The 1965 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League champion Minnesota Twins, who had won their first pennant since 1933 when the team was known as the Washington Senators. The Twins would not reach the fall classic again until their championship season of 1987.

Both teams improved from sixth place finishes in 1964; the Twins won the A.L. pennant with relative ease while the Dodgers were locked in a season long five-way battle in the N.L. between themselves, the Giants, Pirates, Reds, and Braves. After the Giants won their 14th consecutive game to take a 4 ¹⁄₂ game lead on September 16, the Dodgers went on a 13-game winning streak over the final two weeks of the season to clinch the pennant on the next to last day of the season over the second place rival Giants. The Dodgers prevailed in seven games to capture their second title in three years, and their third since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.

During the 1965 Season, the Dodgers relied heavily on the arms of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, and would rely on them even more in the World Series, as the Dodgers only used seven pitchers. The Dodgers strong core of pitchers, which also included Claude Osteen and Ron Perrinoski, kept them in the pennant race and into the Series. Koufax, surviving on a steady diet of Cortisone and pain killers for his arthritic left elbow, pitched five times in 15 days down the stretch, winning four (three shutouts), including 13 strikeouts in the pennant winner against Milwaukee.

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB), played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy. As the series is played in October, Major League Baseball also refers to it as the "Fall Classic". The most recent World Series was won by the St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated the Texas Rangers in 7 games in 2011.

The New York Yankees of the American League have played in 40 World Series and won 27, and the Oakland/Philadelphia Athletics have played in 14 and won 9. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals have played in 18 and won 11, while the San Francisco/New York Giants and Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers have both appeared in 18 and won 6.

Until the formation of the American Association in 1882 as a second major league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (1871–75) and then the National League (founded 1876) represented the top level of organized baseball in the United States. All championships went to whoever had the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. Starting in 1884 and going through 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These matchups were disorganized in comparison to the modern Series: games played ranged from as few as three in 1884 (Providence defeated New York 3 games to zero), to a high of 15 in 1887 (Detroit beat St. Louis 10 games to 5), and both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game.

Nicholas Scott "Nick" Lachey ( /ləˈʃeɪ/ lə-SHAY; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and television personality. Lachey rose to fame as a member of the boy band 98 Degrees. He later starred in the reality television series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica with his then-wife, Jessica Simpson. He has released two solo albums, SoulO and What's Left of Me. As a solo artist Nick Lachey sold over 600,000 records and with 98 Degrees, over 10 million records worldwide. He had a recurring role on the television series Charmed.

Lachey was born near the border of Kentucky and Virginia in Harlan, Kentucky to Cate Fopma-Leimbach and John Lachey. He has a brother, Drew, a stepsister, Josie, a half brother, Isaac, and two adopted siblings, Zach and Caitlin Leimbach. Growing up in Ohio, he attended Cincinnati Public Schools-School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), developing his vocal talent while excelling in sports and academics. After graduation he attended the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California. After a year at USC, he wanted to be closer to his family and transferred to Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, where he studied sports medicine and became a brother in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Sanford "Sandy" Koufax ( /ˈkoʊfæks/; born Sanford Braun, December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1955–1966). Retiring at the peak of his career, in 1972 he became, at age 36 and 20 days, the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame .

Koufax's career peaked with a run of six outstanding seasons from 1961 to 1966, before arthritis in his left elbow ended his career prematurely at age 30. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1963. He also won the 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young Awards by unanimous votes, making him the first 3-time Cy Young winner in baseball history and the only one to win 3 times when the award was for all of baseball, not just one league. In each of his Cy Young seasons, Koufax won the pitcher's triple crown by leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average. Koufax's totals would also have led the American League in those seasons.

Jonathan Tyler Lester (born January 7, 1984, in Tacoma, Washington) is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox. Lester was 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA before and after being diagnosed with lymphoma. Less than two years after being diagnosed with lymphoma, Lester started and won the final game of the 2007 World Series, and in May 2008, pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.

Lester attended Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Washington, where he was a three-time MVP and three-time All-Area selection. In addition, he was named Gatorade State Player of the Year for Washington in 2000.

The Red Sox drafted Lester in the second round (No. 57 overall) of the 2002 draft and gave him the highest signing bonus of any second-rounder that year, $1 million.

Lester quickly moved through the Red Sox organization, posting an 11–6 record, a league-leading 2.61 ERA and a league-best 163 strikeouts for the AA Portland Sea Dogs in 2005. He was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Year and Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year and was selected as the left-handed pitcher on the Eastern League's year-end All-Star team and on the year-end Topps AA All-Star squad.