| 2005 MLB season | |
| League: | Major League Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | April 3 – October 26, 2005 |
| No Of Games: | 162 |
| No Of Teams: | 30 |
| Tv: | Fox, ESPN |
| Draft: | Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2005 Major League Baseball draft |
| Top Pick: | Justin Upton |
| Top Pick Link: | List of first overall MLB draft picks |
| Picked By: | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Mvp: | AL |
| Mvp Link: | Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Playoffs: | Postseason |
| Playoffs Link: | 2005 Major League Baseball postseason |
| Conf1: | AL |
| Conf1 Link: | 2005 American League Championship Series |
| Conf1 Champ: | Chicago White Sox |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim |
| Conf2: | NL |
| Conf2 Link: | 2005 National League Championship Series |
| Conf2 Champ: | Houston Astros |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Finals: | World Series |
| Finals Link: | 2005 World Series |
| Finals Champ: | Chicago White Sox |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Houston Astros |
| World Series Mvp: | Jermaine Dye (CWS) |
| World Series Mvp Link: | World Series MVP Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of Major League Baseball seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | MLB |
| Prevseason Link: | 2004 Major League Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2004 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2006 Major League Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2006 |
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 than ever before for steroid use in Major League Baseball. Several players, including veteran Rafael Palmeiro, were suspended under the new policy. Besides steroids it was also notable that every team in the NL East finished the season with at least 81 wins (at least half of the 162 games played). Additionally it was the first season featuring a baseball team in Washington, D.C. since the second iteration of the Washington Senators last played there in 1971; the Washington Nationals had moved from Montreal, the first relocation of a team in 33 years and currently the most recent time this has occurred in the majors.
The Anaheim Angels changed their name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
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.
As of the 2024 season, this is the last season in which no no-hit games were pitched; 2005 was also only the 6th year since 1949 in which no such games were thrown.
This was the first season since 1993 that all teams played at least 162 games with no cancellations.
See main article: article and 2005 MLB Postseason.
| Statistic | American League | National League | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs scored | 910 | 820 | |||
| Hits | 1579 | 1506 | |||
| Home runs | 260 | 222 | |||
| Batting average | .272 | .281 | |||
| Stolen bases | 161 | 153 | |||
| 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 |
| Statistic | American League | National League | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs allowed | 642 | 609 | |||
| Earned run average | 3.61 | 3.49 | |||
| Hits allowed | 1315 | 1336 | |||
| Home runs allowed | 154 | 135 | |||
| Strikeouts | 1126 | 1256 | |||
| 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 | |
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Scioscia | |||
| Sam Perlozzo | |||
| Boston Red Sox | |||
| Chicago White Sox | Won the World Series | ||
| Detroit Tigers± | |||
| Replaced during the season by Bob Schaefer | |||
| Lou Piniella | |||
| Buck Showalter | |||
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Melvin | |||
| Bobby Cox | |||
| Dusty Baker | |||
| Replaced during the season by Jerry Narron | |||
| Clint Hurdle | |||
| Jack McKeon | |||
| Houston Astros | Phil Garner | Won the National League pennant | |
| Jim Tracy | |||
| Ned Yost | |||
| Willie Randolph | |||
| Charlie Manuel | |||
| Lloyd McClendon | Replaced during the season by Pete Mackanin | ||
| Bruce Bochy | |||
| Felipe Alou | |||
| Frank Robinson |
Jason Giambi (Designated hitter/first baseman, NYY, American); Ken Griffey Jr. (Center fielder, CIN, National).
David Ortiz (BOS, American); Andruw Jones (ATL, National).
Mariano Rivera (NYY, American); Chad Cordero (WSH, National).
| Month | American League | National League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | Derrek Lee | ||
| May | Bobby Abreu | ||
| June | Andruw Jones | ||
| July | Adam Dunn | ||
| August | Alex Rodriguez | Andruw Jones | |
| September | Randy Winn |
| Month | American League | National League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | Dontrelle Willis | ||
| May | Trevor Hoffman | ||
| June | Chad Cordero | ||
| July | Andy Pettitte | ||
| August | Noah Lowry | ||
| September | Andy Pettitte |
| Month | American League | National League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | Clint Barmes | ||
| May | Ryan Church | ||
| June | Garrett Atkins | ||
| July | Zach Duke | ||
| August | Joe Blanton | Zach Duke | |
| September | Ryan Howard |
| Team name | Wins | Home attendance | Est. payroll | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees[1] | 95 | −5.9% | 4,090,696 | 8.4% | 50,502 | $208,306,817 | 13.1% | |
| Los Angeles Dodgers[2] | 71 | −23.7% | 3,603,646 | 3.3% | 44,489 | $83,039,000 | −10.6% | |
| St. Louis Cardinals[3] | 100 | −4.8% | 3,538,988 | 16.1% | 43,691 | $92,106,833 | 9.2% | |
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim[4] | 95 | 3.3% | 3,404,686 | 0.9% | 42,033 | $94,867,822 | −5.6% | |
| San Francisco Giants[5] | 75 | −17.6% | 3,181,023 | −2.3% | 39,272 | $90,199,500 | 10.0% | |
| Chicago Cubs[6] | 79 | −11.2% | 3,099,992 | −2.2% | 38,272 | $87,032,933 | −3.9% | |
| San Diego Padres[7] | 82 | −5.7% | 2,869,787 | −4.9% | 35,429 | $63,290,833 | 14.3% | |
| Boston Red Sox[8] | 95 | −3.1% | 2,847,888 | 0.4% | 35,159 | $123,505,125 | −3.0% | |
| New York Mets[9] | 83 | 16.9% | 2,829,929 | 22.0% | 34,937 | $101,305,821 | −0.7% | |
| Houston Astros[10] | 89 | −3.3% | 2,804,760 | −9.2% | 34,627 | $76,779,000 | 1.8% | |
| Washington Nationals[11] | 81 | 20.9% | 2,731,993 | 264.5% | 33,728 | $48,581,500 | 17.9% | |
| Seattle Mariners[12] | 69 | 9.5% | 2,725,459 | −7.3% | 33,648 | $87,754,334 | 7.7% | |
| Philadelphia Phillies[13] | 88 | 2.3% | 2,665,304 | −18.0% | 32,905 | $95,522,000 | 2.5% | |
| Baltimore Orioles[14] | 74 | −5.1% | 2,624,740 | −4.3% | 32,404 | $73,914,333 | 43.2% | |
| Texas Rangers[15] | 79 | −11.2% | 2,525,221 | 0.5% | 31,176 | $55,849,000 | 1.5% | |
| Atlanta Braves[16] | 90 | −6.3% | 2,521,167 | 8.3% | 31,126 | $86,457,302 | −4.1% | |
| Chicago White Sox[17] | 99 | 19.3% | 2,342,833 | 21.4% | 28,924 | $75,178,000 | 15.3% | |
| Milwaukee Brewers[18] | 81 | 20.9% | 2,211,023 | 7.2% | 27,297 | $39,934,833 | 45.1% | |
| Oakland Athletics[19] | 88 | −3.3% | 2,109,118 | −4.2% | 26,038 | $55,425,762 | −6.7% | |
| Arizona Diamondbacks[20] | 77 | 51.0% | 2,059,424 | −18.3% | 25,425 | $62,629,166 | −10.2% | |
| Minnesota Twins[21] | 83 | −9.8% | 2,034,243 | 6.4% | 25,114 | $56,186,000 | 4.3% | |
| Detroit Tigers[22] | 71 | −1.4% | 2,024,431 | 5.6% | 24,993 | $69,092,000 | 47.5% | |
| Toronto Blue Jays[23] | 80 | 19.4% | 2,014,995 | 6.1% | 24,876 | $45,719,500 | −8.6% | |
| Cleveland Indians[24] | 93 | 16.3% | 2,013,763 | 11.0% | 24,861 | $41,502,500 | 20.9% | |
| Cincinnati Reds[25] | 73 | −3.9% | 1,943,067 | −15.0% | 23,696 | $61,892,583 | 31.9% | |
| Colorado Rockies[26] | 67 | −1.5% | 1,914,389 | −18.1% | 23,634 | $47,839,000 | −26.9% | |
| Florida Marlins[27] | 83 | 0.0% | 1,852,608 | 7.5% | 22,872 | $60,408,834 | 43.3% | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[28] | 67 | −6.9% | 1,817,245 | 15.0% | 22,435 | $38,133,000 | 18.3% | |
| Kansas City Royals[29] | 56 | −3.4% | 1,371,181 | −17.5% | 16,928 | $36,881,000 | −22.5% | |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays[30] | 67 | −4.3% | 1,141,669 | −10.5% | 14,095 | $29,679,067 | −0.6% |
This was the fifth season that national TV coverage was split between ESPN and Fox Sports. ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected weeknight and Sunday night games, and selected Division Series playoff games. Fox televised Saturday baseball, the All-Star Game, selected Division Series games, both League Championship Series, and the World Series.