1965

The U.S. sent the first 3,500 combat troops to Vietnam. Congress passed the Voting Rights Bill that guaranteed black Americans their right to vote. There were race riots in the Watts section of Los Angeles. 

 Minnesota Twins roared to the American League pennant and then to a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1965 World Series before crashing back to earth. 

• Lou Hudson and Minnesota Gopher basketball were ranked as high as #4 in the nation, and finished second in the Big 10.

• St. John’s football and coach John Gagliardi won their second national championship with ease, 33-0, over Linfield, OR. 

#9 Leader Calvin Griffith The Griffith family owned the Washington Senators from 1920 to 1984, with Calvin taking over for his adopted father Clark in 1955. He moved the Senators to Minnesota in 1961. Later, he would become one of Minnesota’s leading sporting villains, but in 1961 he was a hero. The Senators had been weak, of course. Attendance in Washington was never great, and the Griffiths lacked the money to compete with the big boys, especially those damn New York Yankees. But, in the late 1950s, Calvin invested some money in the Senators’ scouting and farm system. He developed a pipeline to Cuba, which served him fabulously well over the years. It all came together with the Twins first AL pennant in 1965. A decade later, however, after the introduction of free agency, his revenues were again woefully inadequate to the new era. Stars like Rod Carew and others left the team seeking greener pastures, and attendance plummeted to well under a million. Ironically, his farm system would produce a number of major league stars in his final years as owner, and they would lead the Twins to their first world title in 1987. But, by then, Griffith was gone, a prophet without honor—forced to sell the team to a far wealthier man, Carl Pohlad, in 1984.

#38 Athlete Zoilo Versalles Shortstop Zoilo Versalles was the sparkplug behind the Twins 1965 pennant. The young shortstop finally fulfilled his considerable potential at 20-86-.285. He scored 126 runs, won a Gold Glove and was named AL MVP. Five years earlier, when Versalles first arrived in Minnesota with the rest of the former Washington Senators, one of his teammates said, “Right now, he can’t pronounce Minnesota. In a couple of years, he’ll own it.” As early as 1962, he hit 17 home runs, led the league with 501 assists, and got a smattering of MVP votes. In 1963, he hit .263, led the league in triples, won a Gold Glove, and played in the all-star game.   In 1965, he put it all together, leading the league in plate appearances, at bats, runs, doubles, triples, extra-base hits and total bases. He was second in assists and third in stolen bases, and was a near-unanimous pick as MVP. He soon developed back troubles and his play quickly deteriorated. The Twins traded him to the Dodgers in 1967. He did not play well. He spent 1971 in the Mexican League and 1972 in Japan, then retired at the age of 33.

Honorable Mention Athlete

Lou Hudson

In 1959, Murray Warmath decided that the Minnesota Gopher football team could not win with Minnesota boys, and he decided to recruit African-American athletes from the south, where they could not play for their segregated state universities. He won a national title in 1960. In 1964, Minnesota Gopher basketball coach John Kundla made the same decision and recruited Lou Hudson from Greensboro, NC, along with classmates Archie Clark from Michigan and Don Yates, from Sandy Stephens’ hometown of Uniontown, PA. The Gophers improved from 12-12 to 17-7, and finished third in the Big 10 at 10-4. In 1965, they were even better at 19-5 and 11-3, good for second in the conference. Now, 1966 would be their year. Instead, Hudson broke his right (shooting) hand early in the year, missed seven games, then played 17 games with a cast on his right hand. Shooting left-handed, he scored 19.5 ppg but the Gophers slumped to 14-10.

So, it was 1965 that was really the last hurrah for Hudson and his class and even for coach Kundla, who retired three years later after going 7-17. But, in 1965, Kundla’s Gophers started 4-0 and ranked #4 in the nation. On December 15, however, guard Terry Kunze was suspended for the 1965 calendar year for cheating on a test. Still, the Gophers finished their non-conference schedule 8-2, losing twice in the Los Angeles Holiday Classic, to UCLA and Big 10 rival Iowa 76-74, in what counted as a non-conference game. 

They opened the Big 10 schedule at 8-1, losing only at third place Illinois. Then, defending Big 10 champion Michigan came to Williams Arena for the biggest Gopher game in more than a decade. They had beaten Michigan in 1964, 89-75, but could not repeat. Michigan, with the great Cazzie Russell, beat the Gophers 91-78, then won at Michigan ten days later, 88-85. 

Hudson averaged 18 points and eight rebounds as a sophomore. As a junior, he scored 25 ppg with eleven boards, and was named first team all-American and all-Big 10. He average 20 ppg and nine rebounds in three seasons, but never quite got the Gophers over the hump. He went on to score 20 ppg in 14 NBA seasons while shooting 49 percent from the field. His number was retired both at Minnesota and by the Atlanta Hawks. 

Year	Athlete of the Year	Team of the Year	Coach of the Year	Event of the Year
1965	1. Zoilo Versalles, Minnesota Twins, SS 2. Lou Hudson, Minnesota Gopher basketball 3. Oliva	1. Minnesota Twins (105-64 including World Series, American League champion) 2. Minnesota Gopher basketball (19-5) 3. St. John’s football (MIAC and NAIA champions)	1. Griffith 2. Kundla, Minnesota Gopher basketball 3. Gagliardi	1. The Twins played in their first World Series, losing to the L.A. Dodgers 4 games to 3 and 2-0 in game 7 on a Sandy Koufax 2-hitter. 2. The baseball All-Star Game was played at Met Stadium. The NL won 6-5 despite a Killebrew home run. 3. St. John’s won its second national title, 33-0 over Linfield (OR).