2005 Overview:In 2005, the NL West Champion San Diego Padres managed to accomplish more with less. Despite a new ballpark, the offense for the team was spotty all season. Ryan Klesko (.248 18 58) led the team with 18 homeruns while Mark Sweeney (.284 8 40), Brian Giles (.301 15 83), shortstop Khalil Greene (.250 15 70) and catcher Ramon Hernandez (.290 12 58) completed the better parts of the lineup. The Padres pitching was the most...more
2005 Overview:The Oakland Athletics finished the 2004 season with an impressive 91-71 record ending the year only 1 full game behind the division leading Angels. Unfortunately, the 2005 season didn't end up quite as well for Oakland as they finished up the year with a final 88-74 record, 7 games behind the AL West Champion Los Angeles Angels.Despite some very shaky starting pitching the 2005 A's bullpen kept the team in...more
2005 Overview: The Milwaukee Brewers put together an impressive 2005 season posting a .500 record (81-81). Led by outfielders Carlos Lee (.265 32 114) and Geoff Jenkins (.292 25 86) the Brewers 2005 offense also received help from 1st baseman Lyle Overbay (.276 19 72) and Brady Clark (.306 13 53). Rickie Weeks (.239 13 42) and Bill Hall (.291 17 62) split time at second base while pitcher Chris Capuano (18 12 3.99) surprised many by posting 18 wins and pitching over 200 innings (219) for the first time in his young major leaguer career. Helping Capuano in the rotation were Ben Sheets (10 9 3.33) and Tomo Ohka (7 6 4.35) who was acquired midseason from the Washington Nationals. Newcomer closer Derrick Turnbow (7 1 1.74 39 saves) did very well posting a microscopic 0.90 ERA after the all star break.Off Season Moves:GM Doug Melvin continued to carefully build his team of youngsters for 2006. First on his list was trading first baseman Lyle Overbay in order to make room for newcomer Prince Fielder (.288 2 10). The organization is high on Fielder's potential. The team also picked up starter Dave Bush (5-11 4.49), outfielder Gabe Gross (.250 1 7) and pitcher Zach...more
2005 Overview:Ask any Royal fan and they will tell you - there just simply weren't many things for them to cheer about in 2005. In fact, the 2005 Kansas City Royals were a complete train wreck and that's putting things somewhat mildly. The Royals managed to win a total of only 56 games the entire year while losing an...more
2005 Overview:About the only good news for Detroit Tigers fans in 2005 occurred at the end of the season. In October it was announced that Jim Leyland was coming out of retirement and had accepted the Tigers managerial job. Leyland is looking to help change the team's fortunes for 2006 and beyond but he will have his work cut out...more
2005 Overview:The Colorado Rookies suffered through a tough 95 loss season ending the year 15 games behind the NL West Champion San Diego Padres. The 2005 offense was led by 1st baseman Todd Helton (.320 20 79), outfielder Dustan Mohr (.214 17 38), and the young 3rd baseman Garrett Atkins (.287 13 89). Shortstop Clint Barmes (.289 10 46) and Matt Holliday (.307 19 87) also contributed to the lineup.The 2005 Rockies pitching was as thin as the air in their home stadium, Coors Field. Beyond youngster Jeff Francis (14-12 5.68) and Aaron Cook (7-2 3.67) the rest of the starting pitching suffered to provide quality starts throughout the entire year. Starters Jamey Wright (8-16 5.46), Byung-Hyun Kim (5-12 4.86) and Jason Jennings (6-9 5.02) all failed to impress. On the upside, closer Brian Fuentes (2-5 2.91 31 saves) did manage to convert 31 saves in 34 save opportunities, and was an impressive 14 out of 14 in save opportunities at Coors Field. Not an easy task when a pitcher is required to close games in a stadium that is notorious for late inning comebacks and blown saves.Off Season Moves:The Colorado Rockies didn't make many moves in the off season. They did...more
2005 Overview:The biggest news for Cincinnati Reds fans in 2005 was the fact that Ken Griffey Jr.(.301 35 92) was able to play an entire season injury free for the first time in over 5 full seasons. What was so impressive about...more
2005 Overview:With the departure of slugger Sammy Sosa, the offensive output for the Chicago Cubs has been replaced by the likes of superstars Derek Lee (.335 46 107) and Aramis Ramirez (.302 31 92). Both players came into their own in...more
2005 Overview:Mike Scioscia and his 2005 Anaheim Angels entered the new season ready to defend their 2004 American League West Title. Although the 2004 season ended in a disappointing 3 game ALDS sweep to the World Series Boston Red...more
It is hard to believe just two years ago in October the Dow Jones industrial set a record high of 14,164. According to the Associated Press, just one year after that it was at 8,451 in mid October 2008. Today the Dow is around 9,800. Stocks have...more
Since eBay banned the sale of digital products in their auctions, many marketers have abandoned eBay as a source of income. Other factors to this abandoning of eBay included some policy and fee changes which were heavily opposed. However, those who...more
When you are facing a mountain of bills its easy to start feeling like you are alone. The cold hard truth is, it is hard to get out of debt. That said, you need to keep in mind that you are not alone. Not only are there many others in the same...more