1965 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1965 Season

The 1965 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1965 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1965

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Sandy Koufax	25.0	14.5	11.7	14.1	1	Sandy Koufax	25.0	14.5	11.7	14.1
2	Juan Marichal	22.0	15.2	8.0	10.2	2	Juan Marichal	22.0	15.2	8.0	10.2
3	Willie Mays	26.5	17.6	7.9	10.1	3	Willie Mays	26.5	17.6	7.9	10.1
4	Don Drysdale	23.0	17.6	6.7	9.1	4	Don Drysdale	23.0	17.6	6.7	9.1
5	Willie McCovey	21.2	13.1	6.7	8.4	5	Tony Oliva	22.5	14.7	6.5	8.4
6	Tony Oliva	22.5	14.7	6.5	8.4	6	Willie McCovey	21.2	13.1	6.7	8.4
7	Zoilo Versalles	23.8	18.4	6.2	8.3	7	Zoilo Versalles	23.8	18.4	6.2	8.3
8	Jim Bunning	19.3	14.2	6.1	8.2	8	Jim Bunning	19.3	14.2	6.1	8.2
9	Jim Maloney	17.6	13.3	5.6	7.4	9	Jim Maloney	17.6	13.3	5.6	7.4
10	Bob Allison	20.0	13.6	5.5	7.2	10	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	18.9	14.5	5.3	7.4

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Sandy Koufax	23.0	16.6	7.9	10.3	1	Sandy Koufax	23.0	16.6	7.9	10.3
2	Juan Marichal	21.7	15.5	7.7	10.0	2	Juan Marichal	21.7	15.5	7.7	10.0
3	Willie Mays	26.1	18.1	7.0	9.2	3	Willie Mays	26.1	18.1	7.0	9.2
4	Ron Santo	24.3	18.3	5.3	7.4	4	Ron Santo	24.3	18.3	5.3	7.4
5	Jimmy Wynn	25.8	19.6	5.1	7.4	5	Jimmy Wynn	25.8	19.6	5.1	7.4
6	Sam McDowell	19.3	15.8	5.0	7.2	6	Sam McDowell	19.3	15.8	5.0	7.2
7	Zoilo Versalles	23.0	19.2	4.7	6.8	7	Zoilo Versalles	23.0	19.2	4.7	6.8
8	Willie McCovey	20.2	14.1	4.5	6.3	8	Jim Bunning	18.3	15.2	4.3	6.3
9	Jim Bunning	18.3	15.2	4.3	6.3	9	Billy Williams	24.9	19.2	4.1	6.3
10	Billy Williams	24.9	19.2	4.1	6.3	10	Willie McCovey	20.2	14.1	4.5	6.3

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1965 at the end of this article.

1965 World Series

The World Series came to Minnesota for the first time ever in 1965 with the Twins losing a 7-game series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The top player performance in the 1965 World Series, as measured by Player won-lost records, should surprise no one who's familiar with the '65 Series. Player won-lost records like two complete-game shutouts in the final three games of the series as much as you would expect them to.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1965 World Series

Sandy Koufax	LAN	1.6	0.7	0.8
Ron Fairly	LAN	1.1	0.7	0.5
Mudcat Grant	MIN	1.8	1.3	0.5
Johnny Roseboro	LAN	1.1	0.7	0.4
Wes Parker	LAN	0.8	0.4	0.3

Best of 1965 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1965 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	18.4	11.0	6.9	1	Willie Mays	18.8	10.5	7.8
2	Willie McCovey	16.6	10.8	5.3	2	Willie McCovey	17.7	9.8	7.5
3	Ron Santo	17.1	11.8	4.9	3	Harmon Killebrew	12.7	6.8	5.7
4	Billy Williams	17.5	12.3	4.6	4	Tony Oliva	14.7	9.2	5.1
5	Frank Robinson	16.3	11.5	4.4	5	Billy Williams	17.4	12.4	4.5
6	Jimmy Wynn	16.3	11.4	4.4	6	Curt Blefary	13.6	8.9	4.4
7	Hank Aaron	14.2	9.8	4.0	7	Johnny Callison	16.4	11.7	4.2
8	Rocky Colavito	16.4	12.3	3.6	8	Jim Ray Hart	16.4	11.8	4.1
9	Norm Cash	13.5	9.6	3.5	9	Fred Whitfield	13.5	9.0	4.1
10	Willie Horton	14.8	11.0	3.4	10	Frank Robinson	16.1	11.7	4.0

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Tommy Harper	2.1	1.0	1.1	1	Zoilo Versalles	2.2	0.9	1.3
2	Vic Davalillo	2.3	1.4	0.9	2	Tommy Harper	2.2	0.9	1.2
3	Zoilo Versalles	2.0	1.1	0.8	3	Luis Aparicio	1.8	0.9	0.8
4	Jimmy Wynn	2.1	1.3	0.8	4	Jimmy Wynn	2.1	1.3	0.8
5	Bob Allison	1.5	0.8	0.7	5	Willie Davis	1.8	1.0	0.7
6	Dick Howser	1.4	0.7	0.7	6	Tony Oliva	1.8	1.1	0.7
7	Lenny Green	1.2	0.6	0.6	7	Bob Allison	1.5	0.8	0.6
8	Tony Oliva	1.8	1.2	0.6	8	Dick Howser	1.4	0.7	0.6
9	Willie Mays	1.7	1.2	0.5	9	Roberto Clemente	1.4	0.8	0.6
10	Willie Davis	1.7	1.1	0.5	10	Wes Parker	1.8	1.2	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Juan Marichal	19.1	13.7	5.4	1	Sandy Koufax	22.9	12.1	10.7
2	Sandy Koufax	20.1	14.9	5.2	2	Juan Marichal	20.2	12.6	7.7
3	Sam McDowell	17.6	13.1	4.5	3	Jim Bunning	17.6	12.0	5.6
4	Stu Miller	8.4	5.3	3.1	4	Stu Miller	9.4	4.2	5.2
5	Jim Bunning	16.3	13.3	3.0	5	Jim Maloney	15.7	10.8	4.9
6	George Brunet	11.9	9.1	2.8	6	Sam McDowell	17.6	13.2	4.4
7	Chris Short	17.1	14.4	2.7	7	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	17.0	12.6	4.4
8	Bob Shaw	13.3	10.7	2.7	8	Don Drysdale	18.4	14.1	4.3
9	Fred Newman	14.8	12.2	2.7	9	Mudcat Grant	15.9	11.8	4.1
10	Bob Veale	15.8	13.2	2.5	10	Bob Shaw	13.8	10.2	3.6

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Fred Newman	0.8	0.5	0.3	1	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	0.7	0.4	0.3
2	Larry Jackson	0.6	0.3	0.3	2	Frank Linzy	0.4	0.1	0.3
3	Ted Abernathy	0.4	0.1	0.3	3	Denny McLain	0.3	0.0	0.3
4	Denny McLain	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Ted Abernathy	0.4	0.1	0.3
5	Stu Miller	0.3	0.1	0.2	5	Stu Miller	0.3	0.1	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Chris Cannizzaro	1.8	1.1	0.7	1	Chris Cannizzaro	1.8	1.1	0.7
2	Tom Haller	1.7	1.5	0.2	2	Johnny Romano	1.3	0.9	0.4
3	Clay Dalrymple	1.4	1.2	0.2	3	Elston Howard	1.2	0.9	0.3
4	Jake Gibbs	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Joe Azcue	1.2	0.9	0.3
5	Johnny Edwards	1.3	1.1	0.2	5	Tom Haller	1.8	1.5	0.3


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Wes Parker	2.2	1.7	0.5	1	Wes Parker	2.3	1.7	0.6
2	Tommy McCraw	0.6	0.3	0.4	2	Tommy McCraw	0.7	0.2	0.5
3	Bill DeKova White	2.4	2.1	0.4	3	Dick Nen	1.2	0.7	0.5
4	Ed Kranepool	2.5	2.2	0.3	4	Don Mincher	1.5	1.2	0.4
5	Ernie Banks	3.2	2.9	0.3	5	Tony Perez	1.2	0.9	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bill Mazeroski	5.8	4.8	1.0	1	Bill Mazeroski	6.4	4.2	2.1
2	Dal Maxvill	1.5	1.0	0.5	2	Jerry Adair	6.7	5.2	1.4
3	Jerry Adair	6.1	5.7	0.4	3	Jim Lefebvre	6.5	5.2	1.2
4	Don Blasingame	3.4	3.0	0.4	4	Dal Maxvill	1.8	0.8	1.0
5	Frank Quilici	1.5	1.1	0.3	5	Don Blasingame	3.5	2.9	0.5


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Don Wert	4.8	3.5	1.3	1	Don Wert	4.9	3.4	1.5
2	Ron Santo	5.9	5.2	0.8	2	Jim Ray Hart	4.6	3.5	1.1
3	Charley Smith	4.5	3.8	0.7	3	Brooks Robinson	5.1	4.2	0.9
4	Pete Ward	5.1	4.4	0.7	4	Pete Ward	5.1	4.4	0.7
5	Clete Boyer	5.0	4.6	0.4	5	Rich Rollins	3.2	2.7	0.5


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Maury Wills	7.8	6.3	1.5	1	Maury Wills	7.9	6.2	1.6
2	Ron Hansen	7.9	7.2	0.7	2	Zoilo Versalles	6.9	5.5	1.4
3	Zoilo Versalles	6.5	5.8	0.7	3	Luis Aparicio	6.3	4.9	1.4
4	Luis Aparicio	5.9	5.3	0.6	4	Ron Hansen	8.1	6.9	1.2
5	Dick Schofield Sr.	5.6	5.0	0.5	5	Gene Alley	5.4	4.4	1.0


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Lou Brock	6.6	5.4	1.2	1	Bob Allison	6.8	4.9	1.9
2	Bob Allison	6.2	5.5	0.8	2	Tom Tresh	2.8	1.8	1.0
3	Ron Swoboda	3.8	3.2	0.7	3	Alex Johnson	2.9	2.2	0.7
4	Curt Blefary	2.9	2.4	0.5	4	Len Gabrielson Jr.	2.7	2.0	0.7
5	Danny Cater	4.5	4.1	0.4	5	Lou Brock	6.3	5.6	0.7


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Vic Davalillo	5.0	3.9	1.0	1	Vic Davalillo	5.0	3.8	1.2
2	Jimmie Hall	5.0	4.0	1.0	2	Jimmie Hall	5.1	4.0	1.1
3	Al Kaline	1.9	1.3	0.6	3	Ken Berry	5.8	4.9	0.9
4	Cleon Jones	0.9	0.5	0.4	4	Curt Flood	6.2	5.3	0.9
5	Ken Berry	5.5	5.2	0.3	5	Jose Cardenal	5.8	5.0	0.8


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tony Oliva	5.7	4.4	1.3	1	Tony Oliva	5.9	4.2	1.7
2	Roberto Clemente	6.5	6.0	0.5	2	Roberto Clemente	6.7	5.7	1.0
3	Sam Bowens	1.9	1.4	0.5	3	Rocky Colavito	6.5	5.6	0.9
4	Mike Shannon	2.7	2.3	0.4	4	Russ Snyder	1.7	1.0	0.7
5	Johnny Callison	7.4	7.0	0.4	5	Sam Bowens	2.0	1.3	0.6

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1965 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe Torre	11.4	8.9	3.0	1	Joe Torre	12.0	8.4	4.0
2	Jim Pagliaroni	11.4	10.1	1.9	2	Jim Pagliaroni	11.9	9.6	2.8
3	Earl Battey	10.9	9.6	1.9	3	Earl Battey	11.4	9.2	2.7
4	Johnny Romano	9.3	8.0	1.7	4	Gene Oliver	7.4	5.2	2.5
5	Johnny Edwards	9.0	7.7	1.7	5	Don Pavletich	5.5	3.3	2.3


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie McCovey	19.7	14.0	4.0	1	Willie McCovey	20.8	12.9	6.4
2	Norm Cash	16.3	12.3	2.5	2	Don Mincher	11.6	7.2	3.6
3	Bill DeKova White	16.5	12.9	2.0	3	Harmon Killebrew	9.1	5.8	2.6
4	Harmon Killebrew	8.5	6.4	1.4	4	Norm Cash	16.2	12.4	2.3
5	Don Mincher	10.5	8.2	1.3	5	Fred Whitfield	14.5	11.1	2.0


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Joe L. Morgan	22.0	19.4	3.2	1	Jim Lefebvre	20.9	16.8	4.7
2	Pete Rose Sr.	21.0	19.6	2.1	2	Jerry Adair	20.5	18.2	3.0
3	Jim Lefebvre	19.6	18.1	2.1	3	Pete Rose Sr.	21.4	19.2	2.8
4	Don Buford	17.0	15.5	2.0	4	Bill Mazeroski	17.1	14.8	2.8
5	Bill Mazeroski	16.4	15.5	1.4	5	Don Buford	17.1	15.4	2.3


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Ron Santo	24.1	18.5	4.7	1	Ron Santo	23.6	19.0	3.7
2	Dick Allen	22.0	18.1	3.0	2	Jim Ray Hart	19.6	15.4	3.4
3	Eddie Mathews	18.9	15.7	2.4	3	Brooks Robinson	20.8	16.6	3.3
4	Deron Johnson	19.6	16.9	1.8	4	Eddie Mathews	19.3	15.4	3.2
5	Jim Ray Hart	18.6	16.4	1.3	5	Jim Gilliam	10.7	8.1	2.3


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Zoilo Versalles	22.7	19.5	4.2	1	Zoilo Versalles	23.8	18.4	6.2
2	Jim Fregosi	22.6	20.8	2.7	2	Maury Wills	23.0	21.1	2.9
3	Dick McAuliffe	13.6	11.9	2.2	3	Luis Aparicio	18.2	16.8	2.2
4	Maury Wills	22.4	21.6	1.9	4	Ron Hansen	21.0	19.7	2.2
5	Leo Cardenas	18.1	17.7	1.2	5	Gene Alley	13.2	11.6	2.1


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bob Allison	17.9	14.0	2.8	1	Bob Allison	19.2	14.0	5.5
2	Willie Horton	17.4	14.5	1.7	2	Willie Horton	18.0	14.5	2.8
3	Carl Yastrzemski	17.7	14.9	1.5	3	Lou Johnson	16.0	13.2	2.6
4	Lou Brock	21.2	18.1	1.5	4	Curt Blefary	9.9	7.4	2.2
5	Curt Blefary	9.5	7.4	1.4	5	Leon Wagner	18.8	15.7	2.2


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Willie Mays	24.8	17.7	6.0	1	Willie Mays	25.7	16.8	8.0
2	Jimmy Wynn	25.2	19.8	4.3	2	Jimmy Wynn	25.0	19.9	3.9
3	Mack Jones	14.8	11.8	2.2	3	Jimmie Hall	18.2	13.9	3.3
4	Vada Pinson	22.3	19.0	2.1	4	Mack Jones	15.1	11.6	2.7
5	Al Kaline	8.5	6.1	2.0	5	Vada Pinson	22.6	18.7	2.7


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Tony Oliva	20.5	15.3	3.7	1	Tony Oliva	21.7	14.1	6.2
2	Hank Aaron	22.3	17.3	3.5	2	Billy Williams	17.7	12.6	3.9
3	Billy Williams	17.3	13.0	3.2	3	Johnny Callison	25.0	19.6	3.8
4	Frank Robinson	22.2	17.5	3.1	4	Rocky Colavito	24.0	18.9	3.4
5	Roberto Clemente	22.0	17.8	2.7	5	Frank Robinson	22.1	17.5	3.0


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Juan Marichal	19.4	13.9	5.6	1	Sandy Koufax	23.1	12.4	10.9
2	Sandy Koufax	20.4	15.1	5.4	2	Juan Marichal	20.5	12.9	7.7
3	Sam McDowell	17.1	13.5	3.7	3	Jim Bunning	18.3	12.5	5.9
4	Fred Newman	15.7	12.7	3.1	4	Jim Maloney	16.0	11.0	5.1
5	Jim Bunning	16.9	13.9	3.1	5	Mel Stottlemyre Sr.	17.7	12.9	4.8
6	George Brunet	11.0	8.3	2.7	6	Mudcat Grant	16.3	11.7	4.7
7	Chris Short	17.0	14.5	2.6	7	Don Drysdale	19.0	15.0	4.1
8	Bob Veale	16.1	13.7	2.5	8	Bob Shaw	13.3	9.6	3.7
9	Jim Maloney	14.7	12.3	2.5	9	Bob Veale	16.6	13.2	3.5
10	Sonny Siebert	10.2	8.0	2.3	10	Denny McLain	13.0	9.6	3.4


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Stu Miller	8.7	5.4	3.2	1	Stu Miller	9.8	4.3	5.3
2	Ted Abernathy	8.8	6.9	1.7	2	Eddie Fisher	10.3	6.6	3.6
3	Eddie Fisher	9.3	7.5	1.7	3	Frank Linzy	6.9	4.0	2.8
4	Frank Linzy	6.4	4.6	1.7	4	Bob Lee	10.3	7.7	2.4
5	Hoyt Wilhelm	7.4	5.8	1.6	5	Dick Hall	6.3	3.8	2.4
6	Bob Lee	9.7	8.3	1.3	6	Ted Abernathy	9.0	6.7	2.2
7	Bobby Bolin	4.0	2.8	1.1	7	Hoyt Wilhelm	7.6	5.6	1.9
8	Dick Hall	5.7	4.5	1.1	8	Bobby Bolin	4.2	2.5	1.6
9	Billy O'Dell	6.8	5.6	1.1	9	Ron Kline	7.2	5.6	1.6
10	Bob Locker	3.9	3.0	0.9	10	Al McBean	7.2	5.5	1.6

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Don Drysdale	3.3	2.6	2.0	1	Don Drysdale	3.7	2.2	2.6
2	Bob Gibson	2.4	2.4	1.1	2	Bob Gibson	2.6	2.1	1.5
3	Earl Wilson	1.4	1.3	0.8	3	Vern Law	2.0	1.6	1.2


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Smoky Burgess	3.5	2.3	1.5	1	Joe Gaines	1.8	0.7	1.2
2	Manny Mota	1.7	0.9	0.9	2	Smoky Burgess	3.3	2.4	1.2
3	Joe Gaines	1.6	0.9	0.8	3	Manny Mota	1.8	0.8	1.1


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Al Weis	0.4	0.1	0.3	1	Al Weis	0.4	0.1	0.4
2	Tommy McCraw	0.3	0.1	0.2	2	Tommy McCraw	0.3	0.0	0.2
3	Dick Howser	0.2	0.0	0.1	3	Marty Keough	0.2	0.1	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 1965

Sandy Koufax vs. Juan Marichal

The 1965 MVP awards went to Willie Mays and Zoilo Versalles, while the Cy Young Award (there was only one across both leagues through 1966) went to Sandy Koufax. Going back to the first four tables of this article, I would have voted for Koufax as NL MVP as well as Cy Young winner, but taking for granted the "pitcher shouldn't win the MVP because he has his own award" school of thought, this is a pretty solid set of choices: Versalles is among the top two American League players on all four of the above tables, Koufax is the top pitcher (and top player, period) on all four tables, and Mays is the top National League non-pitcher on all four tables.

Almost certainly the second-best pitcher in the National League (and major leagues) in 1965 - and arguably the second-best player in the major leagues - was Juan Marichal. From 1963 - 1969, Marichal's rank among National League pitchers in pWORL was as follows: 2nd (behind Koufax), 2nd (behind Larry Jackson), 2nd (in 1965 as seen above), 1st, unranked (he only started 26 games in 1967), 2nd (behind Bob Gibson), and 2nd (behind Tom Seaver).

For all of that - one 1st and five 2nds in seven seasons - Juan Marichal received exactly zero Cy Young votes. Not entirely because he was underrated (although I think he was better than the actual Cy Young winner in 1966), but because Cy Young ballots only listed one pitcher - and through 1966, they only listed one pitcher in both leagues. Sandy Koufax was a unanimous choice for the 1965 Cy Young Award, and looking at the above tables, it's pretty hard to argue with that. But because of the timing of his career, the only Cy Young vote that Juan Marichal ever got was a single third-place vote in 1971 (when I have him 5th in pWORL among National League pitchers).

Sandy Koufax's and Juan Marichal's careers overlapped for seven seasons, from 1960 through 1966. Here's how they compare in pWins for those seasons.

Season	Games	pWins	pLosses	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLosses	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
	Sandy Koufax						Juan Marichal
1960	37	10.5	12.5	0.457	-1.5	-0.1	11	5.1	3.4	0.601	2.1	2.5
1961	42	17.4	15.8	0.523	2.3	4.3	30	12.7	11.7	0.519	1.5	3.0
1962	28	11.8	9.2	0.562	3.3	4.6	38	17.9	15.4	0.537	3.3	5.3
1963	40	22.5	13.3	0.630	10.2	12.4	42	22.6	16.0	0.585	7.4	9.8
1964	29	15.7	11.2	0.583	5.3	7.1	33	18.4	12.8	0.589	6.6	8.6
1965	43	25.0	14.5	0.633	11.7	14.1	39	22.0	15.2	0.591	8.0	10.2
1966	41	22.8	16.1	0.587	7.8	10.1	37	22.6	14.3	0.613	9.2	11.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
1960 - 1966	260	125.8	92.6	0.576	39.0	52.6	230	121.2	88.9	0.577	38.0	50.9

This is not to take anything away from Sandy Koufax. His 1965 and 1963 seasons were among the best player-seasons since World War II. But Juan Marichal matched his value over those seven seasons and then went out and followed that up with seven more full seasons, at least three of which were excellent.

Worse in Context: Ron Santo

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins, and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

One player who shows up in the top 5 in both for eWOPA and eWORL (4th in both) but not among the top 10 in pWOPA and pWORL is Ron Santo. The 1965 season was fairly typical of Ron Santo's career in this regard and helps, I think, to explain part of why he had so much trouble getting elected to the Hall of Fame.

Working through the tables in this article, controlling for context, Ron Santo ranked in the top 3 in the major-leagues in net batting wins in 1965. Defensively, he finished second in net fielding wins at third base. Oh, and if you're wondering if maybe playing time was issue: no, Santo actually played 164 games in 1965. That's obviously a heck of a combination. It is not a big surprise, then, that we see Santo's name among the top 5 players in both eWOPA and eWORL.

So what did all of that translate into in terms of Santo's team, the Chicago Cubs? Not much. The 1965 Cubs finished in 8th place in the 10-team NL, with a final record of 72-90 (and 2 ties - hence, Santo's 164 games played). Obviously, this wasn't Santo's fault. It was the fault of the situation he found himself in. Billy Williams was in his Hall-of-Fame prime, Ernie Banks was past his Hall-of-Fame prime, but was still a pretty good hitter. Moving beyond Hall-of-Famers, Larry Jackson wasn't a bad starting pitcher, although 1964 had been his peak season. And Ted Abernathy was a pretty good relief pitcher. And that was about it.

If you try to tie player performances to team results, inevitably, you end up reducing the value of good players on bad teams, because so much of their good results end up going for naught. The next table shows how Ron Santo's 1965 season looks both ways, in pWins and eWins.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Ron Santo	164	23.6	19.0	0.554	3.7	5.8	24.3	18.3	0.571	5.3	7.4

For his career, Ron Santo earned 63.0 eWins over replacement level (eWORL) but only 53.3 career pWORL. This is essentially the statistical representation of the argument that was sometimes made against Ron Santo's Hall-of-Fame case: "How great could Santo have been if the Cubs never won anything?" Just to be clear: I don't think this is a fair criticism of Ron Santo, and I would have elected him to the Hall of Fame while he was still alive. I just think Player won-lost records help to clarify the disconnect in Ron Santo's perceived value.

Zoilo Versalles

Zoilo Versalles is sometimes mentioned as one of the worst MVP choices in major-league history. Frequently, I think that the way this is phrased in unfair to Versalles. Zoilo Versalles did not technically lead the American League in either pWins or eWins over either positional average (WOPA) or replacement level (WORL). But he is in the top 10 among major-league players in 1965 in each of the first four tables of this article. And, in fact, there is no American League player who ranks ahead of him in all four tables, so he has a credible case for an MVP.

And his MVP case is quite easy to see. He was the starting shortstop for the team that won the American League pennant and he led the American League in doubles, triples, total bases, and runs scored.

So, it's not fair to say that Versalles did not deserve his MVP award. But what is fair is to point out that Zoilo Versalles might well have had the worst non-MVP portion of his major-league career among any MVP award winner - certainly among those who deserved their award.

Versalles' career record is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Zoilo Versalles Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1959	WS1	19	29	1.7	2.8	-1.1	-0.9	2.0	2.5	-0.5	-0.2
1960	WS1	20	15	1.0	1.6	-0.5	-0.4	1.1	1.5	-0.4	-0.2
1961	MIN	21	129	15.4	18.0	-1.8	0.1	16.2	17.2	-0.2	1.7
1962	MIN	22	160	20.6	18.8	2.5	4.5	19.9	19.6	1.0	3.0
1963	MIN	23	159	19.6	19.8	0.7	2.6	19.7	19.7	0.9	2.8
1964	MIN	24	160	20.1	20.1	0.1	2.1	20.8	19.4	1.5	3.5
1965	MIN	25	160	23.8	18.4	6.2	8.3	23.0	19.2	4.7	6.8
1966	MIN	26	137	17.3	18.6	-0.4	1.2	17.2	18.6	-0.4	1.2
1967	MIN	27	160	17.8	21.1	-1.8	0.1	17.6	21.4	-2.2	-0.3
1968	LAN	28	122	13.4	15.9	-1.3	0.1	13.3	16.0	-1.5	0.0
1969	CLE	29	103	7.5	9.2	-1.5	-0.6	8.3	8.4	0.1	0.9
1971	ATL	31	65	5.1	5.8	-0.5	-0.0	4.9	6.1	-1.1	-0.6
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,399	163.3	170.1	0.6	17.3	163.8	169.6	2.0	18.6
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			7	1.2	1.0		0.4	1.3	1.0		0.4
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,406	164.5	171.2		17.6	165.1	170.6		19.1

His 1965 season didn't completely come out of nowhere. He became a regular major-league shortstop - and roughly a league-average one - at age 21 in 1961 in the Twins first season in Minnesota. He was above positional average the next three seasons before his huge breakthrough season in 1965 at age 25.

It is the post-1965 portion of his career that seems perplexing to me. It's not unusual for 25-year-old players to have "break-through" seasons that see them rise to a new level of performance. Robin Yount, Barry Larkin, Derek Jeter, and Ozzie Smith are examples of shortstops who took a step up from good to great in their mid-to-late 20s and proceeded to play at that higher level for several years. But not Versalles. Not only did he never come close to matching his 1965 season, he was never even able to match his league-average rookie season again, playing so badly in his age 29 season that he couldn't find a major-league job at age 30, just five years after his MVP season.

According to Versalles' SABR Bio (by Peter C. Bjarkman), his 1966 season was hampered by illness and injury, including a hematoma in his back that affected him through the rest of his career. Unfortunately, Versalles' post-baseball career was a sad and ultimately tragic story. A real shame.

Comings and Goings

Exit: Stage Left

One Hall-of-Famer made his final major-league appearance in 1965: Yogi Berra. The 3-time AL MVP rates as the career leader in pWins over positional average as well as replacement level among players who accumulated at least 50% of their career wins as a catcher.

The top 5 catchers in career pWORL, among players for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records:

	Top Players with Majority of Career Wins at Catcher (ranked by pWORL)
	pWins	pLosses	Win Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL
Yogi Berra	246.3	182.5	0.574	65.8	88.5
Johnny Bench	247.2	196.8	0.557	51.1	72.7
Bill Dickey	186.6	142.2	0.568	50.4	68.0
Carlton Fisk	251.9	219.3	0.535	43.1	65.8
Mickey Cochrane	165.7	120.5	0.579	50.2	65.3

And Yogi Berra's full career record.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Yogi Berra Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1946	NYA	21	7	0.8	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.7	0.5	0.2	0.3
1947	NYA	22	83	9.3	7.3	2.0	2.8	8.9	7.8	1.2	2.0
1948	NYA	23	125	14.1	11.7	2.4	3.8	13.7	12.1	1.5	2.9
1949	NYA	24	116	12.2	8.8	3.6	4.8	11.3	9.7	1.7	2.9
1950	NYA	25	151	18.0	11.8	6.4	7.9	16.7	13.1	3.7	5.3
1951	NYA	26	141	16.5	13.0	3.7	5.2	16.4	13.1	3.6	5.1
1952	NYA	27	142	18.1	11.7	6.5	8.1	17.2	12.7	4.7	6.3
1953	NYA	28	137	17.2	11.4	6.3	7.9	15.9	12.7	3.7	5.3
1954	NYA	29	151	19.0	12.3	6.8	8.6	18.0	13.3	4.8	6.6
1955	NYA	30	147	18.2	12.8	5.9	7.5	16.3	14.7	2.2	3.8
1956	NYA	31	140	18.0	12.2	5.9	7.5	17.4	12.9	4.6	6.2
1957	NYA	32	134	15.4	12.7	3.1	4.6	14.7	13.4	1.7	3.1
1958	NYA	33	122	13.3	11.3	1.9	3.1	12.9	11.7	1.2	2.4
1959	NYA	34	131	15.7	11.9	4.3	5.6	15.0	12.7	2.9	4.3
1960	NYA	35	120	11.8	9.2	2.6	3.7	11.0	10.0	1.0	2.1
1961	NYA	36	119	14.6	11.8	2.2	3.7	13.9	12.5	0.8	2.3
1962	NYA	37	85	8.4	7.4	0.9	1.8	7.7	8.1	-0.6	0.2
1963	NYA	38	64	5.4	4.3	1.3	1.8	5.1	4.6	0.7	1.2
1965	NYN	40	4	0.1	0.4	-0.2	-0.2	0.2	0.3	-0.2	-0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,119	246.3	182.5	65.8	88.5	233.0	195.8	39.3	62.1
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			75	8.5	7.3		2.1	8.4	7.3		2.0
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			2,194	254.8	189.7		90.6	241.4	203.1		64.1

Debut: Stage Right

The 1965 season saw the major-league debut of four pitchers each of whom would go on to win 20 or more games at least five times, win at least one Cy Young Award in the 1970s, win at least 220 games in their careers, and end up being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in the 1980s or 1990s.

Here's how their careers compare in Player won-lost records.

Season	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Steve Carlton				Jim Palmer				Fergie Jenkins				Catfish Hunter
1965	0.9	0.9	-0.0	0.1	4.0	4.6	-0.4	0.2	0.7	0.8	-0.1	0.0	7.3	9.6	-1.8	-0.7
1966	3.2	3.2	0.2	0.6	14.3	13.6	1.4	3.0	9.4	10.2	-0.3	1.2	11.4	13.6	-1.5	0.0
1967	13.0	11.0	2.6	4.0	2.5	3.1	-0.4	-0.1	20.2	17.5	3.8	6.0	17.2	16.8	1.4	3.4
1968	14.2	14.1	0.8	2.3					21.0	17.8	4.3	6.3	14.3	14.4	0.5	2.0
1969	16.1	15.1	1.8	3.7	12.7	7.7	5.5	6.7	22.0	17.4	5.7	8.0	15.7	16.6	-0.0	1.9
1970	16.0	17.8	-1.0	0.8	20.5	15.3	6.1	8.1	21.6	16.9	6.0	8.0	15.9	15.9	0.8	2.5
1971	18.6	16.1	3.2	5.2	19.9	14.4	6.4	8.3	24.1	17.4	7.7	10.0	20.6	15.5	6.0	8.0
1972	25.0	14.9	11.0	13.4	18.9	13.7	5.9	7.8	18.6	16.2	3.3	5.4	19.3	13.8	6.3	8.3
1973	18.5	21.6	-2.0	0.3	17.8	11.1	6.7	8.5	15.8	18.4	-1.7	0.2	14.0	11.9	2.1	3.7
1974	18.1	16.0	2.9	4.7	9.1	10.1	-0.9	0.2	22.7	14.4	8.4	10.6	17.8	13.2	4.6	6.4
1975	16.2	16.2	1.0	2.8	20.2	12.1	8.2	10.2	16.4	14.9	1.6	3.5	19.1	14.2	4.9	7.0
1976	17.0	12.6	5.3	6.9	19.2	13.4	5.9	7.8	11.1	11.4	-0.2	1.1	15.2	15.4	-0.1	1.7
1977	20.3	15.6	5.7	7.8	18.4	13.2	5.3	7.4	10.2	10.2	0.1	1.5	7.9	9.1	-1.2	-0.0
1978	15.5	15.4	0.9	2.6	17.5	13.3	4.2	6.0	14.7	10.3	4.3	5.9	8.2	7.1	1.1	2.0
1979	16.8	15.0	2.9	4.7	8.5	6.1	2.4	3.3	14.8	14.1	0.7	2.5	4.8	6.9	-2.0	-1.3
1980	19.8	13.2	7.8	9.6	11.7	10.9	0.9	2.3	12.3	11.8	0.6	2.0
1981	11.4	8.3	3.7	4.9	6.6	8.0	-1.3	-0.3	6.5	7.1	-0.6	0.3
1982	21.5	15.5	7.5	9.4	14.9	9.9	5.3	6.8	13.9	14.5	0.5	2.0
1983	17.5	16.9	2.0	3.9	4.1	4.0	0.1	0.7	8.9	11.1	-1.5	-0.4
1984	12.9	11.9	2.0	3.3	0.7	1.6	-0.9	-0.7
1985	4.7	6.9	-1.7	-1.1
1986	10.3	13.9	-3.1	-1.7
1987	7.6	12.3	-4.7	-3.4
1988	0.5	1.5	-1.0	-0.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS (Regular Season)	335.6	305.9	47.7	83.7	241.5	186.1	60.4	86.2	285.0	252.3	42.7	74.3	208.9	194.0	21.2	44.8
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
Postseason	6.8	6.6	0.3	0.9	7.8	5.5	1.3	1.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	8.0	7.7	0.2	0.9
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	342.3	312.4	48.0	84.6	249.4	191.6	61.8	88.1	285.0	252.3	42.7	74.3	216.8	201.7	21.4	45.8

In The New Bill James Historical Abstract, James observed that "[a] list of the most innings pitched in a season since 1920 has three types of pitchers: 1. Bob Feller. 2. Robin Roberts. 3. Pitchers from the 1970-1975 era." This is a bit of an oversimplification, but only a bit.

Since 1940, there have been 46 seasons in which a pitcher pitched at least 315 innings. From 1940 - 1962, there were 8 such seasons (all of which actually happened between 1940 and 1954): 3 by Bob Feller, 4 by Robin Roberts, and 1 by Dizzy Trout in 1944.

From 1963 - 1968, there were 7 such seasons, pitched by four pitchers: Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, and Denny McLain.

From 1969 - 1979, there were 31 seasons in which a pitcher threw 315 innings or more, with 15 different pitchers doing it, including all four of the Hall-of-Fame starters who debuted in 1965. There have been no seasons in which a pitcher threw 315 innings since 1979 (Phil Niekro was the last pitcher to do it in 1978 and 1979; prior to those two years, it was done 29 times from 1969 - 1977 by 15 pitchers, including Niekro).

James argues that "there is surprisingly little evidence that pitching 320 to 350 innings did much to shorten any of these pitchers' careers, except maybe Mickey Lolich." (p. 871, this is in James's discussion of Bert Blyleven, who he rates as the 39th-best pitcher in major-league history as of 2000)

Going back to the pitchers who pitched 315 innings in a season prior to 1969, there actually is pretty strong evidence of shortened careers. Koufax retired at the age of 30 because of arm problems. Drysdale's last season was at age 32, and his last good season was at age 31. McLain's last season was at age 28; his last good season was at age 25. Marichal is the only exception, and even he only pitched regularly until he was 35 (he then pitched 13 more games at ages 36 and 37).

Moving to the 1970s, there are still examples of pitchers who pitched 315 innings in a season and had shortened careers: Bill Singer (last season at 33, last good season at 32, with a couple of poor seasons already in his 20s), Randy Jones (last season at 32, last good season at 29), Andy Messersmith (last season at 33, last good season at 30).

But it is undoubtedly true that several other pitchers pitched massive innings within some seasons and yet had long and productive careers, including three of the four Hall-of-Famers who debuted in 1965 (Catfish Hunter's last season was at age 33, his last good season was at age 30).

My hypothesis as to why so many of these pitchers were able to survive these extraordinary workloads is because the pitchers who were pitching these extraordinary workloads in the 1970s spent their formative years pitching in the mini-deadball era of the 1960s (1963 - 68) which saw historically low offense. The low run-scoring environment in which these pitchers spent their formative years enabled them to avoid putting too much stress on their arms as they were developing. Their arms reached maturity with less stress and less mileage and were thereby better able to handle the insane inning totals of the 1970s even as offensive levels rose somewhat.

In contrast, pitchers who debuted after offensive levels had risen were less able to handle these kinds of workloads. Randy Jones, for example, debuted in 1973. Mark Fidrych was out of baseball by age 25 after pitching 24 complete games at age 21 in 1976 (although "only" 250.1 innings).

The one exception to this is Bert Blyleven, who didn't actually debut until 1970, pitched 325 innings as a 22-year-old in 1973, and was nevertheless able to pitch until he was 41 years old (and pitch very well until he was 38).

Anyway, whatever the reason for their success, that was a heckuva foursome to debut in 1965.

Article last updated: November 12, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1965 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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