Buehrle, who retired the first 12 Cleveland batters to start the game, allowed only two hits and one walk in his eight innings of work, and – helped by two 5-4-3 double plays started by White Sox third baseman Joe Crede – faced only 25 batters, one over the minimum. He struck out five. The only hits he permitted were singles by Victor Martinez to lead off the fifth and Coco Crisp to open the seventh. Both were erased on double plays. “We have a good defense, so let them put the ball in play,” Buehrle said after the game. “Buehrle was as good as I’ve ever seen him,” said Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.1

Indians starter Jake Westbrook was excellent as well, pitching a complete game while permitting only four hits and one walk. “You’ve got to match him pitch for pitch,” Westbrook said of Buehrle. “It’s tough to go out and continue to put up zeroes. He one-upped me today.”2

Buehrle’s performance was a near-duplicate of his start against the Indians at Cleveland’s Jacobs Field on July 21, 2004.3 In that contest, a 14-0 White Sox victory, Buehrle had a perfect game for 6⅓ innings before finishing with a two-hit shutout in which he faced the minimum 27 batters, thanks to two double plays. Wedge felt that Buehrle’s 2005 Opening Day performance surpassed the 2004 gem. “I really thought he was even better [than last season],” said Wedge. “He commanded the game. He didn’t give in, and when he got behind he was still able to make pitches. You just have to tip your cap to him today.”4 Those two starts were not typical of Buehrle’s career work against the Indians. Overall, he was 16-18 against Cleveland for his career, with a 4.93 ERA that was his second highest against any American League opponent (6.03 vs. the Yankees).

The White Sox team that began the season at US Cellular Field featured a revamped roster with a greater emphasis on speed, defense, and pitching.5 The White Sox front office felt that change was needed after the 2004 team finished only four games over .500 (83-79) despite slugging a franchise-record 242 home runs (tied with the New York Yankees for the most major-league home runs in 2004). Buehrle was making his fourth consecutive Opening Day start for the White Sox, but the other eight position players who took the field featured only three holdovers from the 2004 opener in Kansas City: first baseman Paul Konerko, center fielder Aaron Rowand, and Crede.

“The manner in which the Sox scored their only run was a victory in itself for general manager Ken Williams and manager Ozzie Guillén who had grown tired of watching the team fall short year after year despite a lineup stacked with sluggers,” wrote Chicago Tribune reporter Mark Gonzales.6 Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Konerko doubled to left field, then took third on a fly out to right by offseason free-agent signee Jermaine Dye. Indians shortstop Jhonny Peralta, the first player other than Omar Vizquel to start a season at shortstop for the Indians since 1993, then fumbled Rowand’s grounder, allowing Konerko to score. “He started to run and I started to go into the ball. I couldn’t catch the ball,” said Peralta. Said the slow-footed Konerko, “If the guy throws the ball, I’m going to be out probably.”7

After only one game, White Sox players seemed to sense that this was a different team from years past, and perhaps one heading for something special. “I like seeing the home run like anyone else,” said Konerko. “[But] I enjoy this team because a lot of the guys are on the same wavelength, how they feel about their teammates and check everything at the door.” On the fly out to right that allowed Konerko to advance to third, Dye commented that “you’ve got to get him over, somehow, some way. That’s what Ozzie preached in spring training. Late in the ballgame, I know as a veteran player what it takes to get him over. I’m not trying to drive the ball.” Rowand added praise for Ken Williams: “Hats off to Kenny for bringing in the guys who want to get it done. … We don’t have anyone on this team who is selfish. …”8

Those glowing comments proved to be an accurate assessment of how the White Sox would perform in 2005. Though they were threatened by the Indians late in the season, the White Sox held first place in the American League Central Division for all 183 days of the season. The team was particularly strong early in the year. Chicago held a lead at some point in each of its first 37 games of the season, breaking a record of 25 straight games from the start of the season with a lead set by the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. The team also recorded three separate eight-game winning streaks prior to July 1, becoming only the fifth team since 1900 to accomplish that feat (1912 New York Giants, 1978 Boston Red Sox, 1998 New York Yankees, 2001 Seattle Mariners). As for the “small-ball” skills displayed in the Opening Day win, the White Sox postseason media guide reported that the 2005 team led the American League in sacrifice hits (53) and bunt hits (37), while ranking third in stolen bases (137).9

Buehrle finished the 2005 season with a 16-8 record, while posting a career-low 3.12 ERA. He led the American League in innings pitched (236⅔) for the second straight season. In addition, Buehrle was the winning pitcher for the American League in the 2005 All-Star Game at Detroit’s Comerica Park. In his 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners in his third start of the season on April 16, Buehrle bettered even his Opening Day performance when it came to quick work: the game took just an hour and 39 minutes.

For Buehrle and the White Sox, the year culminated in a dominant postseason in which the team posted an 11-1 record, defeating the Houston Astros in four straight games for its first World Series championship since 1917. Fittingly, the White Sox year ended the way it began: with a 1-0 victory.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

The White Sox television broadcast of this game is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33FXCIiE8Mk’

Notes

1 Associated Press, “Buehrle Shuts Out Indians with Two-Hit Gem,” ESPN.com. espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=250404104; accessed January 12, 2020.

2 “Buehrle Shuts Out Indians.”

3 Jacobs Field was renamed Progressive Field in 2008.

4 Bolt Foltman, “Indians Baffled by the Same Old Stuff,” Chicago Tribune, April 5, 2005: 4-4.

5 The White Sox ballpark was renamed Guaranteed Rate Field in 2017.

6 Mark Gonzales, “Small Ball Rules: Buehrle’s Gem, 1 Run Just Enough to Top Cleveland,” Chicago Tribune, April 5, 2005: 4-1.

7 “Buehrle Shuts Out Indians.”

8 Gonzales.

9 Bob Beghtol, ed., 2005 Chicago White Sox Season in Review (Chicago: Chicago White Sox: 2005), 3-5 (all statistics cited in this paragraph). 

Eleven members of the ’59 Go-Go Sox attended the pregame festivities: infielders Ron Jackson and J.C. Martin; outfielders Joe Hicks, Jim Landis, Jim McAnany, and Jim Rivera; and pitchers Rudy Árias, Barry Latman, Billy Pierce, Claude Raymond, and Bob Shaw.2 Shaw threw out the ceremonial first pitch to current pitcher Mark Buehrle.

The 2005 White Sox had been in first place since Opening Day.3 Winning 43 of their first 65 games, they entered a three-game series with the Dodgers (33-32) holding a 5½-game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the American League’s Central Division. In the series opener, Buehrle had recorded his eighth victory and first shutout of the season as the White Sox blanked the Dodgers, 6-0. Buehrle also extended his scoreless-innings streak to 18⅓,4 prompting Guillén to tell reporters, “This kid is the heart of the White Sox. Every time he pitches, my bullpen will be fresh for the next day.”5

Chicago started Freddy García. The Venezuelan-born right-hander had been traded to Chicago the previous season.6 He had won his last three decisions and had pitched into the sixth inning in every one of his 13 starts to this point of the season.

Mexican native Elmer Dessens started for the Dodgers. The 34-year-old righty had been traded to Los Angeles the previous season and then signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in the offseason. He had begun his career in 1996 as a reliever, been a starter from 2001 to 2003 with the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks, but reverted back to a primarily relief role with the Dodgers. Dessens had just returned from a rehab assignment at Triple-A Las Vegas, with the mission of halting the Dodgers’ four-game losing streak.

García did not have his best stuff as the game began. He walked Antonio Pérez on four pitches to start the game. After Jayson Werth popped out, García uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Pérez to take second. After J.D. Drew flied out, Jeff Kent launched his 14th home run of the season, well beyond the left-field wall. García then walked the bases loaded before retiring Mike Edwards. García had walked more batters in the first inning than he had in any start in the season. After the game, he said, “I don’t know what was going on. Maybe I was a little lazy. I threw the ball all over the place.”7 He walked another batter in the second but kept the Dodgers from scoring. Meanwhile Dessens retired the first six Chicago batters, throwing just 21 pitches in the first two frames.

García started throwing strikes in the top of third and Los Angeles went quietly. García’s batterymate, catcher A.J. Pierzynski, said that his pitcher “got a little angry [after the second inning]. When he gets angry, he gets good. Maybe we should go punch him before the first pitch.”8

In the bottom of the third, Pierzynski reached on an error by second baseman Kent. Joe Crede singled, putting runners at the corners. Juan Uribe then grounded a ball to shortstop Oscar Robles, whose only play was to first, and Pierzynski scored.

García still had a bit of wildness, giving up two singles, a wild pitch and a walk (loading the bases with just one out) in the fourth, but he retired Pérez and Werth to end the Dodgers threat. Los Angeles did not get another baserunner until the seventh.

Dessens struck out Frank Thomas to end the sixth, and his day was done. He had pitched well enough to win, allowing just two hits, a walk, and one unearned run in his quality start. Duaner Sánchez came on to pitch the seventh and eighth, and the right-hander put up a dominating performance. Meanwhile, the Dodgers added their third run in the top of the eighth. Kent led off with a double to left, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on García’s third wild pitch of the game.

The clock was supposed to turn back to 1959, the last time the White Sox played in the World Series. Instead, according to the Chicago Tribune, “the White Sox almost dialed all the way back to the ‘Hitless Wonders’ days of 1906.”9 Until the final frame, Chicago had been held to only three hits and one unearned run.

Then came the excitement. Yhancy Brazobán entered in the ninth with a two-run cushion to preserve the Los Angeles win. Dodgers All-Star closer and former Cy Young Award winner Eric Gagné had been placed on the disabled list after his save performance on June 13,10 and Brazobán was called on to fill the closer role. He had converted 11 of 13 save opportunities since Gagné went down at the start of the season.

Chicago’s first batter in the ninth, Tadahito Iguchi, worked a full count and then walked. Thomas grounded out (Iguchi took second) and Paul Konerko flied out. Carl Everett singled on a 2-and-2 count to drive in Iguchi. Guillén inserted Willie Harris as a pinch-runner for Everett, and on Brazobán’s first pitch to Aaron Rowand, Harris stole second base. According to the Los Angeles Times, “[catcher Jason] Phillips did not throw; he had no play because Brazobán’s release time is so slow.”11 Rowand also had two strikes when he singled up the middle, plating Harris with the game-tying run. That brought Pierzynski to the batter’s box. He worked a 3-and-1 count before fouling off three pitches. On Brazobán’s eighth offering, Pierzynski popped the ball up, and believing he had made the game’s final out, threw his bat in disgust. Fortunately, the ball landed on the Dodgers’ dugout, out of play. Pierzynski then made the most of his new life at the plate by crushing a “two-run, two-out, two-strike second-chance homer” to left-center, 414 feet from home plate.12 Dessens’ strong start had been wasted, and the Dodgers had lost their fifth straight game.

The 36,067 fans went wild. This was Chicago’s 20th come-from-behind victory of the season (and their 10th in their last at-bat). Despite getting just six hits, Chicago had won in a walk-off, 5-3. In the dugout, Pierzynski told reporters, “This is my first walk-off anything.”13 This was only the fourth walk-off win of the season for the White Sox, and just the second time Chicago had won with a walk-off home run.14

Chicago swept Los Angeles in the series and continued to win, posting an eight-game winning streak from June 15 to 24. It was the White Sox’ longest streak of the season (tied with eight-game stretches from April 18-25 and April 30-May 8). The White Sox ended the 2005 season with 38 comeback wins and five walk-off victories, en route to 99 wins and a World Series victory. In a 154-game schedule, the 1959 White Sox team won 94 games. This total included 45 comeback wins and 11 walk-off wins. Their longest winning streak was also eight games (May 9-16, 1959).15 The Go-Go Sox would have been proud that the 2005 White Sox had beaten the clock for a last-minute victory.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200506180.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2005/B06180CHA2005.htm

Notes

1 Dave van Dyck, “White Sox Bits: Guillén Praises Talent of ’59 World Series Sox,” Chicago Tribune, June 19, 2005: 3-4. Only one Hall of Famer played on the 2005 White Sox: Frank Thomas.

2 “White Sox Bits: Guillén praises talent of ’59 World Series Sox.”

3 In early April Chicago spent five days tied for the first-place spot, but since April 18, the White Sox held the top spot in the standings on their own.

4 Buehrle ran the streak to 26 innings before yielding a run in the eighth inning of a game against the Kansas City Royals on June 22.

5 Mark Gonzales, “Sox Shutout Right Out of Hollywood,” Chicago Tribune, June 19, 2005: 3-4. Buehrle, Chicago’s 26-year-old left-hander, was the American League’s starting pitcher in the 2005 All-Star Game and finished seventh in the 2005 AL Cy Young Award balloting.

6 On June 27, 2004, Garcia was traded by the Mariners with Ben Davis to the White Sox for Mike Morse, Miguel Olivo, and Jeremy Reed.

7 Dave van Dyck, “Pierzynski’s 2-Out HR Caps 9th-Inning Rally,” Chicago Tribune, June 19, 2005: 3-1.

8 “Pierzynski’s 2-Out HR Caps 9th-Inning Rally.”

9 “Pierzynski’s 2-Out HR Caps 9th-Inning Rally.” The 1906 White Sox won the American League pennant and the World Series despite having the fewest hits (1,133 – the league average was 1,256), home runs (7 – the league average was 17) and the lowest batting average (.230 – the league average was .249) in the AL.

10 Initially, Gagné went on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained ligament in his right elbow. This was the same problem that sidelined him for the first 35 games of the season. On June 21 the Dodgers announced that Gagné would undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. See “Gagne Goes on DL With Elbow Injury,” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2005/06/16/gagne-goes-on-dl-with-elbow-injury/a0239a90-8a8f-4a13-916f-e4711ef45035/. Accessed March 2024.

11 Bill Shaikin, “Dodgers Socked in Ninth,” Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2005: D1, D11.

12 “Pierzynski’s 2-Out HR Caps 9th-Inning Rally.”

13 “Pierzynski’s 2-Out HR Caps 9th-Inning Rally.” In his career, Pierzynski had seven walk-off hits, including three home runs.

14 The White Sox finished the 2005 season with just five walk-off wins, and the last three were via the home run: Jermaine Dye on May 31 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Pierzynski on June 18 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Crede on September 20 against the Cleveland Indians.

15 Comeback-win and walk-off-win stats are not available for the 1906 team. However, the “Hitless Wonders” had a 19-game winning streak (August 2-23, 1906).

Ozzie Guillén understood Chicago’s baseball rivalry. “And so that the Venezuelans understand what this series means,” he wrote in his weekly column in El Universal, “imagine a Caracas-Magallanes game, and multiply the emotion by three.”1 Guillén knew, for decades, that fan bragging rights hung in the balance.

Both Chicago baseball fan bases’ heightened emotions regarding intercity games was symptomatic of lengthy championship droughts. Starved for titles, they embraced anything – exhibition game wins, ballpark esthetics, and crowd sizes – to claim an advantage over their crosstown rivals. Chicago fans last experienced World Series energy when the White Sox won the 1959 American League pennant. The franchise’s last World Series championship came 42 years before that. Cubs fans had waited even longer with the team’s last National League pennant in 1945 and last World Series title in 1908.

Guillén, 41 years old and in his second season as the White Sox manager, was adamant. “We are going to take the Cubs the same way we take everybody,” he said. “[The Cubs] were playing pretty good baseball.”2

“The Cubs get most of the headlines in this city,” said White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, “so we like to show them we can play a little bit on the South Side.”3 Frank Thomas, a member of the White Sox since 1990 and nicknamed the Big Hurt, agreed. “The Cubs, they draw regardless of what type of team they put on the field,” he said. “Over here, it’s about winning. When we win here, we draw very, very well. When we don’t play well over here, we don’t draw well. That’s just the way it’s been.”4

Despite sweltering temperatures that reached 95 degrees at first pitch, the White Sox boasted a season-high crowd and welcomed 39,610 fans to a sun-soaked ballpark at 35th and Shields.5 The game was the third sellout of the season.6 And bragging rights were not the only thing on the line.

“There’s no shortage of excitement and energy,” said Kenny Williams, the White Sox general manager. “And I like the midseason boost, to be honest with you. Coming from a guy who could use any extra dollars for payroll purposes. I like to see the ballpark filled.”7

When Chicago’s teams converged at Wrigley Field8 earlier in the season, the White Sox claimed the first two games of the three-game set. As the series shifted south to US Cellular Field in June, both teams were headed in different directions. Guillén’s White Sox (49-22, .690) maintained a comfortable 9½-game cushion over their nearest American League Central Division foes, the Minnesota Twins. They also enjoyed a seven-game winning streak, which included series sweeps of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals. Manager Dusty Baker’s second-place Cubs (36-35, .507) trailed the front-running St. Louis Cardinals by 8½ games in the National League Central Division. Compounding matters, they had dropped eight of their last 11 games.

Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio, the 1956 American League Rookie of the Year and a member of the 1959 pennant winners, started the celebration by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. But for real mound duty, Guillén tapped 28-year-old right-hander Freddy García (6-3, 3.75 ERA) to be the starter, the 200th start of his career.

The White Sox had expressed interest in acquiring García, a two-time American League All-Star and Rookie of the Year (1999) from the Seattle Mariners during the 2004 season. “Who wouldn’t want that kid?” Guillén said at the time. “He’s one of the dominating pitchers in the game.”9 The White Sox sealed the deal in a five-player trade in June 2004.

García demonstrated why the White Sox wanted him in the starting rotation. He had not lost a game since May 14 against the Baltimore Orioles,10 and his current winning streak began at Wrigley Field on May 20, when he pitched seven innings and defeated the Cubs yielding just five hits and surrendering one unearned run.11 Dusty Baker countered with the 24-year-old right-hander, Sergio Mitre (2-2, 4.19 ERA).

From his first pitch, García seized control, retiring the first seven Cubs batters and 12 of the first 13. As he established his rhythm on the mound, designated hitter Frank Thomas provided offensive fireworks. Scott Podsednik opened the bottom of the first inning and worked a full count. After Podsednik drew a walk, Mitre caught him leaning too far off the bag. Mitre fanned Tadahito Iguchi, the team’s Japanese rookie free agent, appearing to dodge an early jam. With two outs and the bases empty, Thomas, the two-time American League Most Valuable Player, put a charge in the crowd and secured his place in franchise history. His 428-foot blast moved Thomas past Dave Kingman into 29th place on the all-time home-run list.12 When he crossed home plate, he scored his 1,319th career run, matching former shortstop Luke Appling’s franchise record.13 Mitre contained the damage when Konerko flied out to left.

Both pitchers matched zeros in the second, but the Cubs knotted the score with one down in their third. Left fielder Todd Hollandsworth hammered a high fastball deep into the right-field seats for a solo home run.

Pablo Ozuna and Podsednik opened the bottom of the third with singles. With runners on the corners, Iguchi’s fly ball to deep right field scored Ozuna. Podsednik demonstrated why the White Sox had acquired the speedster from the Milwaukee Brewers in December. (In the 2003 and 2004 seasons, he had swiped 43 and 70 bases respectively.) Podsednik stole second and Thomas walked. With Konerko up, Podsednik swiped third. Mitre walked Konerko and with the bases loaded struck out Aaron Rowand looking. With Jermaine Dye at bat, Mitre’s wild pitch skipped beyond catcher Michael Barrett. Podsednik scored, extending the White Sox’ lead to two runs at 3-1, and Thomas and Konerko each advanced a base. Mitre coaxed Dye into hitting a grounder back to the mound, ending the inning.

García and Mitre blanked hitters in the fourth, but the Cubs threatened in the fifth. Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramírez singled to open the frame. Second baseman Todd Walker walked, then García fanned Barrett. Ramirez and Walker advanced as Hollandsworth grounded out. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, García struck out designated hitter Jason Dubois and squashed the rally.

The White Sox seized control in the bottom of the fifth. Podsednik walked. Iguchi singled, placing runners on the corners. Thomas’s fly to right scored Podsednik and gave the White Sox a 4-1 lead. Konerko grounded to short, moving Iguchi to second. With two outs, Rowand singled off Ramírez’s glove and scored Iguchi, making the score 5-1.

After Dye’s single to center sent Rowand to third, Baker summoned reliever Todd Wellemeyer. With A.J. Pierzynski up, Rowand scored and Dye advanced to second on Wellemeyer’s wild pitch. Then Pierzynski powered a two-run opposite-field homer, giving the White Sox an 8-1 lead. Wellemeyer stopped the bleeding when Joe Crede flied out to center.

The Cubs failed to capitalize on Corey Patterson’s single-handed attempt to spark a sixth-inning rally. After Patterson’s leadoff single, Neifi Pérez struck out swinging. With Derrek Lee at the plate, Patterson swiped second. Lee grounded out to third, then right fielder Jeromy Burnitz popped out in foul territory.

Despite a one-out walk and single by Podsednik and Iguchi respectively, Wellemeyer shut down the White Sox in the sixth. García answered by retiring the side in the top of the seventh.

Rowand and Dye opened the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles. Pierzynski doubled to score Rowand and advance Dye to third. With two runners in scoring position and no outs, Crede connected against Wellemeyer with a slicing fly ball that struck the right-field foul pole for a three-run blast.14 The White Sox now led 12-1.

Up 11 runs after seven innings, Guillén signaled for 25-year-old left-handed reliever Neal Cotts. He worked efficiently, needing 13 pitches but allowed a one-out solo homer by Dubois to complete the top of the eighth.

Trailing 12-2, Baker handed the ball to Joe Borowski to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Konerko grounded to shortstop Neifi Pérez. Borowski ended the inning with consecutive strikeouts of Rowand and Dye.

Maintaining a double-digit lead, Guillén tapped Luis Vizcaíno to secure the victory. Enrique Wilson, who replaced Lee at first, hit a ground-rule double. With Burnitz batting, Wilson took third on Vizcaino’s passed ball. Burnitz walked. With no outs and runners at the corners, Macias struck out. Jerry Hairston Jr., a late-game replacement at second, ended the game by hitting into a 6-4-3 double play.

“For me, I don’t do really good in this ballpark,” García said. “It changed today.”15

He added, “I was very aggressive. I cannot say it was my best game, but I felt great. I threw a lot of strikes and made pitches when I needed it.”16

“First inning, first pitch,” Pierzynski said when questioned about García’s effectiveness. “He threw hard, worked the ball down. That’s what we’ve been trying to get him to do all year.”17

“[García] was mixing in a lot of breaking balls,” Baker said. “He had great command. He was tantalizingly close to the strike zone and he threw very well.”18

By beating the Cubs, the White Sox secured their 50th win of the season in just 72 games, becoming the quickest team in franchise history to reach that milestone. The victory gave the White Sox the team’s third eight-game winning streak of the season. Since 1984, six teams have accomplished the same feat in fewer games:19 the Detroit Tigers (1984), New York Mets (1986), Philadelphia Phillies (1993), Cleveland Indians (1995), New York Yankees (1998), and Seattle Mariners (2001). Each team reached the postseason with three winning the World Series (Tigers, Mets, Yankees).20

“When you play this team, you have to beat them in a big way,” Guillén said. “I think we were very lucky.”21

“We’re playing the best team in baseball,” said the Cubs’ Todd Walker. “They’re solid in every aspect of the game.”22

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, and SABR.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200507240.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2005/B07240CHA2005.htm

Photo credit: Freddy García, courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.

Notes

1 Mike Debonis, “Ozzie Guillén, Man of Letters,” slate.com, October 21, 2005. https://slate.com/culture/2005/10/ozzie-guillen-man-of-letters.html (accessed September 14, 2024).

2 “Neighborly Warfare,” Chicago Tribune, June 24, 2005: 17.

3 Brian Mahoney, “White Sox and rest of AL Dominate NL,” Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, June 24, 2005: 42.

4 “First-Place White Sox Trail Cubs in Attendance,” Knoxville News-Sentinel, June 24, 2005: 37.

5 Mark Gonzales, “As Torrid as Weather, Sox Romp Over Cubs for 8th Straight Victory,” Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2005: 1.

6 Associated Press, “Cubs Can’t Cool Off White Sox,” Culpeper (Virginia) Star-Exponent, June 25, 2005: 16.

7 Mark Gonzales, “Sox GM Williams Satisfied but Knows Work Isn’t Done,” Chicago Tribune, June 23, 2005: 4.

8 “Showdown Shifts to Cell,” Chicago Tribune, June 24, 2005: 14.

9 Bob Foltman, “Guillen Hopes Sox Can Obtain His Pal García,” Chicago Tribune, June 6, 2004: 4.

10 Mark Gonzales, “García at Best in Big Games,” Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2005: 7.

11 “Showdown Shifts to Cell.”

12 Mark Gonzales, “Thomas Does ‘Homework,’” Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2005: 7.

13 Phil Rogers, “Just Look Who’s Back in Sox’s Mix,” Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2005: 7.

14 Mark Gonzales, “As Torrid as Weather, Sox Romp Over Cubs for 8th Straight Victory.”

15 Jeff Carroll, “No Sweat,” Hammond (Indiana) Times, June 25, 2005: 21.

16 Mark Gonzales, “García at Best in Big Games.”

17 Andrew Seligman (Associated Press), “White Sox Maul Cubs for Eighth Straight Victory,” Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times, June 25, 2005: 25.

18 Mark Gonzales, “City Series: Sox’s Offense Pours It On,” Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2005: 4.

19 Mark Gonzales, “As Torrid as Weather, Sox Romp Over Cubs for 8th Straight Victory.”

20 Jenifer Langosch, “Cards Quickest to 50 Wins in a Decade,” MLB.com, June 28, 2015 (accessed September 9, 2024).

21 Mark Gonzales, “As Torrid as Weather, Sox Romp Over Cubs for 8th Straight Victory.”

22 Jeff Carroll, “No Sweat.”

Much of Chicago’s early success was due to the achievement of their top four starting pitchers. Homegrown hurlers Jon Garland and Mark Buehrle developed together in the White Sox system and were rotation stalwarts in their sixth season. Veterans Freddy García and José Contreras were acquired in 2004 midseason trades and were pitching their first full season with Chicago. Collectively, the four pitchers started 74 of Chicago’s first 90 games, with a combined record of 40-15.

When games resumed after the break, the White Sox were in Cleveland to face the Indians in a four-game series. Coming off a sweep by Oakland at home before the break, Chicago was looking for improved results in its matchup with third-place Cleveland. “It’s a division rival,” said Garland, Sunday’s scheduled starter. “The least you want to do is split so the standings stay the same.”1

Chicago manager Ozzie Guillén arranged his rotation to have his top four pitchers face the Indians. In the first three contests, Contreras, García, and Buerhle each pitched seven innings, surrendering a total of three runs, as the White Sox won all three. In Sunday’s finale, Garland was aiming for his league-leading 14th win and the White Sox were looking for the sweep.

As in the first three games, Chicago’s offense struck early. Scott Podsednik drove Cleveland starter Scott Elarton’s third pitch of the game into the left-center-field gap for a double. He took third on Tadahito Iguchi’s fly ball to center field and scored on Frank Thomas’s groundout.

Podsednik had been acquired by the White Sox in an offseason trade with Milwaukee for slugger Carlos Lee. Chicago surrendered the power bat of Lee in the transaction but added the speed and defense of Podsednik. In his first year in Chicago, Podsednik was able to solidify the top of the White Sox lineup. “I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job than what he’s done this year,” said White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker.2

Garland took the mound in the bottom of the first facing an Indians lineup that was missing its leading hitter, Travis Hafner. He sidelined with a cut lip and slight concussion after being hit by a pitch in Saturday’s game. Leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore worked the count full before walking on Garland’s ninth pitch. Coco Crisp grounded into a double play and Victor Martinez singled to center. Casey Blake, batting cleanup with Hafner sidelined, grounded out to end the inning.

In the top of the second, the White Sox expanded their lead by two. Jermaine Dye singled up the middle and scored on A.J. Pierzynski’s long home run to center field. The blast was the Chicago catcher’s 12th of the season. Elarton retired the next two batters, but the frame ended with the White Sox on top 3-0.

Chicago struck again in the top of the third. Podsednik flied out to center and Iguchi followed with his sixth homer of the season. “That’s the one pitch I was most disappointed in throwing,” said Elarton of Iguchi’s home run. “Pierzynski put a good swing on what I thought was a good pitch, but the one to Iguchi was just a bad one by me.”3

Garland retired the Indians in order in the bottom of the second, the only clean inning he threw. Cleveland had numerous baserunners in Garland’s other five innings but went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Cleveland’s best chance to score came in the fourth inning. Blake and Ben Broussard singled, putting runners at first and third with no outs. After Jhonny Peralta struck out, Ronnie Belliard hit a sharp grounder up the middle. White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe fielded the hot shot, stepped on second, and threw to first to complete the double play. “I hit the ball hard, but right at somebody,” Belliard said.4

Elarton settled down after the two home runs. From the fourth inning through the seventh, the White Sox mustered only two singles and a walk. Podsednik led off the fifth with a bunt single and stole second. Iguchi walked, but Thomas hit into a double play and Paul Konerko flied out, ending the threat. In the sixth, Aaron Rowand singled, but was stranded.

The Indians had two more opportunities with multiple baserunners but could not push across any runs. In the bottom of the sixth, Garland’s last inning, Martínez stroked a leadoff single and Peralta walked with two outs. Belliard lined a pitch to right that Dye snared, leaving the runners stranded. Neil Cotts relieved Garland in the seventh, then with one out in the eighth Cliff Politte took over for Cotts. He hit Blake with a pitch, Broussard flied to center, and Peralta walked. Belliard came to the plate for the third time with runners in scoring position. He popped out to shallow center and failed again to advance anyone. “I tried,” Belliard said, “but didn’t do the job. They have good pitching.”5

After setting the White Sox down in order in the seventh, Elarton was finished, having surrendered four runs on eight hits. David Riske replaced him in the eighth and pitched two hitless, scoreless innings.

Politte completed the 4-0 shutout with a one-two-three ninth. “I never thought we’d sweep,” said Guillén. I (came in) hoping we’d win the series.”6 The four straight wins secured Chicago’s first four-game sweep in Cleveland in 42 years. The third-place Indians plummeted to 15 games behind the White Sox. Cleveland manager Eric Wedge acknowledged his team’s dubious situation. “We’re in a tough stretch now, but we can’t put our heads down,” he said.7

Garland secured his league-leading 14th win, tossing six effective innings. After the game he was asked about his performance and the state of his team. “We definitely like where we’re sitting right now,” he said. “But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”8

Cleveland rebounded and gradually clawed its way back into the race. When the Indians defeated the Kansas City Royals on September 22, Chicago’s division lead dwindled to 1½ games. That was the smallest gap Cleveland secured; the White Sox never surrendered the lead and won the division by six games.

The White Sox dominated the postseason with an 11-1 record, and gleefully captured their first World Series championship since 1917. The reliable quartet of Contreras, Buehrle, Garland, and García started all 12 postseason games. First baseman Konerko, who was named MVP of the AL Championship Series, gave credit to the four starters. “Those guys were the horses, and I was just along for the ride,” he said. “Really, we all were.”9

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball Reference and Retrosheet for information including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE200507170.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2005/B07170CLE2005.htm

Notes

1 Associated Press, “White Sox Complete Sweep of Cleveland,” Bloomington (Illinois) Pantagraph, May 18, 2005: B1.

2 Mark Gonzales, Podsednik Adds Hitting to Repertoire,” Chicago Tribune, July 18, 2005: 3-3.

3 “White Sox Complete Sweep of Cleveland.”

4 “White Sox Complete Sweep of Cleveland.”

5 Burt Graeff, “It’s Vibrant Hose, Pale Tribe,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 18, 2005: C-1.

6 “White Sox Complete Sweep of Cleveland.”

7 “It’s Vibrant Hose, Pale Tribe.”

8 Mark Gonzales, “Above All, It’s Garland,” Chicago Tribune, July 18, 2005: 3-1.

9 Phil Rogers, “10 Years Ago, White Sox Had Historic Run,” MLB.com, October 26, 2015, https://www.mlb.com/news/white-sox-dominant-in-2005-world-series-run/c-155562852#:

In 2005, the White Sox’ Aaron Rowand finished tied for second among American League center fielders with 15 Defensive Runs Saved, one behind Tampa Bay’s Joey Gathright at the top of the leaderboard.1

At the bottom of the leaderboard was Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees, whose total of negative-26 Defensive Runs Saved was 16 runs lower than the next-worst center fielder, Tampa Bay’s Damon Hollins.

When the two teams met for the rubber match of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon, August 10, at Yankee Stadium, this disparity decided the tightest of series between two eventual American League division winners.

On August 8 the White Sox entered the start of the series 13 games ahead of second-place Cleveland in the AL Central Division; the Yankees were 3½ games behind Boston in the East. All three games were decided by one run. The Yankees won the opener, 3-2, after which the White Sox knotted the series with a 2-1 victory behind seven scoreless innings by former Yankee José Contreras.

The finale followed suit, except it took a 10th inning to settle.

The game had been tied, 1-1, since Carl Everett’s one-out double off Yankees starter Aaron Small scored Pablo Ozuna from first in the third inning. It answered the run the Yankees scored in the first on Gary Sheffield’s one-out single off Chicago right-hander Freddy García, and the pitching duel carried into the late innings. Small completed seven innings, while García finished eight before turning it over to the White Sox bullpen.

Yankees manager Joe Torre called on his future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera to keep the game tied in the ninth, which he did by retiring Rowand, Jermaine Dye, and Geoff Blum in order. Manager Ozzie Guillén responded by calling on lefty Neal Cotts to handle the heart of the New York lineup, and Bernie Williams had a chance to be the hero. He came to the plate with Hideki Matsui on first after a one-out single. A passed ball advanced Matsui to scoring position, but Williams flied out to right to send the game into extra innings.

An inning later, Williams was the goat.

Facing Rivera in his second inning of work with one out in the top of the 10th, Juan Uribe hit a line drive to right-center. With the option of taking a conservative route and holding Uribe to a single, Williams instead opted for a direct line. When he couldn’t close the distance, the ball bounded past him to the wall, and Uribe beat the relay throw to third for a triple.

The extra bases loomed large. Scott Podsednik fouled off a squeeze attempt before hitting a 1-and-2 cutter to Robinson Canó at second base. Uribe broke for home on contact, and his feet-first slide beat Jorge Posada’s tag for the go-ahead run. When the Yankees came to the plate in the bottom of the 10th, Tino Martinez came off the bench to draw a one-out walk off Cotts. That turned over the Yankees lineup, and Guillén called on closer Dustin Hermanson, who struck out Derek Jeter for the second out.

Canó came to the plate and launched a drive to deep center, but his bid for a walk-off homer died in the glove of Rowand, who flagged it down on the warning track to cap a series that was a triumph for both the White Sox and Rowand himself.

Rowand had already made waves in the Bronx by opening the series with a pair of sensational catches in each gap. He robbed Jeter of extra bases with a diving catch in left-center, followed by a full-sprint catch on the right-center warning track to do the same to Canó.

In the August 10 finale, Rowand made his mark with quantity. His game-clinching catch on the warning track was his seventh putout of the game, and his third in the further reaches of Yankee Stadium’s outfield. He ran down Gary Sheffield’s deep drive to end the third inning, and hauled in Matsui’s bid for extra bases in the right-center gap for the final out of the sixth.

Rowand’s ranging was the talk of the Yankees’ clubhouse after the game, although despite his being in his fifth major-league season and third as a starting outfielder, not everybody knew his name.

“That center fielder over there put on an absolute clinic,” said Álex Rodríguez, whose first guess at Rowand’s last name (“Roland?”) was off by a letter.2 “He probably took seven or eight hits away.”3

“He stole a lot of hits,” Jeter said. “If he didn’t make some of those catches, we probably score a few more runs.”

“He was all over the place,” Williams concurred. “He was a great part of their success during the whole series. It seemed like he was able to stop the offense at times.”4

As for Williams, his faltering came at a sensitive juncture. A week earlier, the Yankees made an unusual in-season announcement that they had declined his $15 million option for the following season, which came after a trade deadline in which the Yankees reportedly tried and failed to acquire a center fielder.5 At the same time, manager Torre was fielding questions about public criticism from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who ripped Torre for a late-game pitching decision in the second game of the series. (“I’m very displeased with my manager tonight.”)6

For the White Sox, who won the series despite scoring only two runs in each of the three games, the series represented one of the formulas they had relied on to build their league-best 74-39 record.

“We can play under pressure,” Guillén said after the game. “We can play 1-0 games, 2-1 games against anybody. We can compete against any team. We compete very well.”

Rowand phrased it in a more self-effacing manner: “Just find a way to win, and don’t score any more than you have to.”7

The series loss knocked the Yankees to 5½ games back of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East at 60-52. After the White Sox left town, however, the Yankees rattled off five wins in a row to start a torrid stretch run. They won 35 of their final 50 games – including two of three against the White Sox at US Cellular Field on August 19-21 – to finish with the same record as the Red Sox at 95-67, but they clinched the division on the second-to-last day of the season when their 8-4 victory at Fenway Park on October 1 gave them the decisive 10th win in the head-to-head series.

Because the Yankees won the tiebreaker with Boston, they never faced the White Sox that October. Chicago swept Boston in three games to advance to the AL Championship Series, but the Yankees lost the Division Series to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in five. The White Sox continued winning, dropping just one game to the Angels in the ALCS and sweeping the Houston Astros in the World Series.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200508100.shtml

Photo credit: Aaron Rowand, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2005-specialpos_cf-fielding.shtml.

2 Joe Gergen, “Rowand Covers Ground,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), August 11, 2005: A73.

3 Dom Amore, “Shoulders to Cry On,” Hartford Courant, August 11, 2005: C1.

4 Julian Garcia, “Bernie, Yanks Playing Catch-Up to Rowand’s Show,” New York Daily News, August 11, 2005: 62.

5 “The Yankees Decline an Option on Williams,” New York Times, August 3, 2005: D3.

6 George Vecsey, “Torre Finds There’s No Magic Elixir,” New York Times, August 11, 2005: D1.

7 Mark Gonzalez, “Legging It Out,” Chicago Tribune, August 11, 2005: 4, 1.

The Yankees’ roster brimmed with talent. Their top four batters were Derek Jeter, Robinson Canó, Gary Sheffield, and Álex Rodríguez, who between them had 45 All-Star Game appearances. Pitching for the Yankees was the Big Unit, Randy Johnson, with an impressive 10 All-Star Game appearances. The White Sox boasted a lineup that focused offensively on Paul Konerko batting fourth with six All-Star Game appearances.

The skies were sunny and the temperature was 78 degrees. The attendance at US Cellular Field was 39,480.

The White Sox came into the game having lost seven straight games, their longest losing streak of the season. With only 42 games remaining, pressure was high.1 Manager Ozzie Guillén was confident that the losing streak was going to end and “glad that his team had decided to get their losing streak out of the way now.”2

The White Sox starting pitcher, José Contreras, threw 15 pitches in the first inning, leaving Gary Sheffield on base after his infield single to third base. In the bottom of the first, Randy Johnson allowed leadoff hitter Pablo Ozuna a groundball single into center field. Ozuna stole second on a 1-and-0 count on teammate Tadahito Iguchi, who eventually struck out on a 2-and-2 count. With one out, Ozuna was caught leaning between second and third. Johnson stepped off the rubber and threw to second baseman Robinson Canó, who eventually relayed to third baseman Álex Rodríguez for the tag out. Aaron Rowand popped out to left field, allowing Johnson also to escape the inning throwing only 15 pitches.

It remained much of the same in the second. Both pitchers dominated, each facing only three batters. Contreras threw 12 pitches, striking out Hideki Matsui, forcing a popout to center field by Bernie Williams, and forcing a groundout to second base by Tino Martinez. Johnson threw nine pitches, striking out Paul Konerko and getting Jermaine Dye and Juan Uribe to ground out to shortstop.

Contreras gave up the first run of the day in the top of the third inning. After back-to-back singles from Tony Womack and Derek Jeter, Contreras attempted to pick off the speedy Womack at second but threw the ball into center field. The Yankees now had runners on second and third with one out. Canó’s groundball to second base scored Womack. 1-0, Yankees.

In the bottom of the third, Randy Johnson continued his dominance, throwing only 11 pitches. He struck out Chris Widger and Brian Anderson and forced Geoff Blum to fly out to center field.

Through 3 1/2 innings the game was straightforward, some might say, slowly unfolding like a long summer’s day. However, Willie Mays once said of baseball, “For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.” This violence and unpredictability of baseball exploded all at once in the bottom of the fourth at US Cellular Field.3

Randy Johnson came into the bottom of the fourth having thrown only 35 pitches. With one out, Tadahito Iguchi came to the plate to start a team effort that not only broke the game open but was never repeated in Johnson’s career. On a 2-and-0 count, Iguchi hit a line-drive home run to right field, tying the game at 1-1. Aaron Rowand, the number-three batter in the White Sox lineup, entered the batter’s box and with a 2-and-2 count completed a carbon-copy home run of Iguchi’s to right field. Johnson, visibly irritated, set to take on the cleanup power hitter of the White Sox, Paul Konerko. On a 0-and-2 count, Johnson attempted to strike out Konerko with a slider that hung over the plate. Konerko hit a towering 410-foot bomb to the deep left-field bleachers. For the third time in three batters, the White Sox play-by-play commentator, Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, belted, “You can put it on the boards, Yes!”4

The score now 3-1 and only one out, Johnson gave up line-drive singles to Dye and Uribe before taking on Chris Widger. Widger, who had hit only three home runs in the past five years, was able to cap off the unthinkable moment. On a 1-and-2 count, Johnson said later, he “fired a high fastball that was not meant to be a strike but to initiate a swing and miss.”5 However, Widger took the pitch and sent it into the bleachers. This was the fourth home run of the inning, making the score 6-1, White Sox. Widger later said, “Honestly, in this game, you get lucky sometimes, and sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”6 This moment in the fourth inning was a head-scratching, once-in-a-lifetime moment not only for Randy Johnson but also for the White Sox fans erupting at US Cellular Field.7

With the snap of a finger, the game went back to the leisurely pace as seen prior to the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the sixth, Tino Martinez singled to right field, scoring Gary Sheffield and making the score 6-2, White Sox.

Johnson allowed back-to-back singles to Konerko and Dye in the bottom of the sixth inning. Juan Uribe’s groundout to second base advanced the runners. However, Johnson closed the door and struck out both Widger and Brian Anderson.

The seventh and eighth innings saw only one baserunner, Robinson Canó, who singled on a line drive to center field in the top of the seventh.

José Contreras completed the eighth inning throwing 112 pitches and allowing no walks. This was the longest outing of his career to date without issuing a walk. In the ninth inning, Dámaso Marté came in and closed out the game, pitching to the minimum three batters, putting an exclamation point on the game, beating Johnson and the Yankees and helping the White Sox end their losing streak at seven games.

The Yankees’ Johnson settled down after the fourth inning and completed the game with 117 pitches. This was the only time in Johnson’s Hall of Fame career that he gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs, and the only game in which he allowed four home runs in one inning.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Restrosheet.org, and a YouTube video of the game.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA200508210.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2005/B08210CHA2005.htm

“White Sox go back-to-back-to-back off Unit in 2005,” YouTube.com, uploaded by MLB August 21, 2005, https://youtu.be/OPkMVccOcig?si=wPTUKvF8QjVV0AC9

Photo credit: Chris Widger, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 “Yankees’ Swoon in 2000 a Lesson for Sox,” Chicago Tribune, August 22, 2005.

2 Riverside Sluggers, “August 21 Yankees vs White Sox,” TalkSox.com, August 21, 2005. https://talksox.com/forums/topic/71942-august-21-yankees-vs-white-sox/. Retrieved on September 12, 2024.

3 “75+ Best Baseball Quotes From Players, Movies, & More,” justtbats.com, May 8, 2024. https://www.justbats.com/blog/post/best-baseball-quotes-from-players-movies-more/. Retrieved August 10, 2024.

4 Robert Kuenster, “Across More Than 50 Years in Baseball, Ken ‘Hawk’ Harrelson Was an Entertainer,” Forbes, September 20, 2018. Harrelson was a White Sox announcer from 1982 to 1985 and 1990 to 2018. He was known for his unique phrases like “You can put it on the boards, Yes!” and “He gone! Grab some bench!” referring to a White Sox pitcher striking out an opposing batter.

5 Tyler Kepner, “Fiasco in Fourth Sinks Johnson and Yankees,” New York Times, August 22, 2005.

6 Kepner.

7 Chris Widger hit only four home runs in 2005. In 2006 Widger hit one home run with the White Sox.

The team, however, began to slump. The White Sox won 22 games and lost 26 between August 2 and September 22. Meanwhile, the Indians got hot and closed the gap, going 35-12 during the same period. The White Sox’ lead dropped to 1½ games.

During the White Sox slump, Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti compared them to the 1969 Chicago Cubs. That team led the former National League East division by 7½ games on August 19, 1969, before it suffered one of the most infamous collapses in major-league history. The team finished second in the division to the New York Mets, the eventual World Series champion. Mariotti wrote: “But when you see the Sox morph into a limp, feeble club that can’t piece together a run, much less win a game – I mean, is it wrong to mention early similarities to 1969?”1

White Sox pitcher José Contreras gave his team a major boost. On September 23 Contreras threw the first complete game of his major-league career as the White Sox defeated the visiting Minnesota Twins 3-1 at US Cellular Field (later called Guaranteed Rate Field).

Contreras, a 6-4, 255-pound right-hander, improved to 14-7. He allowed six hits, struck out nine, and walked one batter in a brisk 2:19 before 28,003 raucous fans.

Contreras survived a shaky start in the top of the first inning. The Twins’ Jason Tyner led off with a single to left field, then stole second base. Contreras walked Nick Punto. Contreras faced Joe Mauer with two on and nobody out. Mauer grounded to Contreras, who threw to shortstop Juan Uribe to force out Punto at second base, and Uribe threw to Paul Konerko at first base to complete the double play. Tyner advanced to third. The Twins’ Matt LeCroy flied to center fielder Aaron Rowand for the third out.

The White Sox scored all of their runs in the bottom of the first inning off losing pitcher Kyle Lohse, whose record fell to 9-13. Scott Podsednik led off with a double to left field. Tadahito Iguchi struck out and A.J. Pierzynski flied out to center field. After Konerko drew a walk, Jermaine Dye hit a three-run home run to left field. It was his 29th home run of the season.

Contreras retired the Twins in order in the second, third, and fourth innings. He started the top of the fifth inning by striking out the first two batters, Jacque Jones and Mike Ryan. (Ryan had replaced Michael Cuddyer in right field.) The third batter, Justin Morneau, doubled to left field. It was the only extra-base hit Contreras gave up in the game. Afterward, Contreras’s fielding helped the White Sox again. The Twins’ Terry Tiffee grounded back to him, and Contreras’s throw to first retired the side.

Ryan drove in the Twins’ only run in the top of the seventh inning. Mauer led off with a single to right field. He stole second after Matt LeCroy and Jones struck out. Ryan’s single to right drove in Mauer. Ryan stole second during Morneau’s at-bat, but Morneau fouled out to Konerko to end the inning.

The White Sox had a final scare in the top of the ninth. Punto led off with a single to right and went to second and third on groundouts by Mauer and LeCroy. Jacque Jones stepped to the plate. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén walked to the pitcher’s mound. The crowd, fearing Guillén wouldn’t let Contreras complete the shutout, booed the manager. But Guillén left Contreras in the game, and he struck out Jones for the final out.2

Contreras gave up six hits, struck out nine, and walked just one batter. “It’s one of the best games I’ve pitched in my whole career as a baseball player,” Contreras said after the game. “And the best I’ve pitched in the US.”3

The win gave the White Sox a much-needed lift. It preserved the team’s thin lead and helped save the season. Cleveland beat host Kansas City 7-6 the same night. Starting with Contreras’s win, the White Sox won 8 of their last 10 games and took the division. That included a season-ending three-game sweep of the Indians. The Indians finished 3-6 in their last nine games.

For Contreras, a 33-year-old Cuban defector, the game was part of a quest for vindication. Born in Las Martinas, Cuba, he had played seven years for the Cuban national team, He pitched well in international competition. Contreras often baffled hitters by throwing several different pitches, including a fastball and a forkball, from different angles.4

Although Contreras had achieved fame in his homeland, he craved to play in the US major leagues. He defected while the Cuban team was playing in Mexico in 2002.5 He eventually was smuggled into the United States.

Contreras pitched for the New York Yankees in 2003 and part of 2004, finishing with records of 7-2 and 8-5 respectively. The Yankees traded him to the White Sox on July 31, 2004, for pitcher Esteban Loaiza. Baseball writer Phil Rogers speculated that Contreras’s performances against the Boston Red Sox angered Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Rogers wrote: “He had allowed 28 runs in 15 1/3 innings over five career starts against Boston, an unforgivable sin in George Steinbrenner’s world.”6

After the trade, Contreras had a 5-4 record for the White Sox. The first half of the 2005 season did not go well for him. He was 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA at the All-Star break. White Sox general manager Ken Williams tried to trade him. A book about the White Sox, The Pride of Chicago, stated: “He was the weakest link on a strong pitching staff. One of Williams’ midseason goals was to pull off a trade that would add a reliever or veteran bat to his lineup. He was willing – even eager – to package Contreras as the bait for any deal.”7

Fortunately for the White Sox, Williams did not find any takers. Contreras emerged as the pitching staff’s ace during the second half of the season. He won his last eight starts. Contreras finished the season 15-7, including 11-2 in the second half.

After the White Sox defeated the Twins, sportswriter Rick Gano wrote: “The second half of the season, Contreras has changed his arm angle and found his control, cutting down his walks and limiting his pitch count.”8

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire complimented Contreras after the game, saying, “He was a little out of whack before, but he’s not out of whack anymore.”9

White Sox manager Guillén said: “Two months ago, everybody wanted to kill this kid and get him out of town because he was pitching horrible, and all of a sudden he’s a Cy Young winner.”10

Guillén told another writer, “Jose had always had the best arm on my team. It’s a matter of time when he can use that. It’s a matter of confidence. This kid won a big game for us and he showed the guys when you have confidence and throw strikes and attack the strike zone, you can win a lot of games.”11

Sportswriter Vinnie Duber declared in a 2020 retrospective that Contreras’s performance in September 2005, including the win over the Twins, greatly helped the White Sox. Duber wrote: “… [H]is biggest contribution was getting the White Sox to the postseason in the first place. From Sept. 7 to Sept. 23, the team went 6-10. But Contreras won all four starts he made during that stretch, preventing a true freefall out of the division race.”12

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author used the Baseball-Reference.com, Baseball-Almanac.com, and Retrosheet.org websites for box-score, player, team, and season pages, pitching and batting game logs, and other material.

Clemson Smith Muñiz, “Jose Contreras: A ChiSox Ambassador with Stories to Tell,” La Vida Baseball, March 27, 2018. https://www.lavidabaseball.com/jose-contreras-cuba-journey/; Andrew Seligman (Associated Press), “Contreras Finally Displaying All His Talents on the Mound,” Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania), June 25, 2006. https://www.poconorecord.com/story/sports/2006/06/25/contreras-finally-displaying-all-his/53084139007/.

Vinnie Duber, “White Sox 2005 Rewind: Jose Contreras Went ‘Ace Mode’ to Save the Season,” NBC Sports Chicago, May 14, 2020, https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/white-sox-2005-rewind-jose-contreras-went-ace-mode-to-save-the-season/381271/.

Notes

1 Jay Mariotti, “Gag Line Starting to form on 35th Street,” Chicago Sun-Times, August 21, 2005: 118.

2 Mark Gonzales, “Complete Relief: Contreras Goes Distance for 1st Time, Gives Sox Major Lift,” Chicago Tribune, September 24, 2005: Section 3: 1, 4.

3 Rick Gano (Associated Press), “Contreras to the Rescue – Sox Top Twins,” Ottawa (Illinois) Times, September 24, 2005: B2.

4 Clemson Smith Muñiz, “Jose Contreras: A ChiSox Ambassador with Stories to Tell,” La Vida Baseball, March 27, 2018. https://www.lavidabaseball.com/jose-contreras-cuba-journey/; Andrew Seligman (Associated Press), “Contreras Finally Displaying All His Talents on the Mound,” Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania), June 25, 2006. https://www.poconorecord.com/story/sports/2006/06/25/contreras-finally-displaying-all-his/53084139007/.

5 Smith Muñiz.

6 Phil Rogers, Say It’s So: The Chicago White Sox’s Magical Season (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2006), 60.

7 Chris De Luca, ed., The Pride of Chicago: The White Sox’s 2005 Championship Season (St. Louis: Sporting News Books, 2005), 29.

8 Gano, “Contreras to the Rescue – Sox Top Twins.”

9 “Twins Can’t Solve Sox, 3-1,” St. Cloud (Minnesota) Times, September 24, 2005: 1D.

10 Gonzales, “Complete Relief”: 4.

11 Gano.

12 Vinnie Duber, “White Sox 2005 Rewind: Jose Contreras Went ‘Ace Mode’ to Save the Season,” NBC Sports Chicago, May 14, 2020, https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/white-sox-2005-rewind-jose-contreras-went-ace-mode-to-save-the-season/381271/.

Heading into the 2005 season, the Chicago White Sox had been consistent contenders in the American League Central Division since their last divisional title in 2000. Chicago, as was its wont during that period, constructed its 2004 squad to compete one-dimensionally via the long ball – much to the dismay of manager Ozzie Guillén. The outspoken first-year skipper (and the team’s longtime former star shortstop) had “grown tired watching the team fall short year after year despite a lineup stacked with sluggers.”1 Instead, he sought strong pitching and a more balanced attack. “We hit a lot of home runs, but so what?” Guillén said. “We had no leadoff hitter, no speed, we had a lot of holes to fill.”2 Despite his managerial inexperience, Guillén helped persuade general manager Ken Williams to begin a major roster overhaul that would allow his team to “hit and run, bunt, steal bases [and] create action instead of wait for [home runs].”3 Key midseason-2004 acquisitions included “professional hitter” Carl Everett along with starting pitchers Freddy García and José Contreras.4

Williams accelerated the rebuild in the offseason before the 2005 campaign. He offset the departure of sluggers Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordóñez, and José Valentín with the addition of a mix of speed, defense, and pitching that featured “low-maintenance, low-ego type guys, and hard workers.”5 Speedy left fielder Scott Podsednik, star Japanese import second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, power-hitting right fielder Jermaine Dye, and fiery catcher A.J. Pierzynski came aboard to become mainstays of the starting lineup. Incoming relievers Dustin Hermanson, Bobby Jenks, and Luis Vizcaíno helped revamp the bullpen. “We didn’t try to reinvent the game when we set out to put this team together,” Williams explained. “What we wanted to do was basically go back to what has worked in baseball history and stand firm on those fundamentals: Catch the ball, pitch the ball, and give yourself a chance to be in and win every ballgame.”6

The controversial “drastic” moves quickly proved successful, with the White Sox maintaining the division lead throughout the 2005 season – although not without some drama.7 After enjoying a comfortable 15-game margin on August 1, the team fell flat over the final two months of the campaign and nearly squandered its divisional stranglehold. Nonetheless, the White Sox clutched a tenuous three-game lead over the Cleveland Indians as they headed into a September 29 road contest against the Detroit Tigers. A victory over the Tigers would guarantee the AL Central title for the White Sox.

Detroit had won two of the first three in the four-game set against its divisional foe. However, the woeful Tigers entered the contest a distant 24 games out of first place and were without the services of key regulars Iván Rodríguez and Carlos Guillén. “It’s been a tough go,” manager Alan Trammell said of the team’s 12th consecutive losing season that ultimately resulted in his firing the day after the season ended.8

Making only his third appearance of the campaign, Jason Grilli took the mound for Detroit in his final big-league start before embarking on a lengthy career as a bullpen arm. The White Sox called upon the 13-8 workhorse García, who relished “high-profile games.”9 The crowd of 13,494 at Comerica Park endured brisk weather conditions during the afternoon tilt.

A bases-empty double by Dye kick-started a two-out rally for Chicago in the top of the first inning. After veteran slugger Paul Konerko walked to put two aboard, Everett tripled, scoring both runners. Everett remained stranded on third when Grilli, who had started eight games for the White Sox a year earlier, retired his former teammate Aaron Rowand on a fly ball.

After García made quick work of Detroit in the bottom half of the inning, Chicago used its “small-ball tactics to manufacture a run” in the second frame.10 Pierzynski led things off with a double and took third on a sacrifice by Juan Uribe. After a walk to Willie Harris put runners at the corners, Podsednik scored Pierzynski on a sacrifice fly to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. That score held until Grilli allowed a solo home run to Konerko in the sixth inning to give the White Sox a four-run advantage.

The Tigers’ offense finally found some life in the bottom of the seventh. Craig Monroe and Brandon Inge led off with singles. Monroe moved to third on Vance Wilson’s groundout and scored on a wild pitch. García settled down to retire the next two batters and limit the damage to one run.

Detroit again chipped away at the deficit in the eighth after Tigers reliever Chris Spurling blanked Chicago in the top half of the frame. Plácido Polanco’s leadoff single chased García from the game in favor of reliever Cliff Politte. After retiring the first batter he faced, the journeyman allowed a double to former White Sox star Ordóñez that scored Polanco. The inning’s cavalcade of pitching changes continued with relievers Neal Cotts and Jenks being called upon from the bullpen; the two successfully held the score at 4-2 as the increasingly nerve-racking game headed into the final stanza.

After Detroit reliever Fernando Rodney narrowly escaped trouble in the top of the ninth, Guillén decided to leave the fate of Chicago’s precarious two-run lead to the right arm of Jenks, whose last four appearances included two blown saves and a loss. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound rookie – promoted from Double-A ball in July – had recently supplanted an ailing Hermanson as the team’s closer.

Inge’s fourth single of the game led off the bottom of the ninth for Detroit. He moved to second on Wilson’s bouncing ball that was booted by third baseman Joe Crede, who had just returned to the team that morning after visiting Missouri for the birth of his second child. After the “shaky” start, however, Jenks retired the next three Tigers on back-to-back strikeouts and a “scary” line drive to first that Konerko speared to end the game – and give the White Sox their first AL Central title in five years.11 “I won’t lie to you – my stomach dropped a little bit when the ball was hit,” Jenks admitted after collecting his fourth save of the year. “It was an unbelievable catch.”12 After making his potentially game-saving grab, Konerko viewed the contest as being analogous to Chicago’s campaign as a whole. “It was like our season,” the All-Star first baseman said. “We cruised through seven innings, and then we got a little tight at the end and pulled it out.”13

After the relatively mild on-field celebration among White Sox players moved into the clubhouse, a raucous party commenced. “At the height of the festivities, champagne and beer were being sprayed so fiercely it was as if an automatic sprinkler system had been activated,” Chicago sportswriter Rick Morrissey wrote. “Cigar smoke hung over the scene. Salsa music throbbed. Grown men acted like boys.”14 The celebration validated the “feisty leadership of Guillén and foresight of Williams” from doubters who thought the team would fritter away its divisional lead.15 However, the “only choke” on this day involved the manager and GM “choking back tears of joy.”16

Curiously, not present during the merrymaking was longtime Chicago slugger and future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, whose season ended in July when he fractured a foot. “Frank’s not here because he chose not to be here,” Guillén bluntly said.17 Chicago sportswriter Chris De Luca deduced that Thomas’s absence was a signal that his 16-season run with the team was “nearing its last chapter.”18 After two consecutive injury-plagued campaigns, Thomas indeed was not brought back by the White Sox in 2006, creating a years-long rift between the two parties.

Looking ahead despite being surrounded by the ongoing revelry, winning pitcher García declared that the team needed “to step up for the first round of the playoffs.”19 And while still in the midst of drying off from champagne baths, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who had been a “basket case” down the tense stretch run, began wondering about the “mind-boggling” possibility of winning a championship for the city.20 Even jubilant Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley opined that the White Sox “can be in the World Series easily.”21

Indeed, the “lunch-bucket” team took seven of eight games in the first two playoff rounds to win its first pennant in 46 years.22 The White Sox then swept the Houston Astros to capture the World Series in “arguably the greatest postseason run in history.”23 The championship was the White Sox’ first since 1917. Much of that year’s squad subsequently became embroiled in the infamous Black Sox Scandal involving game-fixing in the 1919 fall classic that, as legend has it, cast a long-lingering malediction over the Windy City’s South Siders. But Chicago’s defeat of Detroit on a late September day 86 years after that ugly episode in baseball’s annals was the first step toward finally exorcising the Curse of Shoeless Joe (Jackson).24

Sources

The author accessed Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for box scores/play-by-play information, and other data.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET200509290.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2005/B09290DET2005.htm

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed GenealogyBank.com, NewspaperArchive.com, Newspapers.com, Paper of Record, Stathead.com, Weather Underground, and a recording of the game’s television broadcast from Comcast SportsNet in Chicago posted on YouTube.

Notes

1 Mark Gonzales, “Small Ball Rules: Buehrle’s Gem, 1 Run Just Enough to Top Cleveland,” Chicago Tribune, April 5, 2005: Section 4, 1.

2 The Pride of Chicago: The White Sox’s 2005 Championship Season (St. Louis: The Sporting News, 2005), 18.

3 The Pride of Chicago: The White Sox’s 2005 Championship Season, 14.

4 “D-Rays Offer Deal to Everett,” Lakeland (Florida) Ledger, December 10, 2003, https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2003/12/10/d-rays-offer-deal-to-everett/26088026007/, accessed June 4, 2024.

5 Dave van Dyck, “Built From the Grind Up,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2005: Section 4, 7.

6 Doug Padilla, “Williams Happy, but He Has a More Worldly View,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2005: 151.

7 Van Dyck.

8 Gene Guidi, “Central Time for Chisox,” Detroit Free Press, September 30, 2005: 7E.

9 Doug Padilla, “Celebration Central,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2005: Red Streak, 19.

10 Mark Gonzales, “Weight Lifters,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2005: Section 4, 3.

11 “Clinch Runners,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2005: Redeye, 13; Mike Downey, “Sox’s Gaze Extending Well Beyond Cleveland,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2005: Section 4, 3.

12 Rick Morrissey, “An Amazin’ Finish and a Fresh Start,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2005: Section 1, 6.

13 Padilla, “Celebration Central.”

14 Morrissey.

15 Chicago Sun-Times, White Sox: 2005 World Series Champions (Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing LLC, 2005), 125.

16 White Sox: 2005 World Series Champions, 54.

17 Chris De Luca, “Sox Stand Up to Test,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2005: 157.

18 De Luca.

19 Doug Padilla, “Steady Freddy, Timely Hitting Return; ‘Look Out’ in Postseason, Konerko Warns,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2005: 156.

20 Rick Telander, “The Way I See It,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2005: 158.

21 Rummana Hussain, “Daley Rejoices: ‘Happy, Happy Day,’” Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2005: 6.

22 Mark Gonzales, “Lunch-Bucket Sox Feast on Achievement,” Chicago Tribune, September 30, 2005: Section 4, 6.

23 Phil Rogers, Say It’s So: The Chicago White Sox’s Magical Season (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2006), 263.

24 David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft, The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball 2006 (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2006), 737.

The last time the White Sox won a playoff series was also the last year they won the World Series, 88 years earlier, in 1917. They would need to overcome Boston in the Red Sox’ home ballpark in an American League Division Series to do so in 2005. Boston had broken its 86-year World Series championship drought the previous year. Of the 22 teams to go down two games to none in a division series, only four had come back to win. The Red Sox had done so twice, in 1999 vs. Cleveland and in 2003 vs. Oakland.1

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski said, “That’s the hardest one to win, the closing game. They know it could be the end of their year, and they’ll give it all they can to try to get back in it. The last one is always harder. Each victory in a series gets harder. The last one was hard, but this one will be even harder.”2

The Red Sox turned to Tim Wakefield, who had beaten the White Sox 7-4 at Fenway Park on August 13. The White Sox tapped Freddy García, who had been magnificent on the road during the season with a 10-3 record. One of those losses came on August 23, when he pitched a one-hitter vs. the Twins, giving up just a home run to Jacque Jones.

Scott Podsednik led off for the White Sox and was hit by a pitch, but was soon caught stealing at second with an excellent throw by Doug Mirabelli, who normally caught knuckleballer Wakefield. Wakefield then struck out Tadahito Iguchi and Jermaine Dye.

In the bottom of the first, Red Sox leadoff hitter Johnny Damon also reached base, with a walk, but was unable to score. Edgar Renteria popped out to third, and during a hit-and-run, David Ortiz lined into an unassisted double play to third baseman Joe Crede, who was playing the shift near second base.

The first runs of the game were scored in the top of the third. after a sliding catch in right field by Trot Nixon and a deep-in-the-hole groundout to Renteria. Juan Uribe started the two-out rally with a double to left off the Green Monster. Podsednik followed with a double to the left-field corner, scoring Uribe. Iguchi singled up the middle to bring Podsednik around and made it 2-0. Jermaine Dye singled but Wakefield minimized the damage by getting Paul Konerko to fly out to right.

Heading into Game Three, the lack of offense from the Red Sox was a concern. After two games they had scored only six runs, were hitting .211 with runners in scoring position, and had no home runs. The White Sox had an offensive explosion of 19 runs, a .533 batting average with runners in scoring position, and six home runs. That changed in the bottom of the fourth.

David Ortiz led off the inning with a home run to center and Manny Ramirez followed with another homer, to right, to tie the game, 2-2. This was only the second time in 2005 that Ortiz and Ramirez hit back-to-back home runs; the first was 17 days before, on September 20 vs. the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. García eventually retired the next three batters to end the fourth.

The sixth inning proved the deciding inning of both the game and the Series as neither starting pitcher made it to the seventh. Wakefield started the sixth by walking Dye and then giving up a home run to Paul Konerko to give the White Sox a 4-2 lead. The last batter he faced was Carl Everett, who grounded out to first.

Manager Terry Francona, who was 4-0 in elimination games in his managerial career at the time, went to his bullpen for Chad Bradford and his submarine-style approach against Aaron Rowand. It didn’t work and Rowand singled to center field. Bradford was replaced by Mike Myers to face Pierzynski. While Myers focused on attacking A.J., Rowand stole second. Myers ultimately walked Pierzynski.

Francona once again went to the bullpen – this time to bring in rookie Jonathan Papelbon to face Crede. The 24-year-old had never pitched above Class A before 2005.3 Right fielder Trot Nixon benefited from familiarity with his home ballpark and caught Crede’s foul popup reaching into the first row of the short right-field stands. Rowand tagged up on the play and took third base. With Uribe up, Pierzynski stole second, his first stolen base of the season. Papelbon stranded both runners by striking out Uribe.

García normally pitched deep into games during the 2005 season: Of his 33 starts, 26 were six or more innings and 22 were seven or more. However, he didn’t record another out. Ramirez led off the bottom of the sixth by hitting his second home run of the game, making the score 4-3 and knocking García out of the game. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén called for Dámaso Marté, who did not have it that night. Nixon – the first batter he faced – hit a line-drive single to right field. Marte then walked Bill Mueller and John Olerud to load the bases with nobody out. A rally was brewing.

Guillén then made a surprising choice and went to the veteran starter Orlando Hernández, who was making the 18th postseason appearance of his career. With Wakefield out, Francona had Jason Varitek bat for Mirabelli. Varitek was 3-for-8 in the first two games of the Series and the Red Sox would need a big inning here to extend this to a fourth game. Hernández got Varitek to pop out in foul territory on the first-base side to Konerko near the fungo circles.

Next came Tony Graffanino, looking to redeem himself from an earlier Game Two error. He battled through a 10-pitch at-bat before eventually popping out to shortstop Uribe on the infield grass for the second out of the inning.

Damon worked the count full but struck out on a close checked swing. “I was hoping we could get out of it with a run,” White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf said.4 The Red Sox were 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position heading into Game Three. After their best opportunity of the game, they couldn’t convert and ended the series 4-for-24.

Both Papelbon and Hernández continued to hold the opposing offenses at bay. After Hernández retired eight batters in a row, Olerud singled to center field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Hernández struck out Varitek swinging to end the inning. Hernández in his three shutout innings pitched gave up just one hit and struck out four.

Mike Timlin replaced Papelbon in the top of the ninth and the White Sox finally demonstrated some of their small ball/Ozzie ball that was so successful for them during the season. After Pierzynski led off with a double to left, Crede sacrificed him Pierzynski to third. The White Sox added an insurance run on a suicide squeeze with Uribe getting the bunt down – fielded by Timlin, but scoring Pierzynski and making it a 5-3 White Sox lead. Uribe ended up safe at first, but Timlin finished the inning without allowing any more runs.

For the bottom of the ninth, Guillén again turned to rookie Bobby Jenks. In Game Two, Jenks nailed down six outs to save a 5-4 White Sox win. He needed only 10 pitches to get the last three outs of the Series.5 Facing Boston’s ninth, first, and second hitters, Jenks got Graffanino to ground out to Crede at third and struck out Damon. The year before with the St. Louis Cardinals, Renteria made the last out of the World Series against the Red Sox. Now with Boston, it was up to him to try to extend their season. Jenks got the better of him and he grounded out to Iguchi at second, closing out the game and winning the Series for the White Sox.

“Don’t get too high,” Guillén said after the celebration started to subside. “We beat one of the best teams in baseball and continue to ride very low. Don’t get too high. Don’t get too excited. We’ll wait for whoever we’re playing and take it one day at a time.”6

It had been 88 years since Clarence Henry “Pants” Rowland led the White Sox to a playoff series win and the Chicago fans were excited to celebrate. Hundreds of people waited several hours for the team’s return at Chicago’s Midway Airport the next day to cheer on the team.7

The next stop on the White Sox’ march to their 2005 World Series championship was at home three days later, on October 11, vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, playing their third game in as many days and cities after beating the New York Yankees in Anaheim in Game Five of the other AL Division Series.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the authors consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS200510070.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2005/B10070BOS2005.htm

Photo credit: Paul Konerko, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Chris Snow, “For Starters, Several Options Being Weighed,” Boston Globe, October 6, 2005: D4.

2 Mark Gonzales, “Won Two … Three?; Looking to Sweep Series, White Sox Take Aim at Knuckleballer Wakefield,” Chicago Tribune, October 7, 2005: 4-1.

3 Chris Snow, “The Bottom Was Up at the Wrong Time,” Boston Globe, October 8, 2005: F5.

4 Mark Gonzales, “1st-Round KO: White Sox Sweep Away World Series Champions; Next Stop, the ALCS; White Sox 5, Red Sox 3,” Chicago Tribune, October 8, 2005: 6-3.

5 Tom Verducci, “Power and Fury,” Sports Illustrated, October 17, 2005: 50.

6 Mark Gonzales, “Stakes, Reward Rise; Sox Stay Low-Key, Ride 8-Game Win Streak into ALCS,” Chicago Tribune, October 9, 2005: 17-2.

7 Brendan McCarthy, “Sox Fans Are Flying High at Midway,” Chicago Tribune, October 9, 2005: 17-2.

The White Sox stand for the National Anthem on the third-base line at home before Game One of the ALCS, the only game they lost in the entire playoff run. (Courtesy of the Chicago White Sox)

In 2005 the White Sox put on one of the most dominating postseason performances in the history of major-league baseball. They won an astounding 11 out of 12 games. In the American League Division Series, the White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox in three straight. They won four out of five against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League Championship Series before going on to sweep the Houston Astros in the World Series. The only game the White Sox lost that postseason was Game One of the ALCS, played on Tuesday night, October 11, at US Cellular Field.

Before the start of Game One, White Sox fan Rod McKennell summed up the feelings of the Chicago fans:

Give this city a championship. That’s what we need, one baseball championship. And who better else than the White Sox? You know, we don’t make excuses for losing, we don’t have curses. We just go out and play and this is what it’s all about. We got to win this right now.1

It had been an extraordinary season for the White Sox. Manager Ozzie Guillén was in his second season with the team. In his first season the team finished 83-79, second in the American League Central Division behind the Minnesota Twins. In 2005, the White Sox won 99 games, more than any other team in the American League. They were 52-29 on the road and 35-19 in one-run games (both the best in the majors). They had three pitchers with 15 or more wins (the first time for the White Sox since 1993).

The 2005 White Sox had seven hitters with 15 or more home runs, and they smashed 200 homers as a team (fourth in the American League). But the White Sox were not just a power-hitting team; they also knew how to play small ball. Only two other teams in the American League stole more bases than the White Sox in 2005 (Angels and Devil Rays).

The White Sox overpowered the Red Sox in the ALDS, outscoring them 24-9 on their way to a three-game sweep.2

The Angels’ trip to the ALCS was a bit more difficult. They played a full, five-game series against the New York Yankees. The Angels won two of the first three in that series. Game Four was scheduled for October 8 in New York but was rained out. The game was played the next night and the Yankees won, 3-2. Both teams flew across the country for Game Five, which the Angels won in Anaheim, 5-3, to clinch the series. Since the ALCS started the next night in Chicago, the Angels had to immediately board another plane and travel to the Windy City. Thus, the Angels had to play three games in three different cities on three straight nights.

The travel did not seem to affect the celebratory attitude in the Angels clubhouse after Game Five, where the “beer and champagne flowed freely.”3 Star catcher Bengie Molina said, “This is unbelievable. … Don’t think just because we win, it’s easy. It hasn’t been that way all year. We just keep finding a way.”4

The White Sox and their fans were understandably confident going into Game One. The South Siders were playing at home on four days’ rest. The Angels were worn out and playing on the road. And yet, as Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune noted, the ALCS should come with a “warning label” for White Sox fans: “Caution: Overconfidence can be bad for your health.”5

The Sox started red-hot José Contreras, who was riding high on a nine-game winning streak. During the season the 33-year-old Cuban-born hurler had gone 15-7 with a 3.61 earned-run average. He pitched a career high of 204 2/3 innings. Contreras had started and won Game One of the ALDS when the White Sox overwhelmed the Red Sox, 14-2.

Paul Byrd started for the Angels on three days’ rest. The 34-year-old right-handed journeyman started 31 games for the Angels in his only season with the team. He went 12-11 and tied for second in the American League with 22 quality starts.

The Angels struck first when Garret Anderson led off the second inning by hitting a 2-and-0 Contreras pitch over the right-field wall. The Angels scored two more runs in the top of the third. Steve Finley, who had hit a measly .091 so far in the postseason, led off the inning by slicing a single into right field. The next batter, Adam Kennedy, hitting ninth in the batting order, slapped a single to left. That brought up Chone Figgins, who laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing the runners. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera came up next and hit an infield single, scoring Finley. Vladimir Guerrero, the Angels’ designated hitter, then grounded out to Contreras, allowing Kennedy to score. This was a classic case of “get ’em on, get ’em over, get ’em in.” It was all the scoring the Angels would need to win Game One.

The White Sox tried to come back but ultimately fell short. In the bottom of the third, Joe Crede, who drilled 22 homers during the regular season, hit a one-out smash over the left-field wall. The next inning, Carl Everett poked a single to right, then advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. A.J. Pierzynski then singled to right, driving in Everett. This was the final run scored in the game. The Angels won 3-2.

Contreras did his part. He went 8 1/3 innings. And besides the third inning, when the Angels scored twice, he never really got in trouble. With one out in the eighth, he gave up a one-out hit to Bengie Molina that led Guillén to pull him. He had thrown 102 pitches.

The White Sox had their chances. Twice runners were caught trying to steal second. In the bottom of the fifth with two outs, Scott Podsednik attempted to steal on Byrd – but the Angels had called a pitchout, and a perfect throw by Molina to Cabrera caught him by a mile. On the Fox broadcast, Joe Buck quipped, “Ozzie Guillén just got his pocket picked.”6

Two innings later, with reliever Scot Shields on the mound and A.J. Pierzynski on first, Joe Crede apparently missed a hit-and-run sign. As Pierzynski ran toward second, he looked back at Crede – who didn’t swing – and Pierzynski was easily caught by another perfect strike by Molina. When Pierzynski got back to the dugout, he slammed his helmet onto the ground. Guillén just shook his head.

In the bottom of the eighth, with Juan Uribe on first and no outs, Scott Podsednik was unable to lay down a sacrifice bunt and ended up striking out. Later in the same inning, Paul Konerko came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second, but he popped out to center field to end the inning.

The White Sox’ last chance to score was in the bottom of the ninth. With pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna on first and no outs, Aaron Rowand tried to lay down a bunt, but it went directly to Chone Figgins at third, who threw out Ozuna at second. So much for small ball. It just wasn’t the White Sox’ night.