When fall came in 1965, something just seemed different. The birds still flew south and leaves fell from the trees, but the Yankees were not in the World Series. 1965 marked the beginning of a long, steep decline for the Yankees and in the coming decade they would see themselves hit the bottom depths of the standings for the first time since the 1910's. Still, the 1965 team had all the old greats like Whitey Ford on the mound and Mickey Mantle, who could still hit them out of the park. Roger Maris, though never really loved by Yankee fans, was a brand name all-star.

32 members of the 1965 New York Yankees have signed this Official American League Joseph E. Cronin baseball. Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle and manager Johnny Keane have signed their names in blue pen across the sweet spot. The south panel has the blue pen signatures of Art Lopez, Verb Benson, Bob Schmidt, Hector Lopez, Hal Reniff, Bobby Richardson, Gil Blanco and Jim Hegan. The north panel has the signatures of Tony Kubek, Pete Mikkelson, Pedro Gonzalez, Jim Bouton, Al Downing, Hall of Famer Whitey Ford and Clete Boyer.

The east panel has the signatures of Cot Deal, Steve Hamilton, Mel Stottlemyre, Pedro Ramos (signed Pete Ramos), Ross Moschitto, Phil Linz and Phil Linz. The west panel with the REACH stamp has Spud Murray, Johnny Blanchard, Duke Carmel, Joe Pepitone, Roger Maris and Bill Stafford. Frank Crosetti signed his name on the stamped sweet spot.

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