The 1965 major league baseball season began on April 12, 1965. The regular season ended on October 3, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 62nd World Series on October 6 and ended with Game 7 on October 14. The Dodgers defeated the Twins, four games to three, capturing their fourth championship in franchise history, since their previous in . Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the St. Louis Cardinals from the season.
The 36th Major League Baseball All-Star Game, was held on July 13 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, home of the Minnesota Twins. The National League won, 6âÂÂ5.
The Houston Colt .45s became the Houston Astros, as they moved from Colt Stadium to the new Astrodome, becoming the first team to play their home games indoors, rather than outdoors. It was also the final season for the Milwaukee Braves, before relocating to Atlanta, Georgia and becoming the Atlanta Braves for the season. The Los Angeles Angels officially changed their name to California Angels on September 2, 1965, with only 28 games left in the season, in advance of their pending 1966 move to a new stadium in Anaheim, California.
In June, the first Major League Baseball draft was held in New York City. Teams chose players in reverse order of the previous season's standings, with picks alternating between American League and National League teams. With the first pick of the 1965 MLB draft, the Kansas City Athletics took Rick Monday, an outfielder from Arizona State University.
This was Ford Frick's last season of his 14-year tenure as Commissioner of Baseball, as he resigned following the season's end on November 16. US Army LTG William Eckert was elected and took office on November 17.
The 1965 schedule consisted of 162 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had ten teams. Each team was scheduled to play 18 games against the other nine teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place by the American League since the season and by the National League since the season, and would be used until .
Opening Day took place on April 12, featuring 16 teams. The final day of the regular season was on October 3, which saw all 20 teams play. The World Series took place between October 6 and October 14.
The 1965 season saw the following rule changes:
The postseason began on October 6 and ended on October 14 with the Los Angeles Dodgers defeating the Minnesota Twins in the 1965 World Series in seven games.
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<sup>1</sup> National League Triple Crown pitching winner
The Houston Colt .45s open the Houston Astrodome (and aptly rename as the Houston Astros) after playing at Colt Stadium for three seasons. The team would play at the Houston Astrodome for 35 seasons through .
The Milwaukee Braves would play their final game at Milwaukee County Stadium on September 22 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, relocating to Atlanta, Georgia at Atlanta Stadium as the Atlanta Braves for the start of the season.
The California Angels would play their final two games at Dodger Stadium on September 22 in a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, moving into Anaheim Stadium for the start of the season.
In 1965, ABC provided the first-ever nationwide baseball coverage with weekly Saturday broadcasts on a regional basis. ABC paid $5.7 million for the rights to the 28 Saturday/holiday Games of the Week. ABC's deal covered all of the teams except the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies (who had their own television deals) and called for two regionalized games on Saturdays, Independence Day, and Labor Day. Each Saturday, ABC broadcast two 2 p.m. ET games and one game for the Pacific Time Zone at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m local time.
Although MLB ended the Game of the Week blackouts in cities with MLB clubs, ABC blacked out the games in the home cities of the clubs playing those games.
Meanwhile, CBS continued to air its own slate of Games of the Week with the rights to individual teams, with its New York Yankees games in particular beating ABC in the ratings. At the end of the season, ABC declined to exercise its $6.5 million option for 1966, citing poor ratings, especially in New York.
Although it did not air Games of the Week this season, NBC continued to air the All-Star Game and World Series.