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TCB All-Decade Project: Reviewing 2005 | Print |  E-mail
Written by Justin Bridgman   
Sunday, 25 October 2009 10:35

The disappointment of 2004 brought about massive changes in the Cubs organization. The franchise cornerstone Sammy Sosa was traded to Baltimore for Jerry Hariston Jr. and Mike Fontenot. Moises Alou was allowed to leave in free agency. Still the Cubs brought a talented roster to spring training and looked like they could have a solid team.

Once again the pitching staff was anchored by Prior, Wood, Zambrano, and Maddux. Not too shabby, but once again injuries were a giant concern. Prior would end up making 27 starts, but Wood would only make 10 and spend a ton of the season on the DL. Offensively Nomar Garciaparra was expected to make a lot of contributions but his groin tore in late April and he wouldn't return until August when it was too late.

The season started mediocre and continued that way all season. A 12-11 April combined with a 14-13 May really showed that the Cubs were a team destined to hover around .500 all year. There was a nice development going on at first base though. Derrek Lee was turning into a superstar and making a bid at the triple crown. On June 2nd Lee was hitting .389 with 17 homers.

June and July was much of the same. 14-13 in June with Lee continuing to kill the ball, a 13-15 July brought much the same. August would be the downfall for the 2005 Cubs, they went 10-18 in that month and any hope of making the playoffs went away. The 16-11 September record was too little too late, and the 79-83 record was a perfect indicator of the Cubs talent level.

Derrek finished as the best player in the NL in 2005 leading the league in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, hits, doubles, OPS+, and total bases. He hit a career high 46 homers, drove in a career high 107 runs and it looked like the Cubs had found a replacement for Sammy Sosa as the team's franchise player.

On the mound Carlos Zambrano and Greg Maddux both ate up innings and pitched well despite injuries to the rest of the rotation. New closer Ryan Dempster was able to notch 33 saves with a 3.13 ERA. Even Mark Prior put up a 3.67 ERA in 27 starts. The problem was Kerry Wood's injury leading to starts by Glendon Rusch, Jerome Williams, and Sergio Mitre.

Derrek Lee's excellent season aside there is nothing notable about this Cubs team. The won some, they lose some, but in the end they just weren't very good.



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