December 27, 2005: Rutgers Plays Its 1st Real Bowl Game

December 27, 2005: For the 1st time, the football team at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, plays in a real postseason "bowl game."

It wasn't actually the first one. In 1978, frustrated over not having been selected for bowl games despite some fine seasons -- 8-1 in 1958, 8-1 in 1960, 9-0 in 1961, 8-2 in 1968, 7-4 in 1972, 7-3 in 1974, 9-2 in 1975, 11-0 in 1976, 8-3 in 1977 and finally 9-3 -- mainly due to a weak schedule, Rutgers started its own bowl, the Garden State Bowl.

It would be held at their secondary home field, the 77,000-seat Giants Stadium, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey, 36 miles from their 23,000-seat Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, and 35 miles from their Student Center in New Brunswick, both in Middlesex County.

The Scarlet Knights invited Arizona State, which had faced a similar level of disrespect, because they had dominated the weak Western Athletic Conference, and had just joined the Pacific-8, making it the Pac-10. Maybe they should've invited a weaker team than Frank Kush's Sun Devils, who beat them, 34-18.

That was a badge of dishonor: The Scarlet Knights couldn't even win a bowl on their secondary home field. So, again, they weren't invited to bowls, despite going 8-3 in 1979, 7-4 in 1980, 7-3 in 1984, 6-4 in 1986, and 7-4 in 1992. In '92, a loss to Boston College really stung, not just because BC's quarterback, future New York Jet Glenn Foley, had been a Jersey Boy, from Cherry Hill, but because he told the postgame media, "The only bowl Rutgers is going to is the one I just got off of." Meaning the toilet.

The new Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) opened in 1994, but, having joined the Big East Conference, RU was not putting up bowl-worthy seasons. Greg Schiano was hired in 2001, and it took him until 2005 to put up a winning season, 7-4.

Finally, a bowl came calling. It wasn't a major bowl. It was the Insight Bowl, named for an Internet company. It had gone through several names: The Copper Bowl from its 1989 establishment until 1996, the Insight.com Bowl starting in 1997, just the Insight Bowl starting in 2002, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in 2012, the Cactus Bowl starting in 2015, the Cheez-It Bowl in 2018 and 2019, and the Guaranteed Rate Bowl starting in 2020. (UPDATE: In 2024, it was rebranded as the Rate Bowl.)

It was held at the University of Arizona's Arizona Stadium in Tucson from 1989 to 1999; then the Arizona Diamondbacks' Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field in Phoenix from 2000 to 2005; Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium), in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, from 2006 to 2015; and Chase Field again ever since.

It is the Phoenix area's secondary bowl game, behind the Fiesta Bowl, which was played at Sun Devil Stadium from 1971 to 2006, and has been played at the Arizona Cardinals' home, now named State Farm Stadium, in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, since 2007.

So being invited to the Insight Bowl was not much respect. But it was more than Rutgers were used to, and it was a chance to spend Christmas week someplace considerably warmer than New Jersey, so they accepted the bid. As fate would have it, the opponent was the same as in the 1978 Garden State Bowl: Arizona State. The Sun Devils would be traveling 11 miles, so this would be more or less a home game for them. The Scarlet Knights would be traveling 2,386 miles.

At first, the long roadtrip didn't seem to faze Rutgers: Ryan Hart threw a touchdown pass to Clark Harris to give them a 7-0 lead. Arizona State answered with their own touchdown pass, but Hart threw another to Brian Leonard. Just before the 1st quarter ran out, Jeremy Ito kicked a 25-yard field goal. RU were up 17-7. Things were looking good.

The Sun Devils kicked a field goal to make it 17-10. Leonard ran for a touchdown to make it 24-10 Rutgers. But the Sun Devils scored to close to within 24-17 at the half.

In the 3rd quarter, Arizona State scored a tying touchdown, but Ito kicked another field goal to put RU back up, 27-24. Arizona State scored a touchdown to take their 1st lead, 31-27. Just before the end of the quarter, Ito kicked another field goal to make it 31-30 Sun Devils. Early in the 4th quarter, he kicked another to make it 33-31 Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers had a 4th quarter lead in a bowl game, in what was essentially a home game for the other team. This wasn't quite living the dream, but it sure looked like a building block toward reaching the dream.

But you can almost set your watch by the Rutgers defense collapsing. The Sun Devils scored a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, then another touchdown and a failed 2-point conversion. It was 45-33 Arizona State.

With 2 minutes left, Hart threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Tres Moses, closing RU to within 45-40. But they failed to recover the onside kick, and Arizona State ran out the clock to seal the win.

It was yet another failure for Rutgers, one of the most underachieving programs in college football. On the other hand, they had been invited to a bowl, and scored 40 points against a hometown team. That was something to take with them into the next year.

In 2006, Rutgers went 10-2, finishing 2nd in the Big East. They were invited to the Texas Bowl. It wasn't the biggest bowl in Texas -- that remains the Cotton Bowl in Dallas -- but at least, unlike the Insight Bowl, it was the biggest bowl in its own metropolitan area, Houston. Rutgers won this game rather easily, 37-10, for their 1st-ever bowl win.

It began a streak of 4 straight seasons with bowl wins, and 5 in 6 years. Rutgers has since won (these dates are for the season, not necessarily the calendar year) the International Bowl in Toronto in 2007, The PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham in 2008, the St. Petersburg Bowl in 2009, the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in 2011, and the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit in 2014. But the biggest bowl game they've ever been to, and it's still only a secondary bowl, is the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, in the 2021 season, losing to Wake Forest, 38-10.

UPDATE: Rutgers won the Pinstripe Bowl again in 2023.

*

December 27, 2005 was a Tuesday. One other bowl game was played that day, the Champs Sports Bowl. This was also a secondary bowl, the 2nd-biggest at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, behind the eponymous Citrus Bowl. Clemson beat Colorado, 19-10.

There were 8 games played in the NBA that night:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-91 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. LeBron James scored 31 points, but it wasn't enough for the Cavs.

* The Charlotte Bobcats (now the new Charlotte Hornets) beat the Atlanta Hawks, 93-90 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Miami Heat beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-98 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami. Dwyane Wade scored 35.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 82-74 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers, 99-86 at the SBC Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Toronto Raptors, 113-106 at the Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chris Bosh scored 37 in defeat.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Denver Nuggets, 108-106 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Carmelo Anthony scored 45 to lead all scorers on the night, but the Nugs still lost.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 110-93 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Mike Bibby scored 38 for the Kings.

There were 4 games played in the NHL that night. None involved any of the New York Tri-State Area teams:

* The Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals, 4-3 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Brad Stuart scored the winning goal, 2:04 into overtime.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at the Mellon Arena (usually named the Civic Arena) in Pittsburgh. Tomas Kaberle scored the winning goal, 2:26 into overtime.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars, 4-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Nashville Predators beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

November 8, 2005: Terrell Owens vs. the Philadelphia Eagles

November 8, 2005: Terrell Owens, superstar wide receiver currently feuding with his team, the Philadelphia Eagles, holds a press conference in the driveway of his house in the Philadelphia suburb of Moorestown, Burlington, County, New Jersey.

"T.O." had starred with the San Francisco 49ers, and was arguably the best receiver in the game at the time. Inarguably, he was the most controversial player, at any position. In 2000, he became the 1st player to catch 20 passes in a single game. He was known for his touchdown celebrations, but also for his eccentricities.

Famously, he had scored a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys, and then run to the star at midfield of Texas Stadium, and slapped the ball down in the middle of it. The Cowboys took this as a sign of great disrespect. When he did it a 2nd time later in the game, he got clobbered.

Finally, after publicly insulting his quarterback, Jeff Garcia, the 49ers engineered a 3-way trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens, involving players and draft picks. Coached by Andy Reid, quarterbacked by Donovan McNabb, and with a defense led by safety Brian Dawkins, the Eagles had reached, but lost, the last 3 NFC Championship Games. Now, they had the best receiver in the game.

His performance that season was not without controversy, including a November 7 loss away to the Pittsburgh Steelers, in which Owens was caught on camera, yelling at McNabb. But the Eagles won 13 of their 1st 14 games, up to a December 19 win at home to the Cowboys. But in that game, in a typically dirty Cowboys play, Roy Williams made a horse-collar tackle on Owens, breaking his ankle. He would be out until at least the Super Bowl.

Having clinched home-field advantage all the way through the NFC Playoffs, the Eagles rested their starters for their last 2 regular-season games, and lost them both. With McNabb, but without Owens, they handled the Minnesota Vikings to reach their 4th straight NFC Championship Game, and then the Atlanta Falcons, to win their 1st in 24 years.

Super Bowl XXXIX was played at Alltel Stadium (now Everbank Stadium) in Jacksonville, Florida, home of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. The Eagles played the defending Champions, the New England Patriots. No one has ever determined that the Patriots cheated in this game. But, having been caught multiple times already, they have forfeited the presumption of innocence.

With 5:40 left in the 4th quarter, the Patriots led, 24-14. At the time, before managing the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl win (UPDATE: By 2024, 3 of them), Reid was ridiculed for his poor clock management, and while the Eagles did score a touchdown to make it 24-21, only 1:48 was left when they did.

Eagles players Hank Fraley, Jon Ritchie and Lito Sheppard later went on record saying that McNabb was suffering from dry-heaves -- Fraley used the words "almost puking" -- on the sideline, but no video evidence exists, and McNabb has always denied it, and running back Brian Westbrook backed him up, saying he was just coughing.

The Eagles failed to recover their ensuing onside kick attempt, and then Patriots then played it safe by running the ball three times, and forcing the Eagles to use up their remaining timeouts. A punt put the Eagles on their own 4-yard line with 46 seconds to play. McNabb threw 3 passes, was unable to get the Eagles into field goal range, and the last pass was an interception. The Patriots won.

McNabb had thrown 51 passes, completing 30, for 357 yards and 3 touchdowns, but also 3 interceptions. Owens, with 2 screws and a metal plate in his ankle, but cleared to play in the game, caught 9 of those passes, for 122 of those yards, though none of the touchdown passes. 

In April 2005, Owens announced that he had hired a new agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and indicated that he would seek to have his contract with the Eagles renegotiated. Owens made $9 million in 2004, most of which was bonus money, as his base salary was only $660,000. He was slated to make $4.5 million in 2005. This two-year amount did not place Owens in the top 10 paid wide receivers playing.

Asking for more money was understandable, based on his performance. Less understandable was his remark that he "wasn't the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl." This remark was viewed as a swipe at McNabb. It wasn't the 1st time Owens had clashed with his quarterback. But it was the 1st time one of his quarterbacks had gotten him into a Super Bowl. They certainly didn't lose the Super Bowl because of anything Owens did. They may have lost it because the Patriots were a better team -- or for a more sinister reason on the Patriots' part.

At first, McNabb and Owens were still able to coexist. The Eagles lost their opener, then won their next 3. They got to 4-2. But after a 49-21 loss to the Denver Broncos on October 30, tensions began to rise. On November 2, Owens was involved in an argument in the training room with teammate Hugh Douglas, which led to a fistfight between the two.

The next day, in an interview with ESPN, Owens was asked if the Eagles would be better off if Brett Favre, who had led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl win -- 9 years earlier, and was 0-1 in Super Bowls since -- were their quarterback. He said, "That's a good assessment. I would agree with that."

On November 5, the Eagles suspended Owens indefinitely for "conduct detrimental to the team." According to Rosenhaus, Reid demanded that Owens make a public apology to McNabb. Rosenhaus wrote one, but Owens refused to specifically apologize to McNabb, and the apology he read on TV did not address McNabb directly. The following day, Reid announced that Owens would be deactivated for the remainder of the season. The Eagles lost to the Washington Redskins, 17-10. After the game, McNabb returned Owens' favor, and said the team would be better off without him. (The result certainly didn't suggest that.)

On November 8, Owens and Rosenhaus held a news conference in the driveway of Owens' house in the Philadelphia suburb of Moorestown, Burlington County, New Jersey. He apologized to the fans, the team, and McNabb specifically, and also made an appeal for reinstatement to the team.

Then Rosenhaus took over. If you had bet money that Owens would turn the press conference into a circus, and Rosenhaus wouldn't, you would have lost:

Questioner: Did you make a mistake by having the contract renegotiated in midterm?
Rosenhaus: Next question!
Questioner: Isn't it pretty damning that the quarterback of the team comes out and says we're better off without T.O.?
Rosenhaus: Next question!
Questioner (to Rosenhaus): Why didn't you read the full apology, like you were supposed to, so that your friend would not be in this mess, had he done that?
Rosenhaus: Next question!
Different Questioner: Are you saying that ESPN is the cause of this?
Rosenhaus: Next question, next question!

The Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, then beat Favre and the Packers, lost to the Seattle Seahawks 42-0, lost to the Giants in overtime, beat the St. Louis Rams, and closed by losing to the Arizona Cardinals and to the Redskins again, finishing 6-10, their worst season since 1999, McNabb's rookie year.

On March 14, 2006, the Eagles released Owens. Four days later, signed with the Cowboys, deepening what was already a very nasty rivalry. On September 26, he was taken to Dallas' Baylor University Medical Center, after what was eventually ruled to be an accidental overdose of hydrocodone, which he had been prescribed as a painkiller.

When the Cowboys went to Philadelphia on October 8, Eagles fans, never known for their tact, were merciless. Where they had chanted "T.O.!" until about a year earlier, now, they chanted, "O.D.!" And "Dallas sucks! T.O. swallows -- pills!" The Cowboys won, 38-24. Both teams made the Playoffs.

But Owens never got close to the Super Bowl again. The Eagles reached the 2008 NFC Championship Game, but lost. Owens remained with the Cowboys through the 2008 season. He played for the Buffalo Bills in 2009 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010. After not playing in 2011, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012, but was cut during training camp.

He retired with 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns. I wondered -- especially since several receivers had fallen short in their 1st, 2nd, and sometimes more seasons of eligibility -- how soon he would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, if at all. He was elected in his 3rd year, 2018.

In addition, the 49ers have elected him to their team Hall of Fame. When the Eagles founded their team Hall of Fame, they automatically elected every Pro Football Hall-of-Famer who had played so much as one game for them. They have not followed that policy since, and Owens has not been elected.

*

November 8, 2005 was a Tuesday. It was an Election Day. Michael Bloomberg was re-elected Mayor of New York. Senator Jon Corzine was elected Governor of New Jersey. And Tim Kaine was elected Governor of Virginia. He would later be elected to the U.S. Senate, and was nominated for Vice President by the Democratic Party in 2016.

Baseball season ended 12 days earlier, when the Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros in the World Series. There were 5 games played in the NBA: 

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 103-97 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta. Kobe Bryant scored 37 points.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Houston Rockets, 76-74 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 94-69 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-103 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* And the Detroit Pistons beat the Sacramento Kings, 102-88 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

There were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-1 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia. Joni Pitkänen scored the winning goal, with 3:05 left in overtime.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Washington Capitals, 6-4 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-2 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Pierre Turgeon scores for the Avs. For the former New York Islander and Montreal Canadien star, it is the 500th goal of his career.

November 2, 2005: Andrew Bynum: The NBA's Youngest Player

Number 17. Just 1 week earlier,

that would have been his age.

November 2, 2005: Andrew Bynum, a native of Plainsboro, Mercer County, New Jersey, plays 6 minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers in their season opener, against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver, becoming the youngest NBA player ever: 18 years and 6 days old. The Lakers won, 99-97.

Ironically, but appropriately, the center had been personally instructed in the preseason by Laker legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had once been thought to have been the NBA's oldest player ever. Kareem was 42 when he bowed out after the 1989 Finals, but later research showed that Pat Hickey, who played with the Providence Steamrollers in the league's 1st 2 seasons, was just short of 46 when he last played in 1948.

Bynum is now 35, but his record still stands. He won NBA Championships with the Lakers in 2009 and '10, and was an NBA All-Star in 2012. But injuries ended his career in 2014, well before it should have ended. But then, he does have 2 titles, and I don't think we'll be seeing any more 18-year-olds playing in the NBA -- certainly not for a team with a pedigree anywhere near the Lakers'.

*

November 2, 2005 was a Wednesday. These other games were played in the NBA that night:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 114-100 at the TD Banknorth Garden (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-96 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Michael Redd of the Bucks led all scorers on the day with 41 points.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic, 90-78 at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando.

* The Miami Heat beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 97-78 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings, 98-89 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors, 99-96 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, 109-87 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. The Hornets were playing home games at what's now the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City while the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans was being renovated after being damaged by the flooding from Hurricane Katrina.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-88 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Richard "Rip" Hamilton scored 37 points.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 109-105 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 90-86 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Dallas Mavericks, 93-82 at the Delta Center in St. Lake City.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Atlanta Hawks, 122-97 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).

* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 101-93 at the Key Arena in Seattle. Sam Cassell scored 35 points.

Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games in the NHL that night:

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Buffalo Sabres, 10-4 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-5 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. Brent Seabrook scored the winning goal, 35 seconds into overtime.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Dallas Stars, 6-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California. Alyn McCauley scored the winning goal, with 3:16 left in overtime.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

October 26, 2005: A World Series Won by Chicago

October 26, 2005: The Chicago White Sox shut out the Astros‚ 1-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston‚ to sweep the World Series and win their 1st World Championship since 1917, the 1st for either Chicago team in that time.

The White Sox won the 1st American League Pennant, in 1901. They won the 1st intracity World Series, beating the Chicago Cubs in 1906. They won the World Series in 1917. Then they lost the World Series in 1919. The following year, it got out that 7 players on the team had "thrown" the Series, to get money from gamblers, since team owner Charlie Comiskey was underpaying them. It took 40 years to win another Pennant, as "The Go-Go White Sox" did it in 1959.

Over the years, the South Siders had some close calls. They missed the Pennant by 1 game in 1964, and 3 games in 1967. They missed the AL Western Division title by 5 1/2 games in 1972, and led the Division as late as August 8 in 1977, before drifting to 12 games back. They won the Division in 1983, but lost the AL Championship Series to the Baltimore Orioles. In 1990, the last season at the old Comiskey Park, they stayed close to the Oakland Athletics most of the season, before 9 back.

In 1993, they won the AL West, but lost the ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1994, they led the newly-created AL Central Division when the Strike hit. In 2000, they won the Division, but lost the AL Division Series to the Seattle Mariners.

And so their drought after 1959 turned out to be longer than the one they had from 1919 to 1959. What's more, the crosstown Cubs, who hadn't won a Pennant since 1945 and the World Series since 1908, and the Boston Red Sox, who hadn't won the World Series since 1918 -- one year more recently than the White Sox -- were celebrated for their seemingly "cursed" close calls. The White Sox? They didn't have a litany of bizarre incidents down the years that could seemingly be ascribed to a curse. They just... lost.

And with the Cubs having gotten the WGN Superstation to broadcast their games, and the White Sox not, and the Cubs and the Red Sox both having literati write lots of books about their woe-is-us status, it was as if the baseball world didn't care that the White Sox hadn't won the World Series for longer than the Red Sox. Even when the Red Sox finally won it in 2004 *, the attention that was on them didn't shift to the White Sox. If anything, the Cubs got even more.

Finally, the Pale Hose won the AL Central Division again in 2005. They swept the defending World Champion * Red Sox in 3 straight games in the AL Division Series. They lost Game 1 of the AL Championship Series to the team then known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and looked likely to lose Game 2 before a controversial call led to the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.

They never lost another game, tying the 1999 New York Yankees' record for best postseason record in the 1995-present Division Series Era, 11-1. On October 16, trailing Game 5, 3-2 after 6 innings, they won, 6-3, to win the Pennant for the 1st time in 46 years and 24 days.

The White Sox hadn't won the World Series in 88 years. The Houston Astros were in it for the 1st time in their 44 seasons of play. Something had to give. Baseball fans can look at a written record of what happened, and figure that the White Sox had it easy. That was far from the case.

Each team's manager had previously played for them. Ozzie Guillén, like Luis Aparicio and Chico Carrasquel before him, had come from Venezuela to play shortstop for the White Sox, made the move from the old Comiskey Park to the new one in 1990 (the stadium was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, and would be renamed Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016), and was a member of their Playoff team of 1993. He won a Pennant with the Atlanta Braves in 1999.

As a player, Guillén was a slick fielder and a 3-time All-Star, who could run well and hit a little. There was little to suggest that he would one day become a successful manager, and even less to suggest the wild personality that would one day become known.

Phil Garner was a 2nd baseman who, like Guillén, made 3 All-Star Games. He won the World Series with the Oakland Athletics in 1973 and 1974, and with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, before helping the Astros win the NL West title in 1986. Despite the nickname "Scrap Iron," he was not as argumentative, or as controversial, as Guillén.

The White Sox won Game 1 at U.S. Cellular Field, 5-3. Game 2, also at home, was a wild one, before Scott Podsednik hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th to win it. Game 3, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, went 14 innings, tying what was then a World Series record. Geoff Blum, a once-and-future Astro, and now a broadcaster for them, hit a home run for the White Sox in the top of the 14th inning, putting them 1 win away from the title.

Game 4 was played in Houston. Freddy Garcia, formerly the ace of the Seattle Mariners, started for the White Sox, Brandon Backe for the Astros, and both pitched 7 shutout innings, dispatching major threats along the way.

But Garner made a mistake, bringing closer Brad Lidge in for the 8th inning. Willie Harris singled off him, and was moved over by a bunt from Podsednik and a groundout by Carl Everett. Jermaine Dye singled Harris home, and was be named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

The Astros threatened in the bottom of the 8th, but ChiSox reliever Neal Cotts got out of it. For the 9th, Guillén brought in Bobby Jenks, the closer he called "The Big Boy." He allowed a single to Jason Lane, who was bunted over by Brad Ausmus. Chris Burke came up: His 18th-inning home run clinched the Division Series for the Astros, so there was concern. He hit a foul pop-up, of which Juan Uribe made a great catch for the 2nd out.

Orlando Palmeiro grounded to Uribe, who made another great play, and the ball just barely hit the glove of 1st baseman Paul Konerko in time. It was 11:01 PM Central Time on October 26, 2005 -- 12:01 AM Eastern on October 27 -- and, for the 1st time in 88 years and 9 days, the World Championship of baseball belonged to a team based in Chicago.

In Chicago in the interim:

* The NFL had been founded, the Bears had won 9 NFL Championships, including a Super Bowl; and the Cardinals had won 2 Championships, and moved to St. Louis, and then to Phoenix.

* The NBA had been founded, 2 Chicago-based teams and a few other professional basketball teams had failed, before the Bulls began play, eventually winning 6 NBA Championships in 8 years; DePaul University had won the NIT, when that was still considered college basketball's National Championship, and Loyola University had won an NCAA Tournament, and (7 months earlier) the University of Illinois had reached an NCAA Final.

* The NHL had been founded, and the Blackhawks had won 3 Stanley Cups; while the World Hockey Association had run its course, including the Chicago Cougars having reached but lost a Finals.

* The North American Soccer League had gone through its entire existence, with the Chicago Sting winning 2 titles, including the last; and Major League Soccer had been founded, with the Fire winning an MLS Cup and a U.S. Open Cup in the same year, "doing the Double."

* And the original Soldier Field, the Chicago Stadium, and the International Amphitheatre had all been built, hosted all kinds of events, and been torn down and replaced by new buildings.

In the world at large: Radio broadcasting, television, photocopiers, computers, the Internet and smart phones had all been invented. Penicillin had been synthesized, the polio vaccine had been created, smallpox had been eradicated, AIDS had developed and treatments for it had been created, and it had become possible to transplant major organs. Humanity had developed rockets, been to the Moon, and had sent unmanned probes to all 7 of the other bodies then officially classified as "planets."

And there had been 8 Popes, 16 Presidents and 11 Mayors of Chicago, 2 of them (including the incumbent) named Richard Daley and living within walking distance of the home of the White Sox.

A Chicago team had won the World Series. And it wasn't the Cubs. Still, the Cubs had better attendance over the next few years. And when the Cubs finally won it all again in 2016, it was celebrated as a great moment for Chicago and environs, and White Sox fans were all, "Uh, hello? We did it first!"

Guillén had become the 1st foreign-born manager to win a World Series. The Astros would not win another Pennant until 2017, finally winning a World Series -- dubiously, as it turned out.

UPDATE: Both teams' ballparks were renamed in 2025: Minute Maid Park in Houston became Daikin Park, and Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago became simply "Rate Field."

From the 2005 World Champions, the White Sox have retired the Number 14 of Paul Konerko, the 56 of Mark Buehrle, and, while he was injured and unable to contribute to the postseason, the 35 of their greatest hitter since Shoeless Joe Jackson, Frank Thomas.

From their 1919-59 Pennant drought, they retired the 4 of Luke Appling, the 9 of Minnie Miñoso, and the 16 of Ted Lyons. From the "Go-Go White Sox" Pennant winners of 1959, they retired the 2 of Nellie Fox, the 11 of Luis Aparicio and the 19 of Billy Pierce. And from their 1983 A.L. Western Division Champions, they retired the 3 of Harold Baines and the 72 of Carlton Fisk.

*

October 26, 2005 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 6 days later. But there were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. Tom Golisano, then the owner of the Sabres, was from Rochester, and got permission from the NHL to schedule some "home games" at the arena that was home to the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans, and had once been home to the NBA's Rochester Royals, 76 miles east of downtown Buffalo.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Matt Cullen scored the winning goal with 1:36 left in overtime.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Adam Foote scored the winning goal, 35 seconds into overtime.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Dallas Stars, 5-4 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Patrick Marleau scored the winning goal with 1:40 left in overtime.

* And the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now named the Honda Center).

October 25, 2005: The Geoff Blum Game

October 25, 2005: Game 3 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. This is the 1st World Series game ever played in the State of Texas. Geoff Blum's 14th inning homer off Ezequiel Astacio leads the Chicago White Sox to a 7-5 victory over the Astros.

Houston led‚ 4-0‚ before Chicago scored 5 runs in the 5th inning off Roy Oswalt to take the lead. Joe Crede also homers for the Sox‚ while Jason Lane connects for the Astros. Dámaso Marte gets the win in relief.

At 5 hours, 41 minutes‚ the contest is the longest in Series history in terms of time, up to that point. It also ties the mark for longest game in terms of innings played. The White Sox complete the sweep the following night, to win their 1st World Championship in 88 years. The Astros, now in their 44th season, have taken this long just to get into their 1st World Series. They will have to wait a bit longer for their 1st title.

Blum, a utility infielder, had been acquired by the White Sox from the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline. This would be his only season for them, as he signed with the Padres again for 2006. In 2008, he signed with the Astros, playing 3 seasons with them, without helping them reach the postseason. He retired after the 2012 season, and has been a broadcaster for the Astros ever since.

Also on this day, Wellington Mara dies of lymphoma at age 88. He had been involved with the New York Giants since their founding in 1925 by his father, Tim Mara, who made his son the bellboy. The NFL's TV-revenue-sharing plan was his idea, bringing the irony of the biggest market in the League, New York, saving the smallest market, Green Bay.

Well Mara was buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, the same cemetery as Babe Ruth. His son John Mara now runs the Giants, another son Chris is the Giants' chief scout, and Chris' daughters Kate Mara and Rooney Mara are actresses. Chris' wife and Kate's mother is Katherine Rooney, daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney and granddaughter of Steelers founder Art Rooney, which makes Kate and Rooney the great-granddaughters of the founders of 2 of the NFL's greatest franchises.

At the Giants' 1st home game after her grandfather's death – the first one the franchise ever played without Wellington Mara being on hand, after 80 years – Kate sang the National Anthem.

*

October 25, 2005 was a Tuesday. This was the only baseball game played that day. Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 7 days later. There were 8 NHL games played:

* The New York Islanders beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Mike Ribeiro scored the winning goal with 2:32 left in overtime.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-3 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was known at the time) in Pittsburgh. Stephen Weiss scored the winning goal, 53 seconds into overtime.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-4 at the Glendale Arena (now named the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Petr Nedvěd scored his 2nd goal of the game with 3:09 left in overtime to win it.

* And in a cross-metro-area matchup, the Los Angeles Kings beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

October 23, 2005: The Scott Podsednik Game

October 23, 2005: Game 2 of the World Series is played at U.S. Cellular Field (now named Guaranteed Rate Field) on the South Side of Chicago. The Chicago White Sox had beaten the Houston Astros in Game 1, the 1st World Series game played in Chicago since Game 6 in 1959.

Morgan Ensberg gave the Astros a 2nd-inning lead with a home run, and led 4-2 going to the bottom of the 7th. But Paul Konerko hit a grand slam to give the ChiSox a 6-4 lead. The Astros tied it in the top of the 9th inning. But with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, Brad Lidge pitched to Scott Podsednik, who hit it into the right-center field bleachers, making the White Sox 7-6 winners. It was the 1st walkoff home run hit in World Series play by a Chicago-based player. The Pale Hose led the Series, 2-0, and completed the sweep in Houston 3 nights later.

Lidge had already given up a game-losing homer to Albert Pujols in the previous year's National League Championship Series, before the Astros won the Pennant in the next game. Lidge would recover from these blows -- but not with the Astros.

*

October 23, 2005 was a Sunday. This was the only baseball game played. The NBA season didn't start for another 9 days. There were 3 games played in the NHL:

* Across town, at the United Center, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-2.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-3 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

And, as it was Sunday, there was football:

* The New York Giants beat the Denver Broncos, 24-23 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Eli Manning threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer with 5 seconds left, to win int.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-17 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. With 2:25 left, the Eagles blocked a Nate Kaeding field goal attempt, and Matt Ware returned it 65 yards for a game-winning touchdown.

* The Washington Redskins beat the San Francisco 49ers, 52-17 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns, 13-10 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-13 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Baltimore Ravens, 10-6 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 23-20 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Paul Edinger won it with a 56-yard field goal on the last play.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the New Orleans Saints, 28-17 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Houston Texans, 38-20 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Tennessee Titans, 20-10 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Buffalo Bills, 38-17 at the McAfee Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Dallas Cowboys, 13-10 at CenturyLink Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* The preceding Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins, 30-20 at Dolphins Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Jets lost to the Atlanta Falcons, 27-14 at Giants Stadium.

* And the Carolina Panthers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.

October 20, 2005: The Fall of Tom DeLay

October 20, 2005: Tom DeLay turns himself in, and resigns his post as Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Thomas Dale DeLay was born on April 8, 1947 in Laredo, Texas. He was an exterminator, and apparently he inhaled enough of his toxic gas to make him a Texas Republican. He served in Congress from 1985 to 2006, including 1989 to 2006 as part of the House of Representatives' Republican Leadership, riding the conservative wave with eventual Speaker Newt Gingrich. In 1995, he was elected House Majority Whip by his caucus. In 2003, he was elected House Majority Leader, making him 2nd in rank in that caucus, behind Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois.

In 1995, he co-founded the K Street Project, essentially serving as a bagman for conservative campaign contributors. (K Street Northwest, in downtown D.C., is to lobbyists what Wall Street in New York is to finance, and what Madison Avenue in New York is to the advertising industry.) In 2000, he was behind "The Brooks Brothers Riot," the guys in suits who attacked the Miami office building where the Dade County election recount was happening, and stopped it, thus helping to make George W. Bush President.

In 2005, he was indicted on criminal charges of conspiracy to violate election law by campaign money laundering. According to Congressional rules, he had to resign from the Party leadership. He resigned from Congress on September 28, turned himself in on October 20, and resigned his seat on June 9, 2006.

It took until 2011 for his trial to reach a conclusion, with his conviction. But before you could sing, "Hang down your head, Tom... DeLay, hang down your head and cry," he successfully appealed, and never served a day in prison -- a terrible injustice for such a miserable person. He now, don't be shocked, runs a Washington-based lobbying firm: First Principles, LLC.

*

October 20, 2005 was a Thursday. Baseball was between the League Championship Series and the World Series, which the Chicago White Sox went on to win over the Houston Astros.

There were 2 college football games played. Number 3 Virginia Tech beat Maryland, 28-9 at Byrd Stadium (now SECU Stadium) in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland. And Troy University beat Florida International University, 18-13 at Veterans Memorial Stadium (then temporarily named Movie Gallery Stadium) in Troy, Alabama.

The NBA season started 12 days later. There were 10 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat their arch-rivals, the New York Rangers, 5-4 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the TD Banknorth Garden (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-0 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-4 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto. Ken Klee scored the winning goal with 16 seconds left in overtime.

* The Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 in a shootout at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Dallas Stars, 7-2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

October 12, 2005: The Doug Eddings Game

October 12, 2005: In Boston, it's Larry Barnett (1975 World Series Game 3). In St. Louis, it's Don Denkinger (1985 World Series Game 6). In Baltimore, it's Rich Garcia (1996 ALCS Game 1). In Atlanta, it's Eric Gregg (1997 NLCS Game 5). In Orange County, California, the most hated of all umpires is Doug Eddings.

Game 2 of the American League Championship Series is being played at U.S. Cellular Field (now Guaranteed Rate Field) in Chicago. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are up 1 game to none, and are tied 1-1 with the Chicago White Sox.

The Sox are batting in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 out. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski faces Angels relief pitcher Kelvim Escobar, who quickly gets 2 strikes. Pierzynski swings at Escobar's 3rd pitch, a split-fingered fastball that comes in very low. Angels catcher Josh Paul says after the game, "I caught the ball, so I thought the inning was over."

Eddings later said the ball had not been legally caught, but he made no audible call that the ball hit the ground. Pierzynski, already having had a reputation as a rough player, takes a couple of steps toward the dugout, but then, noticing that he had not heard himself called out, turns and runs to 1st base, while most of the Angels are walking off the field. He makes it to 1st safely. A pinch-runner, Pablo Ozuna, replaces Pierzynski, steals 2nd base, and scores on a base hit by 3rd baseman Joe Crede for the winning run.

The controversy surrounding the play concerns both whether Eddings' ruling (that the ball hit the ground) was correct, and the unclear mechanic for signaling the ruling. Eddings did not indicate no-catch signals during the game. In fact, in the 2nd inning of the same game, Eddings had ruled "no catch" on a 3rd strike to Garret Anderson of the Angels, but the White Sox were not aware of the ruling until Eddings called Anderson out as he entered the dugout.

At the time, professional umpiring mechanics did not dictate a specific no-catch signal or a "no catch" verbalization after an uncaught third strike. A mechanic was added for the 2006 season.

After the game, Eddings explained his actions: "My interpretation is that was my 'strike three' mechanic, when it's a swinging strike. If you watch, that’s what I do the whole entire game… I did not say, 'No catch.' If you watch the play, you do watch me -- as I'm making the mechanic, I'm watching Josh Paul, and so I'm seeing what he's going to do. I'm looking directly at him while I'm watching Josh Paul. That's when Pierzynski ran to first base."

Angels fans remain convinced that Eddings screwed them over and cost them a Pennant – and, since the ChiSox went on to sweep the Houston Astros in 4 straight, that Eddings also cost them the World Series. They are wrong: The video clearly shows the ball touching the ground, and Paul should have tried to throw Pierzynski out at 1st. He didn't try, and therefore Pierzynski was entitled to the base. Eddings was right, and Pierzynski acted within the rules of the game.

And here's the key: The series was still tied. While the next 3 games were going to be in Chicago, theoretically, the Angels still had as much chance to win the Pennant as the Pale Hose did. They could have shut their traps, gotten their acts together, and gone out and won Game 3 in Chicago, taken a 2-1 lead in the series, and it would have been a very different story.

Instead, like the 1996 Baltimore Orioles on the Jeffrey Maier play, like the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals on the Don Denkinger/Jorge Orta play, and like the 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers on the Reggie Jackson "Sacrifice Thigh," they let the incident get into their heads. They lost 3 straight and the Pennant. They did not deserve to win that one. The White Sox, thinking clearly, did.

This remains the only LCS that Eddings has umpired. He had previously umpired in Division Series in 2000 and 2002, and in the 2004 All-Star Game. Since then, he has umpired in the 2017 All-Star Game; the 2014 and '20 Wild Card Games; a 2022 Wild Card Series; the 2018, '19, '20 and '21 Division Series; and the 2019 World Series. So, clearly, MLB hasn't held the 2005 ALCS incident against him.

*

October 12, 2005 was a Wednesday. Game 1 was played in the National League Championship Series, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 5-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Seven days later, in what would be the last event at that stadium, the Astros would win Game 6 to take the Pennant.

The following season, the Cardinals opened the 3rd facility to bear the name "Busch Stadium" in one form or another, following the last one to bear the name "Sportsman's Park" (1909-1966, with the name being changed to Busch Stadium in 1953) and Busch Memorial. 

Football was in midweek. The NBA season hadn't started yet. There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Capitals, 7-2 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 2-0 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-0 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-4 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California.

October 9, 2005: The Chris Burke Game

October 9, 2005: At Minute Maid Park in Houston, Chris Burke's 18th-inning home run ends the longest postseason game in baseball history to that point, as the Houston Astros defeat the Atlanta Braves, 7-6, in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, to advance to the NL Championship Series.

Atlanta's 5-run lead late in the game was erased with an 8th inning grand slam by Lance Berkman and a 2-out 9th inning solo shot by Brad Ausmus, which barely cleared Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones' outstretched hand.

By time, the game ran 5 hours and 50 minutes. Roger Clemens was the winning pitcher, tossing goose eggs in the 16th, 17th and 18th innings, ensuring that he wouldn't have to start Game 5. Tim Hudson started for the Braves, and would also start another 18-inning NLDS game, Game 2 in 2014 for the San Francisco Giants against the Washington Nationals. That time, he ended up on the winning side.

Despite being on the winning side of this one, Morgan Ensberg went 0-for-6. So did Rafael Furcal of the Braves.

UPDATE: In 2025, Minute Maid Park was renamed Daikin Park.

*

October 9, 2005 was a Sunday. The other NLDS had wrapped up the day before, with the St. Louis Cardinals sweeping the San Diego Padres. The Astros would beat the Cards for their 1st Pennant.

In the American League Division Series on this day, the New York Yankees downed the team then known as "the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim‚" 3-2 in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium‚ to force a deciding Game 5. Al Leiter got the win for New York, in relief of Shawn Chacon. It was Leiter's 1st postseason win in 12 years, since Game 1 for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series. Counting postseason wins, it was the 164th win of his career. It was the last.

He also helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series in 1997, and the team he grew up rooting for, the New York Mets, win a Pennant in 2000, before losing the World Series to the Yankees, for whom he started his career, and would later broadcast on the YES Network. He now works for the MLB Network.

It was also the last game for Tino Martinez, who had been reacquired by the Yankees after 3 years away. He came in as a defensive replacement in the top of the 8th, and, in his last at-bat, popped up to short in the bottom of the inning. He did not play Game 5 in Anaheim, the Yankees were eliminated, and he retired with 339 career home runs, 192 of them as a Yankee.

The other ALDS had already been wrapped up, as the Chicago White Sox swept the Boston Red Sox. Most baseball observers expected that, having traded wins in classic 7-game ACLS'es the preceding 2 years, it would be Yanks-Sox again. But neither one held up their end of the bargain. The White Sox beat the Angels for the Pennant, and then swept the Astros to win their 1st World Series in 88 years.

Also on this day, Tom Cheek died of cancer in the Tampa suburb of Oldsmar, Florida. He was 66. He had broadcast for the Toronto Blue Jays from their 1977 inception until his illness caught up with him in 2004. He had broadcast 4,306 consecutive games for the Jays, and that number now stands in for a "retired number" for his notation on the Jays' "Level of Excellence" at the Rogers Centre. In 2013, the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously gave him its Ford Frick Award, tantamount to election for broadcasters.

These NFL games were played:

* The New York Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 14-12 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons, 31-28 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Adam Vinatieri won it with a 29-yard field goal with 17 seconds left.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-10 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Tennessee Titans, the former Houston Oilers, beat their replacements, the Houston Texans, 34-20 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 20-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Chicago Bears, 20-10 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field).

* The Detroit Lions beat the Baltimore Ravens, 35-17 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the New Orleans Saints, 52-3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. You're reading that right: Fifty-two to three. You usually don't see blowouts like that in the pros. It looks like a Nebraska game against a Big Eight team from the 1980s.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams, 37-31 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Washington Redskins, 21-19 at Invesco Field (now Empower Field) at Mile High in Denver. Mark Brunell threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley with 1:09 left to win it.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-20 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the San Francisco 49ers, 28-3 at Candlestick Park (then named Monster Park) in San Francisco.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the San Diego Chargers, 24-22 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* And the New York Giants, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders each had a bye week.

The NBA season didn't start until November 1. But there were 3 games played in the NHL on this day:

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 6-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Pavol Demitra scored the winning goal with 1:19 left in overtime.

August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina

August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, Louisiana, resulting in a broken levee that flooded the city, which was already below sea level. By nightfall, 80 percent of the Crescent City, and parts of neighboring areas, were flooded. Over 1,800 people were killed, and thousands were left homeless.

The Louisiana Superdome, home of the NFL's New Orleans Saints, was used as a shelter, topping out at 26,000 people. But because of the nature of the emergency, getting relief supplies into the city was incredibly difficult.

Although there had been devastating fires in Chicago and Boston in the 19th Century, and Baltimore and San Francisco in the early 20th Century, an earthquake in San Francisco in 1989 and Miami clobbered by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Katrina was the first natural disaster that made Americans think that a great American city might actually be lost, ruined to the point where there would be no choice but to abandon it.

President George W. Bush was at his ranch outside Crawford, Texas, on vacation. He should have immediately flown back to Washington and coordinated the federal government's response. Instead, he stayed at his ranch for 5 days, doing nothing -- except for 1 trip to San Diego for a Republican Party fundraiser.

As a result, most of the goodwill he'd generated with his response to the 9/11 attacks and the early part of the Iraq War was gone. One political magazine showed a cover with a cartoon of Bush being poked with a fork, with the headline, "HE'S DONE," and a caption that he might have still been in office, "but the 9/11 Presidency is over."

That was the day that Michael D. Brown resigned as Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is in charge of responding to natural disasters. Bush was caught on camera telling him, "Heck of a job, Brownie." It wasn't sarcastic: Bush really believed that Brown was doing a good job.

"Brownie" and "Dubya"

At his best, Bush was a genial idiot. At his worst, he was a nasty right-winger. He was never competent enough to be President, and he appointed people he liked to posts for which they were not qualified and ill-suited, and Brown was one of them.

As late as 1950, New Orleans' population was 660,000, putting it in America's top 20 cities. White flight led to a drop to about 484,000 people within the city limits in the 2000 Census. After Hurricane Katrina, it dropped to 230,000, losing over half its people in one fell swoop. According to a recent estimate, it's back up to about 391,000, making it larger than such NFL cities as Tampa, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Buffalo (and, of course, Green Bay).

But the metropolitan area has just 1.27 million people, making it the smallest metro area in the NFL, ahead of only Buffalo (if Green Bay is included with Milwaukee and Niagara Falls is included with Buffalo). And the poverty issue, so pervasive before the hurricane, is worse. And crime is definitely an issue.

In 1940, the city was 70 percent white. As late as 1970, it was 51 percent white. By 1990, it was 62 percent black, and the proportions are roughly the same today: 61 percent black, 31 percent white, 5 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. The further east you go, the greater the black percentage; the further west, the more white.

Both the dome and the arena were nearly ruined by Hurricane Katrina. Whatever had gone wrong on the inside of the Superdome, more noticeable was the outside, as the hurricane's winds had stripped the top of the dome, making it look like it had been sandblasted.

The Saints played their entire 2005 season on the road while the dome was refurbished. Next door, the Smoothie King Center, home of the NBA's New Orleans Hornets (since rebranded as the Pelicans), needed work, so the Hornets played most of the 2005-06 season in Oklahoma City, thus opening the door to a team for that city: In 2008, the Seattle SuperSonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder.

A relief concert was held at Madison Square Garden, "The Big Apple to the Big Easy," featuring performers from New Orleans, and others whose work was inspired by them. In 2012, the favor was returned after Hurricane Sandy became the 2nd-most-damaging storm in American history, behind Katrina.

The Superdome reopened for the 2006 season, and the Saints provided a lift to the devastated city. On February 7, 2010, the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV, beating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in the Miami suburbs, for their 1st NFL Championship. It had been a little over 4 years since the hurricane, and it resulted in the biggest party in the history of America's greatest party city.

The Superdome was restored. But the city still needs help. Having lost so many former residents, whose houses could not be rebuilt, hurt its tax base. It's the same with businesses that never came back. In New Orleans, "back" is a relative term.

*

August 29, 2005 was a Monday. This was also the day the TV series Prison Break premiered on Fox.

The NFL season was soon to begin, with the NBA and NHL seasons to follow. But baseball and its Playoff races were heating up, and 10 games were played in Major League Baseball: 

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-4 at Safeco Field in Seattle. (Now named T-Mobile Park.) The Bronx Bombers got 2 home runs from Jason Giambi, and 1 each by Alex Rodriguez and Matt Lawton. (A 2-time All-Star with Minnesota, with 138 career home runs, he was only a Yankee for 21 games.) Mike Mussina left the game after allowing 4 runs in 3 innings. Aaron Small got the win in relief.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-6 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-5 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The A's beat the O's with 5 runs in the top of the 12th inning, including home runs by Nick Swisher (future Yankee) and Mark Ellis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins, 6-1 at what was then named Dolphins Stadium in the suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida. (It's now Hard Rock Stadium.)

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-8 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-6 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, and the Royals' Shawn Camp walked 2 batters in the top of the 10th before allowing a 2-run double to Nick Punto.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-5 at Ameriquest Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. (It's now named Choctaw Stadium.)

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 7-5 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at SBC Park in San Francisco. (It's now named Oracle Park.)

* And the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Angels, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Washington Nationals were not scheduled.