2005 Major League Baseball season

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 34 years and currently the last 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 2023 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.

Note: Two teams in the same division could not meet in the division series.

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

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

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 nameWins%± (Percent change)Home attendance%± (Percent change)Per game (Average home attendance per game)Est. payroll%± (Percent change)New York Yankees95 5.9%4,090,6968.4%50,502$208,306,817 13.1%Los Angeles Dodgers71 23.7%3,603,6463.3%44,489$83,039,000 10.6%St. Louis Cardinals100 4.8%3,538,98816.1%43,691$92,106,833 9.2%Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim953.3%3,404,6860.9%42,033$94,867,822 5.6%San Francisco Giants75 17.6%3,181,023 2.3%39,272$90,199,500 10.0%Chicago Cubs79 11.2%3,099,992 2.2%38,272$87,032,933 3.9%San Diego Padres82 5.7%2,869,787 4.9%35,429$63,290,833 14.3%Boston Red Sox95 3.1%2,847,8880.4%35,159$123,505,125 3.0%New York Mets8316.9%2,829,92922.0%34,937$101,305,821 0.7%Houston Astros89 3.3%2,804,760 9.2%34,627$76,779,000 1.8%Washington Nationals8120.9%2,731,993264.5%33,728$48,581,500 17.9%Seattle Mariners699.5%2,725,459 7.3%33,648$87,754,334 7.7%Philadelphia Phillies882.3%2,665,304 18.0%32,905$95,522,000 2.5%Baltimore Orioles74 5.1%2,624,740 4.3%32,404$73,914,333 43.2%Texas Rangers79 11.2%2,525,2210.5%31,176$55,849,000 1.5%Atlanta Braves90 6.3%2,521,1678.3%31,126$86,457,302 4.1%Chicago White Sox9919.3%2,342,83321.4%28,924$75,178,000 15.3%Milwaukee Brewers8120.9%2,211,0237.2%27,297$39,934,833 45.1%Oakland Athletics88 3.3%2,109,118 4.2%26,038$55,425,762 6.7%Arizona Diamondbacks7751.0%2,059,424 18.3%25,425$62,629,166 10.2%Minnesota Twins83 9.8%2,034,2436.4%25,114$56,186,000 4.3%Detroit Tigers71 1.4%2,024,4315.6%24,993$69,092,000 47.5%Toronto Blue Jays8019.4%2,014,9956.1%24,876$45,719,500 8.6%Cleveland Indians9316.3%2,013,76311.0%24,861$41,502,500 20.9%Cincinnati Reds73 3.9%1,943,067 15.0%23,696$61,892,583 31.9%Colorado Rockies67 1.5%1,914,389 18.1%23,634$47,839,000 26.9%Florida Marlins830.0%1,852,6087.5%22,872$60,408,834 43.3%Pittsburgh Pirates67 6.9%1,817,24515.0%22,435$38,133,000 18.3%Kansas City Royals56 3.4%1,371,181 17.5%16,928$36,881,000 22.5%Tampa Bay Devil Rays67 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.

March 24 a spring training game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies was abandoned after five innings because of a swarm of bees which settled over the field. April 29 The highly anticipated matchup of Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros vs. Greg Maddux of the Chicago Cubs took place at Minute Maid Park, two of the most acclaimed pitchers of the modern era (between them are 11 Cy Young awards 7 and 4 respectively). Both Clemens and Maddux had 300 career wins at this point in their careers, a feat that is arguably impossible for modern era pitchers to achieve since the advent of middle and closing relief rosters. The Cubs went on to win the game 3–2. June 18 – Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees hits the first grand slam of his 11 year major league career, as the Yankees defeat the Chicago Cubs 8–1.