Chicago Cubs fans will want to forget the 20th anniversary of a deflating season

As we look ahead to the 2025 baseball season, it's worth noting that two decades will have gone by since 2005. Many Cubs fans would like to forget the '05 campaign, especially those who were envious of the crosstown White Sox winning their first World Series since 1917 that year. Luckily 2016 has since eased that pain but it was not fun for the Cubs faithful at the time. While 2005 was not a great year for the Cubs, that season had its place in team history.

The ultimate result was unspectacular, going 79-83 and suffering their first losing season since 2002. They finished fourth in the NL Central, with the St. Louis Cardinals finishing 21 games ahead. This season came off the late-year collapse in 2004 when the Cubs had the Wild Card lead with a week to go, and it all fell apart on the field, in the clubhouse, and within the organization. It was the third year of Dusty Baker's tenure as manager of the North Siders, and it was clear things were trending downward. Baker went from looking like the man to lead the Cubs to glory, to a major source of the team's downfall. From the way he managed Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, to his bullpen usage. Baker would only manage the Cubs one more season after this before the sides parted ways after the dismal 96-loss 2006 season. "In Dusty, We Trusty" was pretty much gone.

Prior to the 2005 season, the Cubs traded Sammy Sosa to the Orioles in an ugly "divorce" while Moisés Alou headed to the Giants in free agency. 2005 would no longer feature the popular color man Steve Stone in the TV broadcast booth, nor play-by-play man Chip Caray. One may remember the bitter ending of Stone's tenure on the North Side after the end of the '04 season. Len Kasper and Bob Brenly replaced them, as they took over TV broadcast duties on WGN and the new Comcast Sports Net which replaced local Fox Sports Net Chicago. In early April that year, it was officially announced that the 2005 season would mark the end of the classic 1937 left and right field bleachers as the next offseason they would embark on a big expansion project. Regulars would get to say goodbye to their old spots before the season ended.

Derrek Lee was the only bright spot in a dull 2005 season for the Chicago Cubs.

As for the team on the field, the big highlight in 2005 was Derrek Lee's MVP-caliber season. The man who led baseball in average, slugging, OPS, and doubles hit .335/.418/.662 with 46 homers, 107 RBI, a 1.080 OPS, and a National League-leading 199 hits. Lee remains the last Cub to hit 40+ homers in a season. Somewhat buried by Lee was Aramis Ramirez posting a .926 OPS in 123 games, which was the second-highest mark of his career. It was also the last year the Cubs saw an effective, and somewhat healthy Mark Prior, who in 27 starts pitched to a 3.67 ERA, 1.2 WHIP, and 188 strikeouts in 166.2 innings. Carlos Zambrano had a good year as a starter, pitching to a 3.26 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 202 strikeouts in 33 starts. Second baseman Todd Walker hit .305, which was second-best on the team behind Lee, and catcher Michael Barrett posted a .824 OPS on the season.

The rest of the team was a whole lot of, "meh". Sosa and Alou were essentially replaced by a hodgepodge of Jeromy Burnitz, Todd Hollandsworth, Jerry Hairston, Jason Dubois, Matt Lawton, and rookie Matt Murton. It just was not the same, though Murton showed promise, and Burnitz, at 36 years old, still hit 24 homers. The hope of Corey Patterson being a star faded as he put up a rough .215/.254/.348 slash in 126 games, leading to him being traded in the offseason. Injuries plagued key players like Kerry Wood and Nomar Garciaparra. Wood only pitched 66 innings in 2005, and Garciaparra's torn left groin saw him miss multiple months, having Neifi Pérez fill much of the shortstop duties.

Several notable rookies did make their debut in 2005, including Murton, Rich Hill, Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Ronny Cedeño, and Geovanny Soto. It's amazing that Hill was still pitching in 2024, and guys like Soto and Theriot had overall good tenures in the Majors. Unfortunately for one rookie, Adam Greenberg was hit in the head during his first MLB plate appearance on July 9 in Florida, which effectively ended his MLB career. Though the Marlins did give him one more at bat in 2012 in a great gesture.

On paper, the 2005 team was not awful, but losing two key bats, injuries, and some disappointing performances saw the season end with pretty mediocre results. Who knows how the team would have finished if Lee did not have such a great season. Sad to think that was the point of no return for the Baker era on the North Side, but luckily better days were ahead.