Season in Review: 2005

The honeymoon did not last long.  A lot of the heroes of the 2004 postseason struggled.  Boston did make it to the postseason in 2005, but they were eliminated in a graceless three-game sweep to the White Sox.

FIVE FAVORITE PLAYERS:

Jason Varitek
Varitek signed a big contract to stay in Boston prior to the season, when he was also named Captain, and had one of his finest seasons.  He was elected to start the All Star game, and won both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger.  Varitek hit .281/.366/.489 with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs.

David Ortiz
Ortiz lead the league with 148 RBIs while hitting .300/.397/.604 with 47 home runs.  He came in second in a very close race for the Al MVP.

Johnny Damon
In his final season for the Red Sox, Damon was elected to the All Star team and hit .316/.366/.439 with 10 home runs, 75 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases.

Manny Ramirez
Ramirez finished fourth in the AL MVP race when he hit .292/.388/.594 with 45 home runs and 144 RBIs.

Trot Nixon
Nixon was injured for a large part of the season and only played in 124 games.  He was decent when healthy though, hitting .275/.357/.446 with 13 home runs and 67 RBIs.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tim Wakefield
It was another underrated season for Wakefield as he lead the team with 16 wins, going 16-12 with a 4.15 ERA and 151 strikeouts, both of which also lead the team.

Mike Timlin
Timlin was the only stable member of the bullpen in 2005, going 7-3 with a 2.24 ERA and 59 strikeouts versus 20 walks in 80.1 innings.  Timlin spent some time as the closer and was second on the team with 13 saves.

Bill Mueller
Mueller was showing his age but still had a decent season, hitting .295/.369/.430.  Despite this, it was obvious that Kevin Youkilis was ready to take over.

FAVORITE ACQUISITIONS

Edgar Renteria
Renteria was terrible in Boston in 2005.  I was still excited about him, but he had a bad year at the plate and in the field.  He hit .276/.335/.385 with eight home runs and 70 RBIs.  He struck out 100 times though and made 30 errors.

Matt Clement
Clement made it to the All Star game and looked to be having a career year until he took a line drive to the head.  He finished the season 13-6 with a 4.57 ERA and 146 strikeouts, numbers that would have been better had he not been injured.

David Wells
Boomer was 42 in 2005 but still had a lot left.  He was one of Boston's more consistent pitchers, going 15-7 with a 4.45 ERA and 107 strikeouts versus just 21 walks.

FAVORITE MIDSEASON ACQUISITIONS

Tony Graffanino
With Mark Bellhorn struggling and eventually released, Boston needed a new second-baseman.  Graffanino was acquired for a couple of minor leaguers from the Royals and was very good down the stretch, hitting .319/.355/.457.

John Olerud
Olerud was signed as a free agent in May and made it up to Boston by the end of the month.  He hit .289/.344/.451 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs in his final season in the Majors.

FAVORITE ROOKIE
NONE

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS

Curt Schilling
One year after finishing second in the AL Cy Young race, Schilling was just 8-8 with a 5.69 ERA.  He did strike out 87 in 93.1 innings.  Boston attempted to use him as a closer and he did save nine games, but he was generally ineffective in the role.

Keith Foulke
Schilling and Timlin had to be used as closers because of Foulke's struggles.  Foulke was 5-5 with a 5.91 ERA and just 15 saves.

POSTSEASON GOAT
Tony Graffanino
Despite his good play down the stretch, Graffanino made a critical error in the ALDS which lead to a loss in Game 2 which Boston never recovered from.