Sport Baseball NL champions Houston Astros Champion Chicago White Sox Finals champion Chicago White Sox | AL champions Chicago White Sox NL runners-up St. Louis Cardinals Dates 3 Apr 2005 – 26 Oct 2005 | |
Duration April 3, 2005 – October 26, 2005 AL runners-up Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Season MVPs Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols Similar 2006 Major League Baseball, 2003 Major League Baseball, 2001 Major League Baseball, 2008 Major League Baseball, 1998 Major League Baseball | ||
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 ever than before for steroid use in Major League Baseball. Several players, including veteran Rafael Palmeiro, were suspended under the new policy. Also, every team in the NL East division had at least 81 wins (at least half of the 162 games played). It was also notable for being the first season featuring a baseball team in Washington, D.C. for more than 4 decades, with the Washington Nationals having moved from Montreal.
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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.
Major league baseball final standings
The standings in the National League East were quite notable because all the teams in that division finished with at least a .500 record. The San Diego Padres' record of 82–80 was also notable as it was the worst ever by a division champion in a full-length season. (It is not, strictly speaking, the worst record by a division champion as the strike-shortened 1994 season ended with every team in the AL West at least 10 games under .500, nor is it the worst record by a team that made the postseason as due to the "split-season" format imposed in the wake of the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, the Kansas City Royals went to the playoffs as second-half AL West champions despite an overall record of 50–53.)
Postseason
The playoffs began on October 4, and ended on October 26. For more information, see the following articles:
Bracket
Template:2005 MLB Playoffs bracket
National League
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