2005 Houston Astros season

The Houston Astros' 2005 season was a season in which the Houston Astros qualified for the postseason for the second consecutive season. The Astros overcame a sluggish 15–30 start to claim the wild card playoff spot, and would go on to win the National League pennant to advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. However, they were swept by the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. It was longtime Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell's final season and first World Series appearance.

2005 Houston Astros
National League Champions
National League Wild Card
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record89–73 (.549)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
Owner(s)Drayton McLane, Jr.
General manager(s)Tim Purpura
Manager(s)Phil Garner
Local televisionKNWS-TV
FSN Southwest
(Bill Brown, Larry Dierker, Jim Deshaies)
Local radioKTRH
(Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby)
KLAT
(Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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Offseason

Overview

In February, 2005, longtime Astros players Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio were jointly inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.[1]

Transactions
  • January 7, 2005: Adam Riggs was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[2]
  • January 7, 2005: Turk Wendell was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[3]
  • January 23, 2005: John Franco signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[4]
  • February 11, 2005: Trenidad Hubbard was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[5]

Regular season

Overview

After starting the season with a 15–30 won–loss record, the Astros improved to 74–43 over their final 117 games to capture the NL wild card.[6]

Bagwell hit his last major league home run against Greg Maddux on April 29, tying him for the most against any pitcher with seven.[7]

National League Central
NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 10062 0.617 — 50–31 50–31
Houston Astros 8973 0.549 11 53–28 36–45
Milwaukee Brewers 8181 0.500 19 46–35 35–46
Chicago Cubs 7983 0.488 21 38–43 41–40
Cincinnati Reds 7389 0.451 27 42–39 31–50
Pittsburgh Pirates 6795 0.414 33 34–47 33–48

Record vs. opponents
2005 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona—3–35–22–411–72–43–313–52–41–63–43–410–97–112–52–48–10
Atlanta3–3—6–17–32–410–85–13–33–313–69–104–31–54–23–310–97–8
Chicago2–51–6—6–94–35–49–74–27–92–42–411–54–35–210–61–56–9
Cincinnati4–23–79–6—3–32–44–123–46–103–33–49–74–23–55–115–17-8
Colorado 7–114–23–43–3—3–31–511–81–53–42–43–77–117–114–42–46–9
Florida4–28–104–54–23–3—4–35–23–48–109–103–42–44–23–49–910–5
Houston3–31–57–912–45–13-4—4–210–55–56–09–74–33–45–115–27–8
Los Angeles 5–133–32–44–38–112–52–4—5–13–33–35–211–79–102–52–45–13
Milwaukee4–23–39–710–65–14–35–101–5—3–34–59–73–44–35–114–48–7
New York6–16–134–23–34–310–85–53–33–3—11–73–34–23–32–511–85–10
Philadelphia4-310–94–24–34–210–90–63–35–47–11—4–36–05–14–211–87–8
Pittsburgh4–33–45–117–97–34–37–92–57–93–33–4—3–42–44–121–55–7
San Diego9–105–13–42–411–74–23–47–114–32–40–64–3—12–64–35–17–11
San Francisco11–72–42–55–311–72–44–310–93–43–31–54–26–12—2–43–36–12
St. Louis5–23–36–1011–54–44-311–55–211–55–22–412–43–44–2—4–210–5
Washington4–29–105–11–54–29-92–54–24–48–118–115–11–53–32–4—12–6

Transactions
  • April 9, 2005: Brooks Kieschnick was signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.[8]
  • April 27, 2005: Trenidad Hubbard was released by the Houston Astros.[5]

Roster
2005 Houston Astros
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Lone Star series

The annual interleague games between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers were played in June and July. They are known as the Lone Star Series.

Date Winning Team Score Winning Pitcher Losing Pitcher Attendance Location
May 20Texas7–3Kenny RogersBrandon Backe38,109Arlington
May 21Texas18–3Chris YoungEzequiel Astacio35,781Arlington
May 22Texas2–0Chan Ho ParkRoy Oswalt40,583Arlington
June 24Houston5–2Roy OswaltRicardo Rodríguez36,199Houston
June 25Texas6–5Chris YoungBrandon Backe41,868Houston
June 26Houston3–2Chad QuallsJuan Dominguez35,331Houston

National League Divisional Playoffs
Main article: 2005 National League Division Series

Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros

Houston wins series, 3-1.

GameScoreDate
1Houston 10, Atlanta 5October 5
2Atlanta 7, Houston 1October 6
3Houston 7, Atlanta 3October 8
4Houston 7, Atlanta 6 (18 innings)October 9

National League Championship Series
Main article: 2005 National League Championship Series

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Houston Astros
Game Date Visitor Score Home Score Record

(HOU-STL)

1 October 12 Houston 3 St. Louis 5 0-1
2 October 13 Houston 4 St. Louis 1 1-1
3 October 15 St. Louis 3 Houston 4 2-1
4 October 16 St. Louis 1 Houston 2 3-1
5 October 17 St. Louis 5 Houston 4 3-2
6 October 19 Houston 5 St. Louis 1 4-2
HOU won 4, STL won 2.

Houston wins the National League Championship
and advance to the 2005 World Series

World series
Main article: 2005 World Series

After having played 4,714 games and their entire major league careers together in Houston, Bagwell and Biggio appeared in their first World Series in 2005.[9]

Game 1

October 22, 2005 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago

Playing in their first World Series home game since 1959, the White Sox took an early lead with a home run from Jermaine Dye in the first inning. The Sox scored two more in the second when Juan Uribe doubled in A. J. Pierzynski after Carl Everett had already scored on a groundout earlier in the inning. The Astros responded again in the next inning when Lance Berkman hit a double, driving in Adam Everett and Craig Biggio. In the White Sox half of the fourth, Joe Crede hit what turned out to be the game-winning home run. In the bottom of the eighth, Scott Podsednik hit a triple with Pierzynski on second. Roger Clemens recorded his shortest World Series start, leaving after the second inning with 53 pitches including 35 for strikes, due to a sore hamstring that he had previously injured (and caused him to miss his last regular season start) as the loss went to Wandy Rodríguez. José Contreras pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits for the win, and Bobby Jenks earned the save to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the series. When Neal Cotts entered the game in the top of the 8th it marked the first time in 5 games that the White Sox had gone to their bullpen.

Team123456789RHE
Houston012000000371
Chicago12010001X5100
WP: José Contreras (1-0)   LP: Wandy Rodríguez (0-1)   Sv: Bobby Jenks (1)
Home runs:
HOU: Mike Lamb (1)
CHW: Jermaine Dye (1), Joe Crede (1)

Game 2

October 23, 2005 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago

On a miserably cold (51 degrees) and rainy evening, Morgan Ensberg's first-pitch home run off starter Mark Buehrle put the Astros on top in the second inning. The White Sox answered in the bottom of the second with two runs of their own off Andy Pettitte. Lance Berkman drove in three runs in the game, two of them on a go-ahead double in the top of the fifth. In the seventh inning, Dan Wheeler loaded the bases with a double to Juan Uribe, a walk to Tadahito Iguchi, and home plate umpire Jeff Nelson's ruling that Jermaine Dye was hit by a pitched ball. The ruling was considered questionable, as television replays showed that the ball hit Dye's bat (which would have made the pitch a foul ball rather than a HBP). The Astros brought in Chad Qualls, who promptly served up a grand slam to Paul Konerko on the very first pitch he threw, the eighteenth grand slam in the annals of the Fall Classic. In the top of the ninth, White Sox closer Bobby Jenks blew the save when he gave up a two-run game-tying pinch hit single to José Vizcaíno. In the bottom half of the ninth, Astros closer Brad Lidge gave up a one-out, walk-off home run — the fourteenth in Series history — to Scott Podsednik, giving Lidge his second loss in as many post-season appearances (his previous appearance was in Game 5 of 2005 National League Championship Series). Podsednik had not hit a single homer in the regular season, and this was his second of the postseason. The Series moved to Houston with the White Sox leading 2-0.

Team123456789RHE
Houston011020002690
Chicago0200004017120
WP: Neal Cotts (1-0)   LP: Brad Lidge (0-1)
Home runs:
HOU: Morgan Ensberg (1)
CHW: Paul Konerko (1), Scott Podsednik (1)

Game 3

October 25, 2005 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas

Game 3 was the first ever World Series game played in the state of Texas. Before the game, it was ruled by Commissioner Bud Selig that the retractable roof would be open at Minute Maid Park, weather permitting. The Astros objected, citing that their record in games with the roof closed was better than with the retractable roof open. Selig's office claimed that the ruling was based on the rules established by Houston and were consistent with how the Astros organization treated the situation all year long, as well as the weather forecasts for that period of time.

In the game – the longest World Series game in length of time (five hours and forty-one minutes) and tied for the longest in number of innings (fourteen, tied with Game 2 of the 1916 World Series) – Lance Berkman singled with one out after a Craig Biggio lead-off double in the bottom of the first as the Astros struck early. The White Sox had a rally snuffed in the top of the second inning; after Paul Konerko hit a lead-off double and A. J. Pierzynski walked, Aaron Rowand hit into a line-drive double play. Adam Everett caught the ball and then doubled Konerko off second by flipping the ball to Biggio, who stepped on the bag. Houston scored in the bottom of the third when Everett led off with a walk. Everett got caught in a rundown and got hit by the ball on a Juan Uribe throwing error that hit Everett. A Roy Oswalt sacrifice bunt and a Biggio single sent Everett home. Berkman singled again with two out, sending Biggio to third. Then Morgan Ensberg singled Biggio home for the third run of the game. Jason Lane led off the Astros' fourth with a home run to left-center field. It was later shown in replays that the ball should not have been ruled a home run, hitting the left side of the yellow line on the unusual wall in left-center field.

The White Sox rallied in the top of the fifth, true to their "Win Or Die Trying" mantra of 2005, starting with a Joe Crede lead-off homer. Uribe, on first after hitting a single, scored on a Tadahito Iguchi base hit with one out, followed by Scott Podsednik coming home on a duck-snort single by Jermaine Dye. Pierzynski hit a two-out double to Tal's Hill, driving in two runs, scoring Iguchi and Dye giving the White Sox the lead. The Astros rallied in the last of the eighth with two outs when Lane's double scored Ensberg with the tying run after back-to-back walks by Ensberg and Mike Lamb, giving Dustin Hermanson a blown save. Houston tried to rally to win in the ninth, but stranded Chris Burke at third, after he had walked, reached second on an error and stolen third.

The Astros tried again in the tenth as well as in the eleventh, but failed each time. In the top of the fourteenth, after the Sox hit into a spectacular double play started by Ensberg, Geoff Blum (a former Astro) homered to right with two outs off Ezequiel Astacio. After two infield singles by Rowand and Crede that went a total of 150 feet according to McCarver, Uribe walked, and then Chris Widger walked thanks to Astacio's sudden wildness. The Astros tried to rally with the tying runs on first and third and two outs after a Uribe error, but Game 2 starter Mark Buehrle earned the save for winning pitcher Dámaso Marte when Everett popped out, bringing the White Sox one game closer to their first World Championship in eighty-eight years. Buehrle became the first pitcher ever to start a game in the Series, and save the next one.

Many records were set or tied in the game besides time and innings: The teams combined to use seventeen pitchers (nine for the White Sox, eight for the Astros), throwing a total of 482 pitches, and walking twenty-one batters combined (a dozen by Chicago, nine by Houston); forty-three players were used (the White Sox used twenty-two and the Astros used twenty-one), and thirty men were left on base (fifteen for each team), all new high-water marks in their categories in Fall Classic history. Scott Podsednik set a new all-time record with eight official-at-bats in this game. One record that was tied was most double plays turned, with six (four by the Astros, two by the White Sox).

Team1234567891011121314RHE
Chicago000050000000027143
Houston10210001000000581
WP: Dámaso Marte (1-0)   LP: Ezequiel Astacio (0-1)   Sv: Mark Buehrle (1)
Home runs:
CHW: Joe Crede (2), Geoff Blum (1)
HOU: Jason Lane (1)

Game 4

October 26, 2005 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas

Before the game, Major League Baseball unveiled its Latino Legends Team.

The fourth game was the pitchers' duel that had been promised throughout the series. Both Houston starter Brandon Backe and Chicago starter Freddy García put zeros on the scoreboard through seven innings, the longest since Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Scott Podsednik had a two-out triple in the top of the third, but Tadahito Iguchi grounded out to second, thus snuffing that threat. The Astros had the best chance of scoring in the sixth, but Jason Lane struck out with the bases loaded to end that rally. The White Sox had a chance in the top of the seventh with runners at second and third and two out, but shortstop Juan Uribe struck out to snuff the rally. The White Sox were able to break through in the next inning against embattled Houston closer Brad Lidge. Willie Harris hit a pinch-hit single. Podsednik moved Harris to second with a sacrifice bunt. Carl Everett pinch-hit for Iguchi and grounded out to the right side to allow Harris to move over to third. Jermaine Dye, the Most Valuable Player of the series, had the game-winning single, driving in Harris.

Things got a little sticky for the Sox in the Astros half of the eighth when reliever Cliff Politte hit Willy Taveras, threw a wild pitch, sending Taveras to second, and walked Lance Berkman. After Morgan Ensberg flew out to center, ChiSox manager Ozzie Guillén brought in Neal Cotts to finish the inning. Cotts induced pinch-hitter José Vizcaíno into a ground out to Uribe. Bobby Jenks, the 24-year-old fireballer, started the ninth inning. He allowed a single to Jason Lane and a sacrifice bunt to Brad Ausmus. Chris Burke came in to pinch-hit; he fouled one off to the left side, but Uribe made an amazing catch in the stands to retire Burke.

The game ended when Orlando Palmeiro grounded to Uribe. It was a bang-bang play as Paul Konerko caught the ball from Uribe at 11:01 p.m. CDT to begin the biggest celebration in Chicago since the sixth NBA championship by the Bulls in 1998, and end the second-longest period without a World Series title (the cross-town Chicago Cubs owned the longest such streak at the time, as they had not won since 1908, until winning in 2016). The 1-0 shutout was the first 1-run game to end a World Series since the 1995 World Series, in which Game 6 was won by the Atlanta Braves over the Cleveland Indians, and the first 1-0 game in any Series game since Game 5 of the 1996 World Series when the New York Yankees shut out the Braves in the last game ever played at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.

Team123456789RHE
Chicago000000010180
Houston000000000050
WP: Freddy García (1-0)   LP: Brad Lidge (0-2)   Sv: Bobby Jenks (2)

Composite Box

2005 World Series (4-0): Chicago White Sox (A.L.) over Houston Astros (N.L.)

Team1234567891011121314RHE
Chicago White Sox1401504210000220443
Houston Astros1251200120000014292
Total attendance: 166,422   Average attendance: 42,106

Awards and honors

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Round Rock Express Pacific Coast League Jackie Moore
AA Corpus Christi Hooks Texas League Dave Clark
A Salem Avalanche Carolina League Iván DeJesús
A Lexington Legends South Atlantic League Tim Bogar
A-Short Season Tri-City ValleyCats New York–Penn League Gregg Langbehn
Rookie Greeneville Astros Appalachian League Russ Nixon

References
  1. Footer, Alyson (February 10, 2005). "Veterans inducted into Texas Sports Hall of Fame". houston.astros.mlb.com. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  2. "Adam Riggs Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  3. "Turk Wendell Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com". baseball-reference. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  4. "John Franco Statistics and History". baseball-reference. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  5. "Trent Hubbard Statistics and History". baseball-reference. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  6. de Jesús Ortíz, José (August 15, 2015). "Astros' 2005 World Series team relives the good old days". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
  7. "Jeff Bagwell player page bio". MLB.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  8. "Brooks Kieschnick Statistics and History". baseball-reference. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  9. Vecsey, George (October 22, 2005). "Joy and pain for 3 veterans in first Series". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  10. "Hutch Award". baseball-almanac. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
1st Half: Houston Astros Game Log on ESPN.com
2nd Half: Houston Astros Game Log on ESPN.com
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