1965 Los Angeles / California Angels season

The 1965 Los Angeles / California Angels season was the fifth year of play for the American Major League Baseball franchise. The 1965 Angels finished seventh in the American League with a record of 75 wins and 87 losses, putting them 27 games behind the AL Champion Minnesota Twins. It was also the final season for the franchise in the city of Los Angeles before moving to their new stadium in nearby Anaheim for the following season. In their fourth and last year as tenants at Chávez Ravine, the Angels drew only 566,727 fans,^[1] eighth in the ten-team Junior Circuit and almost two million fans fewer than their landlords, the Dodgers, who were en route to the 1965 world championship.

1965 Los Angeles / California Angels
League	American League
Ballpark	Chávez Ravine
City	Los Angeles
Owners	Gene Autry
General managers	Fred Haney
Managers	Bill Rigney
Television	KTLA
Radio	KMPC (Buddy Blattner, Don Wells, Steve Bailey)
← 1964 1966 →

Midseason name change

The 1965 Angels are the only team in 20th century Major League Baseball history^[2][3] to undergo an in-season name change.^[4] The club began the season under its original identity, the Los Angeles Angels, but with the imminent move to Anaheim, owner Gene Autry changed the name of the team to the California Angels — effective immediately — on September 2, 1965, with only 28 games left in the season.^[2]

The name change was reflected in the Angels' new caps, on which an interlocking "CA" in fancy block letters replaced the former interlocking "LA". The new caps retained the distinctive white halo around the navy-blue crown. Because the team's home and road uniforms of the time simply read "ANGELS" across the shirtfront, they did not change.

Offseason

• October 14, 1964: The Angels traded a player to be named later to the Milwaukee Braves for Phil Roof and Ron Piché. The Angels completed the deal by sending Dan Osinski to the Braves on November 29.^[5]
• December 3, 1964: Bo Belinsky was traded by the Angels to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rudy May and Costen Shockley.^[6]
• Prior to 1965 season: Bob Smith was signed as a free agent by the Angels.^[7]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Minnesota Twins	102	60	.630	—	51‍–‍30	51‍–‍30
Chicago White Sox	95	67	.586	7	48‍–‍33	47‍–‍34
Baltimore Orioles	94	68	.580	8	46‍–‍33	48‍–‍35
Detroit Tigers	89	73	.549	13	47‍–‍34	42‍–‍39
Cleveland Indians	87	75	.537	15	52‍–‍30	35‍–‍45
New York Yankees	77	85	.475	25	40‍–‍43	37‍–‍42
Los Angeles/California Angels	75	87	.463	27	46‍–‍34	29‍–‍53
Washington Senators	70	92	.432	32	36‍–‍45	34‍–‍47
Boston Red Sox	62	100	.383	40	34‍–‍47	28‍–‍53
Kansas City Athletics	59	103	.364	43	33‍–‍48	26‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1965 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KCA	LAA/ CAL	MIN	NYY	WSH
Baltimore	—	11–7	9–9	10–8	11–7	11–7	13–5	8–10	13–5	8–10
Boston	7–11	—	4–14	8–10	6–12	11–7	5–13	1–17	9–9	11–7
Chicago	9–9	14–4	—	10–8	9–9	13–5	12–6	7–11	8–10	13–5
Cleveland	8–10	10–8	8–10	—	9–9	9–9	9–9	11–7	12–6	11–7
Detroit	7–11	12–6	9–9	9–9	—	13–5	10–8	8–10	10–8	11–7
Kansas City	7–11	7–11	5–13	9–9	5–13	—	5–13	8–10	7–11	6–12
Los Angeles/California	5–13	13–5	6–12	9–9	8–10	13–5	—	9–9	6–12	6–12
Minnesota	10–8	17–1	11–7	7–11	10–8	10–8	9–9	—	13–5	15–3
New York	5–13	9–9	10–8	6–12	8–10	11–7	12–6	5–13	—	11–7
Washington	10–8	7–11	5–13	7–11	7–11	12–6	12–6	3–15	7–11	—

NOTE: The Los Angeles Angels changed their name to California Angels on September 2, 1965, with the season in progress.

Notable transactions

• May 13, 1965: Merritt Ranew was purchased by the Angels from the San Francisco Giants.^[8]
• June 8, 1965: Joe Henderson was drafted by the Angels in the 5th round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft.^[9]
• June 15, 1965: Phil Roof was traded by the Angels to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later and cash. The Indians completed the deal by sending Bubba Morton to the Angels on September 15, 1965.^[5]

Roster

1965 Los Angeles / California Angels
Roster
Pitchers 43 George Brunet 31 Dean Chance 46 Jim Coates 38 Aubrey Gatewood 34 Barry Latman 39 Bob Lee 48 Don Lee 33 Marcelino López 40 Rudy May 37 Ken McBride 41 Jim McGlothlin 17 Fred Newman 23 Ron Piché 49 Jack Sanford 23 Ed Sukla 25 Dick Wantz		Catchers 30 Tom Egan 19 Merritt Ranew  7 Buck Rodgers 16 Phil Roof Infielders  6 Joe Adcock 23 Charlie Dees 11 Jim Fregosi 44 Julio Gotay 12 Jackie Hernández 29 Bobby Knoop  1 Joe Koppe 14 Vic Power  2 Tom Satriano 42 Paul Schaal 12 Costen Shockley		Outfielders 27 José Cardenal 24 Gino Cimoli 15 Lou Clinton  8 Ed Kirkpatrick 28 Albie Pearson  4 Jimmy Piersall 20 Rick Reichardt 10 Dick Simpson 24 Bobby Gene Smith 35 Willie Smith 26 Al Spangler		Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches  5 Marv Grissom  3 Jack Paepke 21 Salty Parker  9 Del Rice

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Buck Rodgers	132	411	86	.209	1	32
1B	Joe Adcock	122	349	84	.241	14	47
2B	Bobby Knoop	142	465	125	.269	7	43
SS	Jim Fregosi	161	602	167	.277	15	64
3B	Paul Schaal	155	483	108	.224	9	45
LF	Willie Smith	136	459	120	.261	14	57
CF	José Cardenal	134	512	128	.250	11	57
RF	Albie Pearson	122	360	100	.278	4	21

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
Lou Clinton	89	222	54	.243	1	8
Vic Power	124	197	51	.259	1	20
Jim Piersall	53	112	30	.268	2	12
Costen Shockley	40	107	20	.187	2	17
Al Spangler	51	96	25	.260	0	1
Merritt Ranew	41	91	19	.209	1	10
Tom Satriano	47	79	13	.165	1	4
Julio Gotay	40	77	19	.247	1	3
Rick Reichardt	20	75	20	.267	1	6
Ed Kirkpatrick	19	73	19	.260	3	8
Bob Smith	23	57	13	.228	0	5
Tom Egan	18	38	10	.263	0	1
Joe Koppe	23	33	7	.212	1	2
Charlie Dees	12	32	5	.156	0	1
Dick Simpson	8	27	6	.222	0	3
Phil Roof	9	22	3	.136	0	0
Jackie Hernández	6	6	2	.333	0	1
Gino Cimoli	4	5	0	.000	0	1

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
Fred Newman	36	260.2	14	16	2.93	109
Dean Chance	36	225.2	15	10	3.15	164
Marcelino López	35	215.1	14	13	2.93	122
Jim McGlothlin	3	18.0	0	3	3.50	9

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
George Brunet	41	197.0	9	11	2.56	141
Rudy May	30	124.0	4	9	3.92	76
Jack Sanford	9	29.1	1	2	4.60	13
Ken McBride	8	22.0	0	3	6.14	11

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
Bob Lee	69	9	7	23	1.92	89
Aubrey Gatewood	46	4	5	0	3.42	37
Ed Sukla	25	2	3	3	4.50	15
Barry Latman	18	1	1	0	2.84	18
Jim Coates	17	2	0	3	3.54	15
Ron Piché	14	0	3	0	6.86	14
Don Lee	10	0	1	0	6.43	12
Dick Wantz	1	0	0	0	18.00	2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Seattle Angels	Pacific Coast League	Bob Lemon
AA	El Paso Sun Kings	Texas League	Chuck Tanner
A	San Jose Bees	California League	Rocky Bridges
A	Quad Cities Angels	Midwest League	Harry Dunlop and Ken Blackman
Rookie	Idaho Falls Angels	Pioneer League	Fred Koenig

Notes

1. Baseball Reference: 1965 Miscellaneous Team Information
2. Babicz, Martin C.; Zeiler, Thomas W. (2017). National Pastime: U.S. History Through Baseball. Lanham, Maryland; Boulder, Colorado; New York; London: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-4422-3584-7.
3. United Press International (September 3, 1965). "Los Angeles Angels Now California Angels". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
4. Baseball Almanac
5. Phil Roof at Baseball-Reference
6. Bo Belinsky at Baseball-Reference
7. Bobby Gene Smith at Baseball-Reference
8. Merritt Ranew at Baseball-Reference
9. Joe Henderson at Baseball-Reference

References

• 1965 California Angels team at Baseball-Reference
• 1965 California Angels team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.