Remembering 1965 - Part 19 - 50th anniversary celebration pictures and video

The Minnesota Twins hosted a 59th anniversary celebration on July 31 and August 1 for the 1965 American League champions. On July 31st the organization put on a “Championship Breakfast” that was attended by about 250 Twins fans and 11 players from the 1965 championship team that won a Twins record 102 games. Twins TV broadcaster Dick Bremer served as the master of ceremonies.

I was able to attend the breakfast which was held in the Metropolitan Club at Target Field and had a great time meeting other Twins fans and chatting briefly with some of the players. The cost of the breakfast was $75 for season ticket holders and $100 if you were not a Twins season ticket holder with the proceeds going to the Twins Community Fund.

There were 35 players that appeared in a Minnesota Twins uniform in 1965 and 20 of them were in town for the 50 year anniversary celebration. Bernie Allen, Jerry Fosnow, Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Jim Kaat, Jerry Kindall, Andy Kosco, Frank Kostro, Jim Merritt, Mel Nelson, Joe Nossek, Tony Oliva, Camilo Pascual, Jim Perry, Frank Quilici, Rich Reese, Garry Roggenburk, Rich Rollins, Dick Stigman, Sandy Valdespino, and Al Worthington. Coach Hal Naragon was also in attendance.

The ten player’s have passed on are Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Dave Boswell, Harmon Killebrew, Johnny Klippstein, Don Mincher, Cesar Tovar, Ted Uhlaender, Zoilo Versalles, and Jerry Zimmerman. RIP gentlemen and thank you for all the wonderful memories.

John Sevcik and Bill Pleis were unable to attend due to family health issues. Jimmie Hall also was invited but was not in attendance. Why he was not here is unclear, I saw some where that he was not able to change his schedule in time to attend and the other reason that has floated around for a long time is that Hall likes to stay close to home and that he is not a huge fan of the Twins organization due to some conflicts that have arisen in the past over medical claims. I have no idea why Dwight Siebler or Pete Cimino were not in attendance other than Siebler only appeared in seven games and Cimino only appeared in one game.As nored earlier, coach Hal Naragon was in attendance.

Manager Sam Mele who is 93 was not able to attend due to health concerns but he did make a short video that was played for the crowd. Coaches Billy Martin, Johnny Sain, and Jim Lemon have also passed on. Coach Hal Naragon as mentioned earlier was in attendance.

I took a few pictures at the championship breakfast that I will share with you here. Just click on the first thumbnail image to get started.