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.Ralph Terry at Baseball Reference November 30, 1964: Ellie Rodríguez was drafted by the Yankees from the Kansas City Athletics in the 1964 first-year draft.Ellie Rodriguez at Baseball Reference November 30, 1964: Duke Carmel was drafted by the Yankees from the New York Mets in the 1964 rule 5 draft.Duke Carmel at Baseball Reference Prior to 1965 season: Al Closter was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent.Al Closter at Baseball Reference

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

Record vs. opponents

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

Roster 1965 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

(Pitching)

Player stats = Indicates team leader 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 110 391 91 .233 9 45 1B 143 531 131 .247 18 62 2B 160 664 164 .247 6 47 3B 148 514 129 .251 18 58 SS 109 339 74 .218 5 35 LF 122 361 92 .255 19 46 CF 156 602 168 .279 26 74 RF 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 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 38 49 7 .143 0 0 Roy White 14 42 14 .333 0 3 Bob Schmidt 20 40 10 .250 1 3 11 37 9 .243 1 4 12 34 5 .147 1 3 Ross Moschitto 96 27 5 .185 1 3 Archie Moore 9 17 7 .412 1 4 6 8 0 .000 0 0 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 37 291.0 20 9 2.63 155 Whitey Ford 37 244.1 16 13 3.24 162 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 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 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 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 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

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Columbus, Fort Lauderdale, BinghamtonJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Notes

References 1965 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference 1965 New York Yankees at Baseball Almanac