2005 Season

The 2005 season settled with the New York Yankees making their first playoff appearance since 1980. That year, they won the World Series. This year? It took an two extra games to get into the AL East Division Championship Series against the Washington Senators, after two ties forced the team to beat the Philadelphia A's and Baltimore Orioles to advance.

In the AL West, the Portland Beavers made good use of their first season in their new league and new city, making the playoffs after several decades as Los Angeles third team. The Dodgers also made the playoffs in the NL West as the wild card in that division.

The Giants ran away with the NL East, winning 111 games and the Cincinnati Reds stole the NL East wild card away from the Toronto Blue Jays on the last day, to advance to the postseason.

AL EAST:
Washington Senators (86-76)
New York Yankees (86-78)

AL WEST:
Houston Astros (98-64)
Portland Beavers (87-75)

NL EAST:
Tampa Bay Giants (111-51)
Cincinnati Reds (89-73)

NL WEST:
Milwaukee Brewers (92-70)
Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71)

PLAYOFFS:
AL EAST DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: New York def. Washington 4-2
AL WEST DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: Portland def. Houston 4-3

NL EAST DCS: Tampa Bay def. Cincinnati 4-1
NL WEST DCS: Milwaukee def. Los Angeles 4-3

AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: Portland def. New York 4-0
NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: Milwaukee def. Tampa Bay 4-0

2005 WORLD SERIES: Portland def. Milwaukee 4-2

This is the first title for the Beavers who moved to Portland this season, but who'd been in Los Angeles from 1965-2004. Milwaukee won their first NL pennant since 1978, which is also the last time they claimed the World Series. The Beavers franchise last made the World Series in 1991 as the Los Angeles Stars out of the NL, but lost that year to the Denver Bears.