bdj610's End of Year MLB All-Star Teams: 2005 Edition

Hey!!! Good news!!! In 2005, a Chicago team actually won the World Series!!! Too bad it was the Chicago team from the American League that won.

Now that I got that out of the way.

In 2005, my wife and I were letting our kids go to school (okay, so it's kindergarten for our daughter, and pre-school for our son), but still. We started to feel more like part of the neighborhood, meeting new people, watching our kids play with other kids, realizing that they all will be growing up together. And if we all stayed in town for the next thirteen to fifteen years, the kids will all graduate high school together. But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

Baseball couldn't be any more relevant in Chicago than it was in 2005. The fact that not only did the White Sox go wire-to-wire, leading the AL Central, but they beat the defending champion Red Sox, beat the LA Angels (if it wasn't for that play in game 2, I think the Angels would have gone on to the WS), and then swept the Astros in four games to win Chicago's first WS since 1917, exorcising the demons of 1919. Now if only that other team could exorcise their demons...

Baseball finally said goodbye to Montréal in 2004. The Expos, sans Youppi, headed for Washington, D.C., which welcomed its first baseball team since the second reincarnation of the Senators left for Texas. Now known as the Washington Nationals, baseball was now back in the Nation's Capitol.

Onto the All-Star Teams, which were created before the final out of game 4.

The teams for 2005 saw the return of the eleventh pitcher (the middle reliever that debuted in 2001) to replace the designated hitter. This was done only because the 2006 All-Star Game would be held in Pittsburgh (again, but this time at PNC Park). So, the rosters remain at a steady 35 players per team (3 1b, 3 2b, 3 3b, 3 ss, 9 of, 3 c, 6 sp, 5 rp).

So without further ado, for the first time online, I am proud to introduce my 2005 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

(Don't stop...believing...that there's a lot of space here...)

American League First Basemen Paul Konerko, White Sox Richie Sexson, Mariners Mark Teixeira, Rangers Second Basemen Jorge Cantu, Devil Rays* Brian Roberts, Orioles Alfonso Soriano, Rangers Third Basemen Eric Chavez, Athletics Shea Hillenbrand, Blue Jays* Alex Rodriguez, Yankees Shortstops Derek Jeter, Yankees Miguel Tejada, Orioles Michael Young, Rangers Outfielders Emil Brown, Royals* Carl Crawford, Devil Rays Johnny Damon, Red Sox* Vladimir Guerrero, Angels Scott Podsednik, White Sox Manny Ramirez, Red Sox Gary Sheffield, Yankees Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners Vernon Wells, Blue Jays Catchers Victor Martinez, Indians Bengie Molina, Angels* Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers Pitchers Mark Buehrle, White Sox Bartolo Colon, Angels Jon Garland, White Sox* Randy Johnson, Yankees Cliff Lee, Indians* Joe Nathan, Twins Cliff Politte, White Sox* Mariano Rivera, Yankees Francisco Rodriguez, Angels* Johan Santana, Twins Bob Wickman, Indians* Manager: Ozzie Guillen, White Sox The Starters: 1B: Teixeira 2B: Soriano 3B: ARodriguez SS: Tejada OF: Damon OF: MRamirez OF: Suzuki C: IRodriguez P: Buehrle *First-Time All-Star

National League First Basemen Todd Helton, Rockies Derrek Lee, Cubs Albert Pujols, Cardinals Second Basemen Marcus Giles, Braves* Jeff Kent, Dodgers Chase Utley, Phillies* Third Basemen Morgan Ensberg, Astros* Troy Glaus, Diamondbacks Aramis Ramirez, Cubs Shortstops Rafael Furcal, Braves Felipe Lopez, Reds* Jimmy Rollins, Phillies Outfielders Bobby Abreu, Phillies* Moises Alou, Giants Jason Bay, Pirates* Miguel Cabrera, Marlins Brian Giles, Padres Shawn Green, Diamondbacks Ken Griffey, Jr., Reds Andruw Jones, Braves Carlos Lee, Brewers Catchers Michael Barrett, Cubs* Paul LoDuca, Marlins Mike Piazza, Mets Pitchers Chris Capuano, Brewers* Chris Carpenter, Cardinals* Roger Clemens, Astros Chad Cordero, Nationals* Trevor Hoffman, Padres Todd Jones, Marlins Brad Lidge, Astros* Scott Linebrink, Padres* Pedro Martinez, Mets Roy Oswalt, Astros Dontrelle Willis, Marlins* Manager: Ned Yost, Brewers The Starters: 1B: DLee 2B: Kent 3B: ARamirez SS: Rollins OF: Abreu OF: Cabrera OF: Jones C: Piazza P: Carpenter

Twenty-three players are first-time all-stars (10 for the American League, 13 for the Nationals). One-person teams on my 2005 rosters include the Athletics (Chavez), Royals (Brown), Tigers (IRodriguez), Dodgers (Kent), Giants (Alou), Nationals (Cordero), Pirates (Bay), and Rockies (Helton). The White Sox and Yankees each send five representatives to the AL squad, leading both leagues. The Angels, Astros, and Marlins each send four players to their respective squads. Chicago bias makes a comeback as there are eight players from both Chicago teams (5 from the White Sox, 3 from the Cubs).

As always, seven regular games (10,000 simulations each, six with the same starting pitchers, one where lineups and starting pitchers change), and one All-Star Game will be simulated during the course of the week. I hope to have the results of all the games by the end of the week.

Now it's time for me to create the .DAT files before getting the games set. Results to come on Monday (we hope).

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama