men on in the sixth, eighth, and ninth, but could not score again.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5.  Rich Rollins was 1-for-5.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 with two walks.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Boswell pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 32-18 and cut the Twins' lead over the White Sox to 1.5 games.

Notes:  McDowell would go on to lead the league with 325 strikeouts, the most of his career.  He struck out 10.7 batters per nine innings.  It was one of five times he would lead the league in strikeouts.  It was also one of five times he would lead the league in walks (132).  He also led the league in ERA for the only time in 1965.

CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, June 9.

Batting stars:  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-3 with a double and a run.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Ralph Terry pitched eight innings, allowing one run on six hits and no walks with five strikeouts.  Max Alvis was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his ninth) and a walk.  Vic Davalillo was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his fourth.

The game:  It was scoreless, and there really wasn't much in the way of threats, until the eighth, when Kindall led off with a double, went to third on Kaat's bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zoilo Versalles.  In the ninth, Rocky Colavito drew a one-out walk which was followed by Alvis' two-run homer to give the Indians the lead.  Hall got a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth but did not advance past first base.

Of note:  Versalles was 0-for-3 with an RBI.  Rich Rollins was 0-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4.  Earl Battey was 1-for-4.

Record:  The loss dropped the Twins to 32-17.  They remained in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.

Notes:  Ralph Terry was having the last good year of a pretty good career.  His best years came with the Yankees, for whom he played from 1959-64.  He went 16-3 in 1961, but his best year was 1962, when he led the league in wins with 23, in starts with 39, and in innings pitched with 298.2.  He made his only all-star team that year.  He also had a fine year in 1963, when he led the league in starts, complete games, and WHIP.

MINNESOTA 6, CLEVELAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 8.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his ninth) and a double, scoring twice.  Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his third) and a walk.  Bob Allison was 0-for-1 with two walks, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Camilo Pascual pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Rocky Colavito was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twelfth) and a walk.  Max Alvis was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Vic Davalillo was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Killebrew hit a three-run homer in the first inning to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.  Colavito homered in the second and Alvis in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2, but Battey hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-2.  The Indians did not threaten again.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with a walk, a run, and two stolen bases.  Rich Rollins was 2-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk.

Record:  The win made the Twins 32-16, in first by 2.5 games over Chicago.

Notes:  Both the bench and the bullpen got the day off, as the Twins used only nine players.  Cleveland starter Sonny Siebert was pulled after only one inning, allowing three runs on one hit and three walks with one strikeout.  I hadn't remembered Max Alvis as a power hitter, but he hit over twenty homers three times in his career.