2005 Houston Astros season
| 2005 Houston Astros | ||
|---|---|---|
| National League champions National League Wild Card winners | ||
| League | National League | |
| Division | Central | |
| Ballpark | Minute Maid Park | |
| City | Houston, Texas | |
| Record | 89–73 (.549) | |
| Divisional place | 2nd | |
| Owners | Drayton McLane Jr. | |
| General managers | Tim Purpura | |
| Managers | Phil Garner | |
| Television | KNWS-TV FSN Southwest (Bill Brown, Larry Dierker, Jim Deshaies) | |
| Radio | KTRH (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby) KLAT (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño) | |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |
| ||
The 2005 Houston Astros season was the 44th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located in Houston, Texas, their 41st as the Astros, 44th in the National League (NL), 12th in the NL Central division, and sixth at Minute Maid Park. They entered the season as having finished as the NL wild card qualifier via a 92–70 record and second place in the NL Central, reached the 2004 National League Championship Series (NLCS) for the third NLCS appearance in franchise history, but were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.
With expectations of a deeper postseason run in 2005, Houston initially underperformed, starting at 15–30. However, they won 74 of the final 117 games (.632 winning percentage) to rally to an 89–73 overall record and second-place finish in the NL Central. Thus, the Astros claimed both a second consecutive NL wild card title and postseason berth, their sixth playoff appearance in a span of nine seasons. The ninth postseason appearance in franchise history, it was their second wild card qualification.
Four Astros were selected to the MLB All-Star game, including pitchers Roger Clemens, Brad Lidge, and Roy Oswalt, and third baseman Morgan Ensberg.
The Astros faced the repeat division-champion Cardinals in the 2005 NLCS for a rematch of the 2004 NLCS. The Astros won this time, 4 games to 2, to win their first-ever National League pennant, and also to advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Hence, this gave them the privilege of hosting the first World Series game played in the state of Texas. However, they were swept by the Chicago White Sox, 4 games to 0.
Ensberg, who led the Astros with 36 home runs, 101 runs batted in (RBI), and a .557 slugging percentage, won the Silver Slugger Award. Three Astros received consideration for the NL Cy Young Award, including Clemens (third place, MLB earned run average (ERA) leader at 1.87), Oswalt (fourth, 20-game winner), and Andy Pettitte (fifth, 2.39 ERA). Center fielder Willy Taveras was selected as the Players Choice Award winner for NL Outstanding Rookie, the Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year, and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.
The 2005 season was the Astros' final playoff appearance as a National League team, and for the next ten seasons, until 2015. First baseman Jeff Bagwell, who spent his entire career with the Astros, played his final major league game of 15 major league seasons in the 2005 World Series.