2005 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 2005 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2005 in baseball.

2005 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 3, 2005 – October 26, 2005
Regular Season
Season MVP	AL: Alex Rodriguez (NYY) NL: Albert Pujols (STL)
League Postseason
AL champions	Chicago White Sox
AL runners-up	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
NL champions	Houston Astros
NL runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series
Champions	Chicago White Sox
Runners-up	Houston Astros
World Series MVP	Jermaine Dye (CHW)

The 2005 Major League Baseball season was notable for the league's new steroid policy in the wake of the BALCO scandal, which enforced harsher penalties ever than before for steroid use in Major League Baseball. Several players, including veteran Rafael Palmeiro, were suspended under the new policy. Also, every team in the NL East division had at least 81 wins (at least half of the 162 games played). It was also notable for being the first season featuring a baseball team in Washington, D.C. for more than 4 decades, with the Washington Nationals having moved from Montreal.

The season ended when the Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros in a four-game sweep in the World Series, winning their first championship since 1917.

Major league baseball final standings

The standings in the National League East were quite notable because all the teams in that division finished with at least a .500 record. The San Diego Padres' record of 82–80 was also notable as it was the worst ever by a division champion in a full-length season. (It is not, strictly speaking, the worst record by a division champion as the strike-shortened 1994 season ended with every team in the AL West at least 10 games under .500, nor is it the worst record by a team that made the postseason as due to the "split-season" format imposed in the wake of the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, the Kansas City Royals went to the playoffs as second-half AL West champions despite an overall record of 50–53.)

American League

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽³⁾ New York Yankees	95	67	0.586	—	53–28	42–39
⁽⁴⁾ Boston Red Sox	95	67	0.586	—	54–27	41–40
Toronto Blue Jays	80	82	0.494	15	43–38	37–44
Baltimore Orioles	74	88	0.457	21	36–45	38–43
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	67	95	0.414	28	40–41	27–54

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽¹⁾ Chicago White Sox	99	63	0.611	—	47–34	52–29
Cleveland Indians	93	69	0.574	6	43–38	50–31
Minnesota Twins	83	79	0.512	16	45–36	38–43
Detroit Tigers	71	91	0.438	28	39–42	32–49
Kansas City Royals	56	106	0.346	43	34–47	22–59

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽²⁾ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	95	67	0.586	—	49–32	46–35
Oakland Athletics	88	74	0.543	7	45–36	43–38
Texas Rangers	79	83	0.488	16	44–37	35–46
Seattle Mariners	69	93	0.426	26	39–42	30–51

National League

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽²⁾ Atlanta Braves	90	72	0.556	—	53–28	37–44
Philadelphia Phillies	88	74	0.543	2	46–35	42–39
Florida Marlins	83	79	0.512	7	45–36	38–43
New York Mets	83	79	0.512	7	48–33	35–46
Washington Nationals	81	81	0.500	9	41–40	40–41

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽¹⁾ St. Louis Cardinals	100	62	0.617	—	50–31	50–31
⁽⁴⁾ Houston Astros	89	73	0.549	11	53–28	36–45
Milwaukee Brewers	81	81	0.500	19	46–35	35–46
Chicago Cubs	79	83	0.488	21	38–43	41–40
Cincinnati Reds	73	89	0.451	27	42–39	31–50
Pittsburgh Pirates	67	95	0.414	33	34–47	33–48

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽³⁾ San Diego Padres	82	80	0.506	—	46–35	36–45
Arizona Diamondbacks	77	85	0.475	5	36–45	41–40
San Francisco Giants	75	87	0.463	7	37–44	38–43
Los Angeles Dodgers	71	91	0.438	11	40–41	31–50
Colorado Rockies	67	95	0.414	15	40–41	27–54

Postseason

The playoffs began on October 4, and ended on October 26. For more information, see the following articles:

Division Series
- American League
- National League
Championship Series
- American League
- National League
World Series

Bracket

Division Series (ESPN/FOX)			League Championship Series (FOX)			World Series (FOX)

1	Chicago White Sox	3
4	Boston	0
			1	Chicago White Sox	4
American League
			2	Los Angeles Angels	1
2	Los Angeles Angels	3

3	New York Yankees	2
						AL	Chicago White Sox	4
						NL	Houston	0
1	St. Louis	3
3	San Diego	0
			1	St. Louis	2
National League
			4	Houston	4
2	Atlanta	1

4	Houston	3

Click on any series score to link to that series' page.
Higher seed had home field advantage during Division Series and League Championship Series.
The American League champion had home field advantage during the World Series as a result of the AL victory in the 2005 All-Star Game.

Statistical leaders

Batting

Team

Statistic	American League		National League
Runs scored	Boston Red Sox	910	Cincinnati Reds	820
Hits	Boston Red Sox	1579	Chicago Cubs	1506
Home runs	Texas Rangers	260	Cincinnati Reds	222
Batting average	Boston Red Sox	.272	San Francisco Giants	.281
Stolen bases	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	161	New York Mets	153

Individual

Statistic	American League		National League
Batting average	Michael Young (Texas)	.331	Derrek Lee (Chicago)	.335
Runs scored	Alex Rodriguez (New York)	124	Albert Pujols (St. Louis)	129
Hits	Michael Young (Texas)	221	Derrek Lee (Chicago)	199
Home runs	Alex Rodriguez (New York)	48	Andruw Jones (Atlanta)	51
Runs batted in	David Ortiz (Boston)	148	Andruw Jones (Atlanta)	128
Stolen bases	Chone Figgins (Los Angeles)	62	José Reyes (New York)	60

Pitching

Team

Statistic	American League		National League
Runs allowed	Cleveland Indians	642	Houston Astros	609
Earned run average	Chicago White Sox Cleveland Indians	3.61	St. Louis Cardinals	3.49
Hits allowed	Oakland Athletics	1315	Houston Astros	1336
Home runs allowed	Oakland Athletics	154	New York Mets	135
Strikeouts	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	1126	Chicago Cubs	1256

Individual

Statistic	American League		National League
Earned run average	Kevin Millwood (Cleveland)	2.86	Roger Clemens (Houston)	1.87
Wins	Bartolo Colón (Los Angeles)	21	Dontrelle Willis (Florida)	22
Saves	Francisco Rodríguez (Los Angeles) Bob Wickman (Cleveland)	45	Chad Cordero (Washington)	47
Strikeouts	Johan Santana (Minnesota)	238	Jake Peavy (San Diego)	216

Managers

American League

Team	Manager	Comments
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Mike Scioscia
Baltimore Orioles	Sam Perlozzo
Boston Red Sox	Terry Francona
Chicago White Sox	Ozzie Guillén	Won the World Series
Cleveland Indians	Eric Wedge
Detroit Tigers±	Alan Trammell
Kansas City Royals	Tony Peña	Replaced during the season by Bob Schaefer
Minnesota Twins	Ron Gardenhire
New York Yankees	Joe Torre
Oakland Athletics	Ken Macha
Seattle Mariners	Mike Hargrove
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Lou Piniella
Texas Rangers	Buck Showalter
Toronto Blue Jays	John Gibbons

National League

Team	Manager	Comments
Arizona Diamondbacks	Bob Melvin
Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox
Chicago Cubs	Dusty Baker
Cincinnati Reds	Dave Miley	Replaced during the season by Jerry Narron
Colorado Rockies	Clint Hurdle
Florida Marlins	Jack McKeon
Houston Astros	Phil Garner	Won the National League pennant
Los Angeles Dodgers	Jim Tracy
Milwaukee Brewers	Ned Yost
New York Mets	Art Howe
Philadelphia Phillies	Charlie Manuel
Pittsburgh Pirates	Lloyd McClendon	Replaced during the season by Pete Mackanin
St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa
San Diego Padres	Bruce Bochy
San Francisco Giants	Felipe Alou
Washington Nationals	Frank Robinson

±hosted the MLB All Star Game

Awards and honors

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Rookie of the Year	Ryan Howard (PHI)	Huston Street (OAK)
Cy Young Award	Chris Carpenter (STL)	Bartolo Colón (LAA)
Manager of the Year	Bobby Cox (ATL)	Ozzie Guillén (CWS)
Most Valuable Player	Albert Pujols (STL)	Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
Gold Glove Awards
Position	National League	American League
Pitcher	Greg Maddux (CHC)	Kenny Rogers (MIN)
Catcher	Mike Matheny (SF)	Jason Varitek (BOS)
1st Base	Derrek Lee (CHC)	Mark Teixeira (TEX)
2nd Base	Luis Castillo (FLA)	Orlando Hudson (TOR)
3rd Base	Mike Lowell (FLA)	Eric Chavez (OAK)
Shortstop	Omar Vizquel (SF)	Derek Jeter (NYY)
Outfield	Bobby Abreu (PHI) Jim Edmonds (STL) Andruw Jones (ATL)	Torii Hunter (MIN) Ichiro Suzuki (SEA) Vernon Wells (TOR)
Silver Slugger Awards
Position	National League	American League
Pitcher/Designated Hitter	Jason Marquis (STL)	David Ortiz (BOS)
Catcher	Michael Barrett (CHC)	Jason Varitek (BOS)
1st Base	Derrek Lee (CHC)	Mark Teixeira (TEX)
2nd Base	Jeff Kent (LAD)	Alfonso Soriano (TEX)
3rd Base	Morgan Ensberg (HOU)	Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
Shortstop	Felipe López (CIN)	Miguel Tejada (BAL)
Outfield	Miguel Cabrera (FLA) Andruw Jones (ATL) Carlos Lee (MIL)	Vladimir Guerrero (LAA) Manny Ramirez (BOS) Gary Sheffield (NYY)

Other awards

Comeback Players of the Year: Jason Giambi (Designated hitter/first baseman, NYY, American); Ken Griffey, Jr. (Center fielder, CIN, National).
Hank Aaron Award: David Ortiz (BOS, American); Andruw Jones (ATL, National).
Roberto Clemente Award (Humanitarian): John Smoltz (ATL).
Rolaids Relief Man Award: Mariano Rivera (NYY, American); Chad Cordero (WAS, National).
Delivery Man of the Year (Best Reliever): Mariano Rivera (NYY).

Player of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Brian Roberts	Derrek Lee
May	Alex Rodriguez	Bobby Abreu
June	Travis Hafner	Andruw Jones
July	Jason Giambi	Adam Dunn
August	Alex Rodriguez	Andruw Jones
September	David Ortiz	Randy Winn

Pitcher of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Jon Garland	Dontrelle Willis
May	Kenny Rogers	Trevor Hoffman
June	Mark Buehrle	Chad Cordero
July	Barry Zito	Andy Pettitte
August	Bartolo Colón	Noah Lowry
September	José Contreras	Andy Pettitte

Rookie of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Gustavo Chacín	Clint Barmes
May	Damon Hollins	Ryan Church
June	Joe Blanton	Garrett Atkins
July	Gustavo Chacín	Zach Duke
August	Joe Blanton	Zach Duke
September	Robinson Canó	Ryan Howard

Events

June 18 – Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees hits the first grand slam of his 11-year major league career, as the Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs 8-1.<ref name=="Pellowski">Pellowski, Michael J (2007). The Little Giant Books of Baseball Facts. United States: Sterling Publishing Co. p. 352. ISBN 9781402742736. </ref>

References

2005 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston New York Tampa Bay Toronto

AL Central	Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Minnesota

AL West	Los Angeles Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Atlanta Florida New York Philadelphia Washington

NL Central	Chicago Cincinnati Houston Milwaukee Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Arizona Colorado Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Major League Baseball seasons

Pre-modern era

Beginnings	1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881

Competition	1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891

NL monopoly	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900

Modern era

Deadball era	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920

Liveball era	1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

World War II	1942 1943 1944 1945

Postwar	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960

First expansion	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968

Birth of division play	1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

Wildcard begins	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Wildcard expansion	2012 2013 2014 2015 2016