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～New York had its share of surprises this season, none bigger than the 11-19 start which caused a fair amount of panic in the Bronx. The Yankees found themselves nine games out of first place on May 6, a strange place for a team which had won seven consecutive American League East titles.
"May 6, I wasn't really concerned, because there was a long way to go," said manager Joe Torre. "The only concern we had was playing up to our capabilities, because we felt the wins would come."
After the 11-19 start, the Yankees made some significant changes. Cano was called up from Triple-A Columbus and made the starting second baseman, pushing Womack to center field and Bernie Williams to the bench. Steve Karsay was also released, as the Yankees tried to remake the roster on the fly.
It didn't work immediately, as the Yanks dropped three straight games to the Devil Rays -- something that would become a trend, as New York dropped 11 of 19 games to the feisty Rays.
Mike Mussina snapped the four-game skid on May 7 with a three-hit shutout of the A's, sparking a 10-game winning streak which lifted the Yankees past the .500 mark, though there was still a lot of work to do.
That's because Jaret Wright, one of the team's major pitching acquisitions, was already on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, while its other two significant acquisitions, Randy Johnson and Pavano, hadn't gotten off to the hot starts the team had hoped for.
Chien-Ming Wang stepped in to fill Wright's spot, showing the Yankees that he was capable of contributing on the Major League level. But it wasn't enough to make up for the team's other deficiencies, including a dreadful start by Giambi, who had just four homers and 13 RBIs at the end of May.
Things didn't get much better over the next two months, including a dismal 3-9 road trip which included a sweep at the hands of the lowly Royals and series losses at Minnesota, Milwaukee and St. Louis. The last series included a sloppy 8-1 loss at Busch Stadium, prompting Torre to tee off on his players in a closed-door meeting following the game.
On July 1, the Yankees stood at 39-39, and their direction for the season remained a mystery to everybody.
"The first half of the year, we didn't know who we were," said John Flaherty. "We were struggling and we didn't know how it would end up."
Enter Al Leiter, Small and Chacon.
The three pitchers -- one acquired from the Marlins after a miserable first half, one brought up from the Triple-A scrap heap and another brought over in a deadline deal with a 1-7 record -- gave a huge boost to the Yankees' rotation, making up for injuries to Wang, Pavano and Brown.
"If you're going to have a good year, then people you don't count on have to come through," Mussina said. "These guys have done it."
"They came here with an opportunity to do something as a long shot," said Torre. "I don't think they've felt the pressure that other people did who came in here with high expectations. They had a chance to gain their confidence without people really knowing who they were."
With the pitching finally hitting its stride, the Yankees started winning. The offense, which ranked second in the American League with 885 runs scored, continued hitting. Alex Rodriguez posted MVP-type numbers, while Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui drove in runs with regularity.
Even Giambi rebounded after his slow start, bashing 14 homers in July while hitting .355. The Yankees went 19-10 that month, beginning their climb back into the AL East race.
"Pitching is the name of the game," Jeter said. "Wang, Chacon, Small; all these guys started to step up, which took a lot of pressure off the offense."
The Yankees posted an identical 19-10 mark in August, pulling within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Red Sox by the end of the month. That deficit increased to four games by Sept. 8, as the Yankees prepared to host Boston for three games in the Bronx.
The two teams split the first two games, but the Big Unit outdueled veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in the finale, pulling New York within three games instead of falling behind by five.
That victory served as a wakeup call, as the Bombers went on to win 15 of their next 19 games -- the last of those wins coming at Fenway Park to clinch New York's eighth straight division title.
"We needed every inch of it. These guys wouldn't be denied," Torre said while celebrating the clincher. "The first is always memorable, but this is the best of all of them because of all the questions that were asked. This has to be the most special because of everything that went on this year.
"This is something you can't take for granted," Jeter said. "Especially as difficult as it was this year, you realize how hard it was to do."
Despite the Division Series loss to the Angels, the Yankees headed their separate ways with the knowledge that they overcame some very large obstacles to reach the postseason.
"It's disappointing," said A-Rod after his 2-for-15 ALDS performance. "This was a year of such trials and tribulations for us, and we played so well down the stretch. To end in this fashion -- it's disappointing."
"It's not an easy thing to do," said Jeter of winning the World Series. "If it was easy to do, a lot of teams would be doing it. You have to be the hottest team, and we haven't been the hottest team the last few years."
The regular-season success isn't going to heal the wounds of another early October exit, but the Yankees will be back next year to take aim at a 27th World Series title.
"When you have to play the games, go through six weeks of Spring Training and six months of baseball just to get to the postseason, it's not as easy as it looks sometimes," Mussina said. "This season was an obvious example for us that nobody can walk on the field and just win a division or go to the postseason.
"We found contributions from people we didn't expect to get contributions from, and guys came through for us," the pitcher added. "It's hard to get to the postseason, but we've been doing it every year. When we get to October, we like our chances. We just didn't play well enough."
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Here's MLB.com's 10 biggest stories of the 2005 season -- plus quite a few honorable mentions.
1. The Rivalry (again): Yeah, we know. Some of you are tired of the same old New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox talk, day in and day out, year in and year out. OK, maybe a lot of you. But once again, these American League East rivals were undeniably big news. The Yanks started off slowly and had a banged-up pitching staff, but they got hot at the right time with the help of unsung pickups like pitcher Aaron Small (10-0) and rookie second baseman Robinson Cano to take their eighth straight division crown. And just when it looked like Big Papi and the defending world champion Idiots might bow out of the postseason race, they clutched up for the Wild Card.
2. Sox in Central casting: Ozzie Guillen's brash, bold managing style turned out to be perfect for his retooled band of Chicago White Sox, who took the American League by storm in the first half, ekeing out countless one-run triumphs with their new "little ball" approach. But after the All-Star break, the Cleveland Indians' young lineup of mashers and solid pitching staff started rolling. Guillen's club staved off a late surge by the Tribe to seize the division, then swept the Indians in Jacobs Field in the season's last series to earn the AL's best record.
3. Cardinal cruise control: Ho-hum. The St. Louis Cardinals dominated the NL Central again. With Chris Carpenter dealing, new leadoff man and shortstop David Eckstein setting the tone and MVP candidate Albert Pujols doing what he usually does in the middle of the lineup, St. Louis rolled to a second straight division crown and home field in the playoffs. They also did a lot of it without Scott Rolen, their slugging third baseman who's out for the year because of shoulder surgery.
4. Home of the Braves: If you didn't believe it before, believe it now. The Braves simply own the NL East and proved it again, winning their 14th straight division title despite having one of their youngest and most unproven rosters in years. MVP candidate Andruw Jones didn't hurt the cause with a Major League-leading 51 home runs, but the Braves couldn't have done it without the spark of rookies Jeff Francoeur and Ryan Langerhans and a revamped pitching staff headed by the ageless John Smoltz.
5. Nationals' coming-out party: Baseball returned to our Nation's Capital for the first time in 34 years, and the new-uniform, new-attitude Washington Nationals took the field for venerable manager Frank Robinson with aplomb. The Nationals rode the good vibes of old Robert F. Kennedy Stadium and the hot bat of mercurial outfielder Jose Guillen to a surprising first-place run through late July until falling back to earth and finishing with an 81-81 record, but groundwork was laid for an exciting new franchise.
6. Raffy's roller-coaster ride: Rafael Palmeiro thrilled the baseball world by logging his 3,000th hit, but his season will probably be remembered more for his positive steroid test and subsequent suspension a few months later. Palmeiro was the highest-profile player in the big leagues to test positive this year, proof that MLB's new drug policy doesn't discriminate based on career accomplishments.
7. NL West woes: The San Diego Padres rallied in the last week of the season to finish with an 82-80 record, and they still managed to boat-race the NL West. That says something for parity but also for the most injury-wracked division in baseball.
8. We are the World: A decidedly international All-Star Weekend got even more global when MLB announced that the inaugural World Baseball Classic will be contested next March, with 16 star-studded countries represented. The United States will have a terrific team but is no shoo-in against Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Japan and Mexico.
9. Rollins to be continued: Sneaking in right before the wire, Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins finished off the year with a live 36-game hitting streak, the longest in the Majors this year and the ninth-longest in history. Rollins will have all winter to think about how he'll approach the task next Opening Day, and, hey ... only 20 more to DiMaggio!
10. Another roaring Rocket ride: If the Houston Astros had rewarded Roger Clemens with the kind of run support he deserved, he might have won 20-25 games and been at the very top of this list. As it stands, the hard-throwing 43-year-old right-hander merely won the Major League ERA title with a 1.87 mark, his career best, and struck out 185 batters in 211 1/3 innings while posting a 13-8 record.
And here are more big stories from the season that was, in no particular order of importance:
Astros sputter, then blast off: Houston started off 15-30 before finding momentum and cruising to the Wild Card, marking the first time in 91 years a team was 15 games under .500 before making it to the playoffs. Andy Pettitte came back strong after an injury-plagued 2004, Willy Taveras became a Rookie of the Year candidate and, well, we've already talked about The Rocket.
The kids are all right: It was a great year for rookies and young players in general, with Francoeur, Cano, Huston Street, Nick Swisher, Dan Johnson, Felix Hernandez, David Wright, Jonny Gomes, Jorge Cantu, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixeira, Ervin Santana, Clint Barmes and many more making their marks.
Trader Jack rides off: He got his long-sought-after World Series title at the helm of the Florida Marlins in 2003 and 75-year-old Jack McKeon called it quits after the 2005 season. His enthusiasm and love for the game will be missed. His cigar smoke will not.
Kids in the Hall: Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs rightfully made history by being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and gave touching speeches about the work habits and passion to succeed that made them legends.
Yanks draw 4 million: It seems shocking that the Yankees never drew four million fans to the big ballyard in the Bronx before, but 2005 was a first in that regard, even as plans for a new Yankee Stadium were being finalized.
Barry barely around: Everyone's favorite slugger didn't play until mid-September, then showed he's still got thunder in his bat. Barry Bonds hit five more homers, putting him six behind Babe Ruth and 47 behind Hank Aaron's all-time Major League record.
The D. Lee show: Derrek Lee, long considered a great talent, put it all together for the Chicago Cubs this year. He threatened to win a Triple Crown for a while and settled on a spectacular offensive season that included his first NL batting title (.335) plus 46 home runs and 107 RBIs.
Oakland gets straight A's: They were 15 games under .500 on May 30, then won 39 out of 48 games in the middle of the season. Despite trading away two (Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson) of their "Big Three" starters, the A's were in contention until the last week of the season and won 88 games.
Angels repeat: Bartolo Colon pitched like a true ace, Vladimir Guerrero did his thing with the bat, everywhere-man Chone Figgins filled in the cracks and the Angels led the AL West for most of the year to lock up their second straight division title.
Banged-up Bums: Practically every starting player on the Los Angeles Dodgers spent quality time on the disabled list, not a great way for a team to defend a division title. The Dodgers sunk to fourth in the NL West.
Brew crew breaks even: For the first time since 1993, the Milwaukee Brewers did not have a losing record. The 81-81 crew gave Miller Park plenty to cheer about with a solid young nucleus that bodes well for the future.
D-Train pulls away: Dontrelle Willis exploded for the Florida Marlins, winning 22 games, posting a 2.59 ERA, hitting homers and possibly locking up his first NL Cy Young Award.
The Ichiro double-century club: The Seattle Mariners didn't have much to cheer about in 2005, but Ichiro Suzuki continued to add to his resume, becoming the first Major Leaguer to notch at least 200 hits in each of his first five big-league seasons.
Call it a comeback: Junior Griffey, Jason Giambi, Richie Sexson, Troy Glaus, Bob Wickman and Mark Ellis were just a few of the countless players who rebounded from injuries or tough 2004 seasons to shine in 2005.
Game notes
Jeter reached the 200-hit milestone for the fourth time. Only Lou Gehrig, who had 200 hits eight times, has more as a Yankee. ... When Francona heard that the Yankees had brought in a knuckleballer to pitch batting practice Saturday to prepare for Wakefield, he quipped, "we imported a 6-foot-11 guy."... Torre said facing a knuckleballer in batting practice was more to get the Yankee hitters adjusted to the speed of the pitch rather than the movement. "So much today is based on timing to a certain speed of pitch," he said. ... Torre moved Cano up to sixth in the batting order and Martinez up to seventh largely because of the success they've had against Wakefield in the past.
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