1965 MLB Leaders and Award Winners

2 leagues · 162 team games · 46 ranking tables · 23 awards

Awards

Most Valuable Player

Willie MaysNational League
Zoilo VersallesAmerican League

Cy Young Award

Sandy KoufaxBoth leagues — one award across both

Rookie of the Year

Curt BlefaryAmerican League
Jim LefebvreNational League

Gold Glove

Leo CardenasNational League
Roberto ClementeNational League
Curt FloodNational League
Bill FreehanAmerican League
Bob GibsonNational League
Jim KaatAmerican League
Al KalineAmerican League
Willie MaysNational League
Bill MazeroskiNational League
Joe PepitoneAmerican League
Bobby RichardsonAmerican League
Brooks RobinsonAmerican League
Ron SantoNational League
Joe TorreNational League
Tom TreshAmerican League
Zoilo VersallesAmerican League
Bill WhiteNational League
Carl YastrzemskiAmerican League

Not every award existed in this season. This database has Silver Slugger (from 1980). Their absence here is not a statement about these players: those awards had not been invented yet.

American League

Led the American League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Zoilo Versalles	126
2	Tony Oliva	107
3	Tom Tresh	94
4	Don Buford	93
5	Rocky Colavito	92
6	Leon Wagner	91
7	Max Alvis	88
8	Tony Conigliaro	82
9	Jimmie Hall	81
9	Brooks Robinson	81
9	Don Wert	81

HitsH

1	Tony Oliva	185
2	Zoilo Versalles	182
3	Rocky Colavito	170
4	Tom Tresh	168
5	Jim Fregosi	167
6	Don Buford	166
6	Brooks Robinson	166
8	Bobby Richardson	164
9	Don Wert	159
10	Bert Campaneris	156

Doubles2B

1	Zoilo Versalles	45
1	Carl Yastrzemski	45
3	Tony Oliva	40
4	Tom Tresh	29
5	Bobby Richardson	28
6	Lee Thomas	27
7	Jerry Adair	26
8	Rocky Colavito	25
8	Jimmie Hall	25
8	Brooks Robinson	25
8	Pete Ward	25

Triples3B

1	Bert Campaneris	12
1	Zoilo Versalles	12
3	Luis Aparicio	10
4	Willie Smith	9
5	Don Blasingame	8
5	Wayne Causey	8
7	Ed Charles	7
7	Jim Fregosi	7
7	Nelson Mathews	7
10	Clete Boyer	6
10	Lenny Green	6
10	Chuck Hinton	6
10	Frank Howard	6
10	Dick McAuliffe	6
10	Ken McMullen	6
10	Floyd Robinson	6
10	Tom Tresh	6

Home RunsHR

1	Tony Conigliaro	32
2	Norm Cash	30
3	Willie Horton	29
4	Leon Wagner	28
5	Rocky Colavito	26
5	Tom Tresh	26
5	Fred Whitfield	26
8	Harmon Killebrew	25
9	Bob Allison	23
9	Ken Harrelson	23

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Rocky Colavito	108
2	Willie Horton	104
3	Tony Oliva	98
4	Felix Mantilla	92
5	Fred Whitfield	90
6	Jimmie Hall	86
7	Frank Howard	84
8	Norm Cash	82
8	Tony Conigliaro	82
10	Brooks Robinson	80

WalksBB

1	Rocky Colavito	93
2	Curt Blefary	88
3	Felix Mantilla	79
4	Norm Cash	77
5	Floyd Robinson	76
6	Bob Allison	73
6	Mickey Mantle	73
6	Don Wert	73
9	Al Kaline	72
9	Harmon Killebrew	72
9	Lee Thomas	72

Stolen BasesSB

1	Bert Campaneris	51
2	Jose Cardenal	37
3	Zoilo Versalles	27
4	Luis Aparicio	26
4	Vic Davalillo	26
6	Tony Oliva	19
7	Don Buford	17
7	Chuck Hinton	17
7	Dick Howser	17
10	Jimmie Hall	14

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Don Buford	6.3
2	Carl Yastrzemski	6.1
3	Tony Oliva	6.1
4	Jim Fregosi	5.9
5	Zoilo Versalles	5.6
6	Tony Conigliaro	5.2
7	Rocky Colavito	5.2
8	Brooks Robinson	5.2
9	Tom Tresh	5.2
10	Ken McMullen	5.0

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Tony Oliva	.321
2	Carl Yastrzemski	.312
3	Vic Davalillo	.301
4	Brooks Robinson	.297
5	Leon Wagner	.294
6	Frank Howard	.289
7	Rocky Colavito	.287
8	Jimmie Hall	.285
9	Don Buford	.283
10	Tom Tresh	.279

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Carl Yastrzemski	.395
2	Rocky Colavito	.383
3	Curt Blefary	.381
4	Tony Oliva	.378
5	Felix Mantilla	.374
6	Norm Cash	.371
7	Leon Wagner	.369
8	Lee Thomas	.361
9	Don Buford	.358
9	Frank Howard	.358

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Carl Yastrzemski	.536
2	Norm Cash	.512
2	Tony Conigliaro	.512
4	Leon Wagner	.495
5	Tony Oliva	.491
6	Willie Horton	.490
7	Frank Howard	.477
7	Tom Tresh	.477
9	Curt Blefary	.470
10	Rocky Colavito	.468

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Carl Yastrzemski	.932
2	Norm Cash	.883
3	Tony Oliva	.870
4	Leon Wagner	.864
5	Curt Blefary	.851
5	Rocky Colavito	.851
7	Tony Conigliaro	.850
8	Frank Howard	.835
9	Willie Horton	.831
10	Lee Thomas	.826

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Mudcat Grant	21
2	Mel Stottlemyre	20
3	Jim Kaat	18
4	Sam McDowell	17
5	Whitey Ford	16
5	Denny McLain	16
5	Sonny Siebert	16
8	Steve Barber	15
8	Dean Chance	15
8	Eddie Fisher	15
8	Mickey Lolich	15
8	Pete Richert	15

SavesSV

1	Ron Kline	29
2	Eddie Fisher	24
2	Stu Miller	24
4	Bob Lee	23
5	Dick Radatz	22
6	Al Worthington	21
7	Hoyt Wilhelm	20
8	Pedro Ramos	19
9	John Wyatt	18
10	Gary Bell	17

StrikeoutsSO

1	Sam McDowell	325
2	Mickey Lolich	226
3	Denny McLain	192
4	Sonny Siebert	191
5	Al Downing	179
6	Dean Chance	164
6	Earl Wilson	164
8	Dave Morehead	163
9	Whitey Ford	162
10	Pete Richert	161

Innings PitchedIP

1	Mel Stottlemyre	291.0
2	Sam McDowell	273.0
3	Mudcat Grant	270.3
4	Jim Kaat	264.3
5	Fred Newman	260.7
6	Whitey Ford	244.3
7	Mickey Lolich	243.7
8	Earl Wilson	230.7
9	Bill Monbouquette	228.7
10	Dean Chance	225.7

Complete GamesCG

1	Mel Stottlemyre	18
2	Mudcat Grant	14
2	Sam McDowell	14
4	Denny McLain	13
5	Hank Aguirre	10
5	Dean Chance	10
5	Bill Monbouquette	10
5	Fred Newman	10
5	Luis Tiant	10
10	Whitey Ford	9
10	Milt Pappas	9

ShutoutsSHO

1	Mudcat Grant	6
2	Dean Chance	4
2	Joe Horlen	4
2	Denny McLain	4
2	Mel Stottlemyre	4
6	George Brunet	3
6	Mickey Lolich	3
6	Sam McDowell	3
6	Milt Pappas	3
6	Robin Roberts	3
6	Dave Wickersham	3

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Sam McDowell	7.4
2	Sonny Siebert	4.5
3	Mickey Lolich	4.2
4	Whitey Ford	4.1
5	Mel Stottlemyre	4.0
6	Fred Newman	3.8
7	Joe Horlen	3.7
8	Jim Kaat	3.4
9	Denny McLain	3.3
10	George Brunet	3.2

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Sam McDowell	2.18
2	Eddie Fisher	2.40
3	Sonny Siebert	2.43
4	George Brunet	2.56
5	Pete Richert	2.60
6	Milt Pappas	2.60
7	Denny McLain	2.61
8	Mel Stottlemyre	2.63
9	Jim Perry	2.63
10	Steve Barber	2.69

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Eddie Fisher	0.97
2	Sonny Siebert	0.98
3	Robin Roberts	1.05
4	Ralph Terry	1.07
5	Denny McLain	1.07
6	Milt Pappas	1.10
7	Joe Horlen	1.10
8	George Brunet	1.11
9	Fred Newman	1.11
10	Jim Perry	1.13

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Sam McDowell	2.08
2	Sonny Siebert	2.27
3	George Brunet	2.78
4	Joe Horlen	2.90
5	Mickey Lolich	2.92
6	Tommy John	2.98
7	Whitey Ford	2.99
8	Denny McLain	3.12
9	Fred Newman	3.18
10	John Buzhardt	3.20

National League

Led the National League — the first row of every table below.

Batting13 categories

RunsR

1	Tommy Harper	126
2	Willie Mays	118
3	Pete Rose	117
4	Billy Williams	115
5	Hank Aaron	109
5	Frank Robinson	109
7	Lou Brock	107
8	Joe Morgan	100
9	Vada Pinson	97
10	Dick Allen	93
10	Johnny Callison	93
10	Willie McCovey	93

HitsH

1	Pete Rose	209
2	Vada Pinson	204
3	Billy Williams	203
4	Roberto Clemente	194
5	Curt Flood	191
6	Dick Allen	187
7	Maury Wills	186
8	Donn Clendenon	184
9	Lou Brock	182
10	Hank Aaron	181

Doubles2B

1	Hank Aaron	40
2	Billy Williams	39
3	Lou Brock	35
3	Pete Rose	35
5	Vada Pinson	34
6	Frank Robinson	33
7	Donn Clendenon	32
8	Dick Allen	31
9	Curt Flood	30
9	Jim Ray Hart	30
9	Deron Johnson	30
9	Ron Santo	30
9	Jim Wynn	30

Triples3B

1	Johnny Callison	16
2	Dick Allen	14
2	Roberto Clemente	14
2	Donn Clendenon	14
5	Joe Morgan	12
6	Leo Cardenas	11
6	Pete Rose	11
8	Vada Pinson	10
9	Hal Lanier	9
10	Lou Brock	8
10	Willie Stargell	8

Home RunsHR

1	Willie Mays	52
2	Willie McCovey	39
3	Billy Williams	34
4	Frank Robinson	33
4	Ron Santo	33
6	Hank Aaron	32
6	Johnny Callison	32
6	Deron Johnson	32
6	Eddie Mathews	32
10	Mack Jones	31

Runs Batted InRBI

1	Deron Johnson	130
2	Frank Robinson	113
3	Willie Mays	112
4	Billy Williams	108
5	Willie Stargell	107
6	Ernie Banks	106
7	Johnny Callison	101
7	Ron Santo	101
9	Donn Clendenon	96
9	Jim Ray Hart	96

WalksBB

1	Joe Morgan	97
2	Willie McCovey	88
2	Ron Santo	88
4	Jim Wynn	84
5	Tommy Harper	78
6	Ron Fairly	76
6	Willie Mays	76
8	Wes Parker	75
9	Dick Allen	74
10	Eddie Mathews	73

Stolen BasesSB

1	Maury Wills	94
2	Lou Brock	63
3	Jim Wynn	43
4	Tommy Harper	35
5	Willie Davis	25
6	Hank Aaron	24
7	Vada Pinson	21
8	Joe Morgan	20
9	Dick Allen	15
9	Lou Johnson	15

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Willie Mays	11.4
2	Ron Santo	9.2
3	Jim Wynn	9.0
4	Hank Aaron	8.3
5	Billy Williams	8.2
6	Dick Allen	7.3
7	Joe Morgan	7.2
8	Vada Pinson	7.0
9	Frank Robinson	6.9
10	Joe Torre	6.5

Batting Averagemin 502 PA

1	Roberto Clemente	.329
2	Hank Aaron	.318
3	Willie Mays	.317
4	Billy Williams	.315
5	Pete Rose	.312
6	Curt Flood	.310
7	Vada Pinson	.305
8	Cookie Rojas	.303
9	Dick Allen	.302
10	Donn Clendenon	.301

On-Base Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Willie Mays	.398
2	Frank Robinson	.386
3	Pete Rose	.382
4	Willie McCovey	.381
5	Hank Aaron	.379
6	Roberto Clemente	.378
6	Ron Santo	.378
8	Billy Williams	.377
9	Dick Allen	.375
10	Joe Morgan	.373

Slugging Percentagemin 502 PA

1	Willie Mays	.645
2	Hank Aaron	.560
3	Billy Williams	.552
4	Frank Robinson	.540
5	Willie McCovey	.539
6	Deron Johnson	.515
7	Mack Jones	.510
7	Ron Santo	.510
9	Johnny Callison	.509
10	Willie Stargell	.501

On-Base Plus Sluggingmin 502 PA

1	Willie Mays	1.043
2	Hank Aaron	.938
3	Billy Williams	.929
4	Frank Robinson	.925
5	Willie McCovey	.920
6	Ron Santo	.888
7	Dick Allen	.870
8	Joe Torre	.862
9	Deron Johnson	.854
10	Bill White	.845

Pitching10 categories

WinsW

1	Sandy Koufax	26
2	Tony Cloninger	24
3	Don Drysdale	23
4	Sammy Ellis	22
4	Juan Marichal	22
6	Bob Gibson	20
6	Jim Maloney	20
8	Jim Bunning	19
9	Chris Short	18
10	Vern Law	17
10	Bob Veale	17

SavesSV

1	Ted Abernathy	31
2	Frank Linzy	21
2	Billy McCool	21
4	Al McBean	18
4	Billy O'Dell	18
4	Hal Woodeshick	18
7	Ron Perranoski	17
8	Bob Miller	9
9	Masanori Murakami	8
9	Jim Owens	8

StrikeoutsSO

1	Sandy Koufax	382
2	Bob Veale	276
3	Bob Gibson	270
4	Jim Bunning	268
5	Jim Maloney	244
6	Juan Marichal	240
7	Chris Short	237
8	Tony Cloninger	211
9	Don Drysdale	210
10	Sammy Ellis	183

Innings PitchedIP

1	Sandy Koufax	335.7
2	Don Drysdale	308.3
3	Bob Gibson	299.0
4	Chris Short	297.3
5	Juan Marichal	295.3
6	Jim Bunning	291.0
7	Claude Osteen	287.0
8	Tony Cloninger	279.0
9	Bob Veale	266.0
10	Sammy Ellis	263.7

Complete GamesCG

1	Sandy Koufax	27
2	Juan Marichal	24
3	Don Drysdale	20
3	Bob Gibson	20
5	Tony Cloninger	16
6	Jim Bunning	15
6	Sammy Ellis	15
6	Chris Short	15
9	Jim Maloney	14
9	Bob Veale	14

ShutoutsSHO

1	Juan Marichal	10
2	Sandy Koufax	8
3	Jim Bunning	7
3	Don Drysdale	7
3	Bob Veale	7
6	Bob Gibson	6
7	Jim Maloney	5
7	Chris Short	5
9	Larry Jackson	4
9	Vern Law	4

Wins Above ReplacementWAR

1	Sandy Koufax	9.8
2	Bob Veale	7.4
3	Jim Bunning	6.8
4	Juan Marichal	6.5
5	Chris Short	5.9
6	Jim Maloney	5.8
7	Bob Gibson	4.3
8	Claude Osteen	4.1
9	Don Drysdale	4.0
10	Bob Shaw	3.9

Earned Run Averagemin 162 IP

1	Sandy Koufax	2.04
2	Juan Marichal	2.13
3	Vern Law	2.15
4	Jim Maloney	2.54
5	Jim Bunning	2.60
6	Bob Shaw	2.64
7	Bobby Bolin	2.76
8	Don Drysdale	2.77
9	Claude Osteen	2.79
10	Chris Short	2.81

Walks and Hits per Inningmin 162 IP

1	Sandy Koufax	0.85
2	Juan Marichal	0.91
3	Vern Law	1.00
4	Jim Bunning	1.08
5	Don Drysdale	1.09
6	Bobby Bolin	1.11
7	Bob Shaw	1.13
8	Don Cardwell	1.14
9	Turk Farrell	1.14
10	Ken Johnson	1.15

Fielding Independent Pitchingmin 162 IP

1	Sandy Koufax	1.93
2	Bob Veale	2.11
3	Jim Bunning	2.47
4	Juan Marichal	2.59
5	Jim Maloney	2.62
6	Chris Short	2.66
7	Bob Shaw	2.91
8	Ken Johnson	2.99
9	Turk Farrell	3.02
10	Claude Osteen	3.10

How this page is built

The qualifying line for 1965 is 502 plate appearances and 162 innings pitched. It comes from the length of the schedule — 162 games per team, measured from the season files themselves — at the official rate of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning per team game. Batting average, on-base, slugging, OPS, earned run average and WHIP all use it; a player who came to the plate twice and got two hits does not appear at the top of the batting average table, which is exactly what that line is for. Counting statistics such as home runs and strikeouts have no minimum, because none is needed.

How the rankings were made

Wins above replacement in these tables is ours rather than the source database's, so it will not match a published figure exactly. Also: why every ranking stops at one league, and why some categories are missing on purpose.

Every ranking on this page is worked out inside one league. 1965 is counted as 2 separate leagues — American League and National League, and a player is ranked only against the men in his own. Leading the American League and leading baseball are different claims, and the one we can make from these files is the first. There is no combined table anywhere on this page, because adding two leagues together would produce a number that no record book recognises.

There are 46 ranking tables here, 17 places deep. Players tied on a value share a place, so a table can run past ten rows when the tenth spot is shared, and a league with fewer than ten qualified players in a category is left out rather than shown as a top ten that is not one. A player who did none of the thing is not ranked in it either — a shutout table lists the pitchers who threw one, not the hundreds who threw none tied on zero. Some categories are missing on purpose: nobody leads a league in strikeouts at the plate, in losses, or in home runs allowed. A ranking is meant to mark an achievement, so only achievements are ranked.

Wins above replacement on this page is ours, not the source database's. The hitting and pitching files carry a WAR column that we compute here from the same season lines you see, using park factors and a run environment worked out per season. Published versions elsewhere use different methods and will not match ours exactly. Every other column is the record as the database supplies it.

Names on this page lead to that player's own record. Most of them open a full career page with every season he appeared in. Some open a summary screen instead — we pre-build pages for the players people look for, and everyone else is assembled on demand from the same files, so the numbers are identical either way even though the address looks different.

Data for 1871 to 2025: Lahman Baseball Database 2025, compiled by SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported. Negro Leagues data licensed from Seamheads.com and included under SABR major-league recommendations (2021-02-11, 2024-06-03). This page ranks the 1965 season lines published on this site, league by league, with WAR worked out here. — the WAR columns are computed here — and they are published under the same CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence, as ShareAlike requires. That database is published once a season is complete, so the 2026 figures on this site come from a different place: the MLB Stats API, whose notice reads “Copyright 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Use of any content on this page acknowledges agreement to the terms posted here http://gdx.mlb.com/components/copyright.txt”. Those numbers are MLB Advanced Media, L.P.’s, not SABR (Society for American Baseball Research)’s, and they carry that notice rather than the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported licence above. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Major League Baseball or any of its clubs.