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Think about how dominant the White Sox were in 2005 in becoming the fifth "wire-to-wire" champion. They opened the season with a 1-0 win and maintained a lead in the American League Central for the entire regular season.
Their only significant gut-check game came in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, which they won, albeit in controversial fashion, scoring in the ninth inning after A.J. Pierzynski's apparent strikeout. They closed the season with four impressive wins, getting clutch hitting, pitching and fielding, particularly at the end of Game 4 of the World Series, also a 1-0 win.
If you were a White Sox fan, this season could not have been any more enjoyable or more perfect.
Won World Series | |||
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First place the entire regular season: | |||
Year | Team | W-L | Defeated in World Series |
2005 | White Sox | 99-63 | Astros |
1990 | Reds | 91-71 | Athletics |
1984 | Tigers | 104-58 | Padres |
1955 | Dodgers | 98-55 | Yankees |
1927 | Yankees | 110-44 | Pirates |
It promises to be another interesting offseason, with plenty of trades, signings, and retirements, and "Baseball Tonight" will help cover it throughout the winter. Come next spring, the Cubs figure to be the trendy pick, as their winter will ring with reminders that their neighbors in the city reigned supreme in 2005.
Longest Wait Since Last World Series Title | |
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Cubs | 1908 |
Indians | 1948 |
Giants | 1954 |
Eight teams, including the Astros, have never won a World Series. |
Home Run Note Of The World Series |
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The biggest home run of the postseason was Scott Podsednik's walkoff in Game 2 of the World Series. Podsednik became the first player to hit a walkoff home run in the World Series after not hitting a home run during the regular season. |
Since the start of divisional play in 1969, only three teams have won 80 percent of their games in a single postseason. They are the 1976 Reds (7-0, 1.000), the 1999 Yankees, (11-1, .917) and the 2005 White Sox (11-1, .917). |
The 2005 season of "Baseball Tonight" has come to an end, and once again it's time to acknowledge those who work behind the scenes at making the show function at the highest level. Time does not permit us to roll the credits at the end of the season, so we list those key contributors who live, breathe and sleep baseball for seven months out of the year:
Baseball Tonight Behind-The-Scenes Staff Coordinating Producers: Judson Burch, Ed Schimmel Producers: Melissa Motha, Lya Vallat, John Ziomek Associate Producers: Rich Ciancimino, Gregg Colli, Chris Roenbeck Production Assistants: Deryk Cumagun, Nancy Dillman, Jay Koransky, Jennifer Ruhe, Jamie Thom, Jeffrey Wechsler, Elliott Wiley , Keri Willis Assignment Editors: Catie DeVito, Jennifer Kocse Production Coordinator: Miranda Chattam Directors: Mark Deaver, Jim Ryan Associate Directors: Daniel Petriw, John Duff, Adam Bryant Researchers: Mark Simon, Paul Kuo, Jon Kramer Mark Simon is a researcher for "Baseball Tonight" and can be contacted at Mark.A.Simon@espn.com. |