Strat-o-Matic 1965 World Series recap

Well, as in real life, the Los Angeles Dodgers ended up the 1965 World Series Champions. But at least the real 1965 Minnesota Twins put up a fight.

If you’ve been following this Series, you already know that my dad (playing the Dodgers) swept me (the Twins) in four games, two blowouts followed by two close, painful losses. If you haven’t... spoiler.

But as I did with our replay of the 1924 World Series (go check that one out, starting at the beginning), I’ve compiled every game into one line and box score for the recap. I will also hand out awards.

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Dodgers....1 0 0.....4 4 0....2 7 3...21 36 2
Twins........0 1 0.....1 2 0....0 2 0.....6 18 1

Yep, this was a rout all around. The eighth inning especially proved devastating for the Twins, as the Dodgers teed off for seven runs in the penultimate frame.

I’m just going to let those numbers sit there. There aren’t words I can write that will not cause me retroactive pain.

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L.A. (N)..................AB R H BI W K
Wills SS..................18. 3. 6. 1.. 0. 1
Davis CF.................17. 2. 3. 1.. 1. 2
Johnson LF.............16. 4. 6. 6.. 0. 0
Gilliam 3B...............16. 5. 5. 3.. 3. 1
Fairly RF.................15. 3. 6. 2.. 1. 2
Lefebvre 2B............15. 1. 3. 1.. 1. 0
Roseboro C............13. 2. 5. 1.. 1. 0
Parker 1B...............13. 1. 2. 5.. 1. 3
Drysdale P................5. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 2
Koufax P...................4. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 1
Torborg PH...............2. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
Osteen P..................1. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 1
Tracewski PH...........0. 0. 0. 0.. 1. 0
Podres P..................0. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
Reed P.....................0. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
TOTALS.............135 21 36 20 10 13

LOB: Los Angeles 21.
E: Parker, Drysdale.
2B: Fairly, Roseboro, Gilliam, Lefebvre, Parker.
3B: Wills.
HR: Davis, Parker, Fairly, Johnson, Gilliam.
SF: Parker.
DP: Los Angeles 3.
SB: Wills 6, Gilliam.
CS: Wills, Gilliam.

L.A. (N)...................IP H R ER W K
Drysdale (1-0)........14. 7. 3.. 2.. 3. 5
Koufax (1-0).............9. 5. 2.. 2.. 4 11
Osteen (1-0)............8. 1. 0.. 0.. 2. 3
Podres.....................3. 4. 1.. 1.. 1. 3
Reed (1-0)...............1. 1. 0.. 0.. 0. 0
TOTALS................36 18 6.. 5. 10 22

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Los Angeles’ bats were awake all series, the Dodgers slashing .267/.315/.430 as a team. Even those hitters with few hits came through in key moments; Wes Parker’s two hits were a Game 1 homer and the Game 4- and Series-ending walkoff double. (On the Strat card, that hit was actually a triple, but with a runner on second Parker would only have made it to second by MLB rules.)

Their pitching was also superior, Sandy Koufax’s 11 strikeouts representing half the Dodgers’ total and only two short of the Twins’ total Ks for the Series. LA’s team ERA was 1.25. This could not have gone any better for the Dodgers.

All of this makes choosing a World Series MVP a difficult decision, but I’d rather cap the article with that. On to the Twins.

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MINN......................AB R H BI W K
Oliva RF..................15. 1. 2. 0.. 2. 3
Mincher 1B.............13. 1. 2. 2.. 1. 3
Hall CF....................13. 0. 2. 0.. 2. 2
Battey C..................12. 2. 3. 0.. 2. 0
Versalles SS...........12. 0. 2. 0.. 0. 2
Quilici 2B/SS...........12. 1. 1. 1.. 0. 3
Valdespino LF/RF....10. 0. 1. 0.. 0. 1
Killebrew 3B............10. 0. 0. 0.. 2. 1
Allison LF..................8. 0. 1. 0.. 1. 2
Rollins 3B/2B............5. 1. 2. 2.. 0. 1
Grant P.....................4. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 1
Kindall 2B-SS...........3. 0. 1. 0.. 0. 1
Pascual P.................3. 0. 1. 0.. 0. 0
Kaat P......................2. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 1
Zimmerman 3B........2. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
Boswell P.................1. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 1
Worthington P..........0. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
Klippstein P..............0. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
Merritt P...................0. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
Perry P.....................0. 0. 0. 0.. 0. 0
TOTALS...............115 6 18 5 10 22

LOB: Minnesota 19.
E: Pascual.
2B: Versalles 2, Oliva, Mincher, Kindall, Rollins, Battey.
HR: Rollins, Mincher.
DP: Minnesota 4.

MINN......................IP H R ER W K
Grant (0-1)............13 14 7.. 7.. 0. 5
Pascual (0-1)..........8. 4. 1.. 1.. 2. 2
Kaat (0-1)...............7. 8. 4.. 4.. 0. 3
Boswell (0-1)........2⅔ 2. 1.. 1.. 1. 2
Perry.......................2. 2. 2.. 2.. 2. 0
Merritt.....................1. 3. 2.. 2.. 2. 0
Klippstein...............⅔. 0. 0.. 0.. 1. 1
Worthington...........⅓. 3. 4.. 4.. 2. 0
TOTALS............34⅔ 36 21 21 10 13

IBB: Merritt (Lefebvre).

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These numbers are significantly worse.

Earl Battey was the only Twin to collect three hits, and he had been hitless through the first three games. In fact, four Twins regulars (or semi-regulars) — Battey, Harmon Killebrew, Sandy Valdespino, and Frank Quilici — were hitless through Game 3; all except Killebrew, who was injured in his first plate appearance of Game 4, were able to scratch that zero off their hit column. The Twins’ slash line was a pathetic .157/.224/.270.

And their pitching also collapsed, the team allowing more hits than their innings pitched and finishing with a collective ERA of 5.45. Camilo Pascual’s Game 3 gem was wasted by the offense, and Dave Boswell pitched fine in long relief despite giving up the Series-ending run. That’s about it.

As with MVP, there are a number of options for Series LVP. Despite the dreadful pitching, it was a lack of offensive performance that really sank the Twins in the final games, so the LVP will come from the offense. My shortlist of three is Harmon Killebrew (0-10, two walks, one K), Tony Oliva (2-15, two walks, three Ks), and Frank Quilici (1-12, three Ks), but the ignominy belongs to Killebrew, who not only went hitless but went hitless from the cleanup spot. His replacement in Game 4 was Jerry Kindall, who went 1-3 despite not being expected to play.

And with the shortness of the Series, the MVP will also go to a hitter, as the only Dodgers to pitch in multiple games were Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres. Lou Johnson (16-4-6-6-0-0) and Jim Gilliam (16-5-5-3-3-1) are my two nominees, and after consultation with nobody, I am awarding the Strat-o-Matic 1956 World Series MVP to Gilliam, who drove in the only run in Game 3 and scored the run that ended this Series.

Let us now put this behind us and not speak of it again.

Game 1 / Game 2 / Game 3 / Game 4