X-Nico

14 unusual facts about 2005 in baseball


Artificial turf

In just 13 years, between 1992 and 2005, the National League went from having half of its teams using artificial turf to all of them playing on natural grass.

Brian Bannister

The next year, Bannister began the 2005 season in Double-A Binghamton, where he posted numbers that reflected the quality of his newly developed pitches: a 9-4 record with a 2.56 ERA in eighteen starts.

Gulf Coast League Yankees

In 2005, the GCL Yankees swept the Gulf Coast Mets in the best-of-three series to win the Gulf Coast League championship again.

Jackson Senators

The second Jackson Senators team was a member of the independent Central Baseball League from 2002 to 2005, a league that was not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

Jo-Jo Reyes

Tommy John surgery kept him out for the end of the year and the first half of the 2005 season.

Joe Bisenius

The next season at Lakewood, Bisenius was converted to a reliever, posting a 6–4 record in 40 games, striking out 56 batters in 64⅓ innings.

José Ascanio

In 2005, he played in 5 games for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, recording 3 wins, 1 loss, a 6.10 ERA, and a career-low 12 K, before being sidelined with a fractured back injury.

Laurel Prieb

Shortly after the 2005 sale of the Brewers to Los Angeles investor Mark Attanasio, Prieb became Vice President for Western Operations and Special Projects for Major League Baseball.

Manny Delcarmen

Delcarmen was a second-round draft pick by Boston in 2000; he was the first draftee from a Boston public high school in 34 years, and made his debut with the Red Sox on July 27, 2005.

Marlins Television Network

From 1993 to 2005, the Marlins Television Network aired games to homes not only in South Florida but to other parts of Florida.

Reunion Sports Group

Reunion Sports Group is an investor group which owns United League Baseball, an independent baseball league started in 2005.

Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings

In late 2005, United League Baseball announced that the WhiteWings would resume play as the first charter member of the new league in 2006.

Stolen base

However, some of the more successful American League teams of recent memory, including the 2002 Anaheim Angels, the 2001 Seattle Mariners and the 2005 Chicago White Sox have experienced their success in part as a result of playing "small ball," advancing runners through means such as the stolen base and the related hit and run play.

Willie Randolph

In 2004, Randolph was named Mets manager for the 2005 season, despite never having managed before at any level of baseball.