CHICAGO -- The White Sox celebrated a 20-year anniversary of their 2005 World Series title in the summer of ’25, temporarily changing course from the rebuild featuring three straight seasons with at least 100 losses and four straight years at .500 or below.
But that July weekend at Rate Field, which also featured a Mark Buehrle concourse statue being unveiled, was about memories of championship days gone by and nothing else. Some of the top moments in the long history of this franchise come from that ’05 season.
“Everybody played their part and chipped in,” said Paul Konerko, the White Sox first baseman in ’05 and eventual team captain, during the reunion weekend. “It was a beautiful thing.
“To win one of those things, that was in ‘05 and I played another 10 years and never really got close again. There were a lot of Hall of Fame players who never won one. The gratitude you get that after 20 years people still care about you and your team … We didn’t know it then, but we know it now for sure.”
Here's a look at the Top 10 moments in White Sox history, with an ’05 influence.
1. “Out, out. A White Sox winner and a world championship.”
The White Sox also won World Series championships in 1917 and 1906, but this 2005 title had more than a little extra meaning. Shortstop Juan Uribe, who made a diving catch into the stands on Chris Burke’s popup for out No. 2 in the ninth, fielded pinch-hitter Orlando Palmeiro’s grounder up the middle and fired to Konerko for the final out of the four-game sweep and Jon Rooney’s memorable call on White Sox radio. The White Sox posted an 11-1 postseason run, after winning 99 in the regular season and leading the division from start to finish.
2. Podsednik the power hitter?
Scott Podsednik didn’t hit one home run during the ’05 regular season. In fact, he hit just 42 over 4,346 career plate appearances.
But his walk-off blast off Houston closer Brad Lidge with one out in the ninth ended one of the most exciting contests in World Series history via the 7-6 Game 2 victory. Podsednik connected on a 2-1 pitch from Lidge, after José Vizcaíno tied the game in the top of the inning for Houston with a two-out, two-run single off closer Bobby Jenks, who passed away in the summer of ’25 after a battle with stomach cancer.
“I look out to right-center and see it leave,” Podsednik told MLB.com during a 2015 interview. “From that point forward ... I cannot describe to you the feeling of what it was like. It was mayhem.”
A blue seat still exists at Rate Field in Section 101, Row 1, Seat 13, where Podsednik’s drive landed. It’s one of two blue seats remaining at the Rate, joined by …
3. Konerko slams Astros
… Konerko’s grand slam from that same Game 2 victory.
The White Sox trailed 4-2 with two outs in the seventh, when Chad Qualls replaced Dan Wheeler with the bases loaded. Konerko connected on Qualls’ first pitch, scoring Uribe, Tadahito Iguchi and Jermaine Dye, who was hit by a pitch. Konerko’s landing spot was section 159, Row 7, Seat 4.
“When I see footage of myself on TV or if I’m watching a game and something comes up or I see someone in the stands with my jersey on, it doesn’t even feel it has to do with me,” Konerko said. “It’s like all a dream.
“But the team, that team and this championship, it’s the only thing that still seems current to me. I can remember it like yesterday. I think about it every day. I don’t think about anything else that I did.”
4. Blum’s efficient power
Geoff Blum will never have to buy a beer again in Chicago, especially on the South Side, based on his one at-bat in the ’05 World Series. With the game tied at 5-5 in the 14th inning, the Trade Deadline acquisition who entered Game 3 defensively in the bottom of the 13th connected off Ezequiel Astacio for the game-winning home run. Mark Buehrle ended up recording the save by retiring Adam Everett for the final out after starting and throwing 100 pitches in Game 2.
Blum has become a popular analyst on the Astros television broadcasts.
5. Can you steal first base?
The two moments asked about most from A.J. Pierzynski’s successful 19-year big league career are getting punched by Cubs catcher Michael Barrett during an on-field melee and his race to first base on a dropped third strike in Game 2 of the ’05 American League Championship Series against the Angels. If not for Pierzynski’s heads-up play, his strikeout against Kelvim Escobar would have sent Game 2 to extra innings after the White Sox already lost Game 1.
Instead, Pierzynski ran to first on what was ruled an error on catcher Josh Paul, with pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna then swiping second. Joe Crede, who just might have been the team’s Most Valuable Player across the length of the playoffs, doubled home Ozuna for the game-winner, and the White Sox did not lose another game in the playoffs.
6. Wise saves perfection
Ozzie Guillen deserves credit for part of this moment, as the White Sox manager inserted Dewayne Wise in center field for the top of the ninth against the Rays to help preserve Buehrle’s perfect game on July 23, 2009. Wise just did that, leaping over the left-center-field wall on the run to take a home run away from Rays leadoff hitter Gabe Kapler and then hang on to the baseball while juggling it as he fell to the ground. Buehrle, who also threw a no-hitter against the Rangers on April 18, 2007, also at home, finished perfection two outs later.
7. Jim Thome’s playoff blast
An argument can be made that the White Sox 1-0 victory over the Twins in the 2008 American League Central division title play-in game was the single most exciting moment in franchise history. The fans fervently observed the Blackout policy, John Danks threw the best game of his career and Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. nailed Michael Cuddyer at the plate with a perfect throw from center field to Pierzynski to keep the game scoreless. Thome broke that scoreless tie with a titanic blast to center off Nick Blackburn in the seventh inning, marking the only run of the contest and sending the White Sox to Tampa Bay to face the Rays in the playoffs.
8. El Duque works mound magic
Adding Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez to the White Sox playoff roster was one of the final decisions the team made before taking on Boston in the '05 Division Series, going with his vast experience. The decision paid off as Hernandez pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the sixth inning of Game 3 to hold on to a 4-3 lead, finishing off the effort by striking out Johnny Damon. Hernandez threw three scoreless innings as the White Sox swept the Red Sox.
9. Field of Dreams for Anderson
The White Sox took on the Yankees during the first Field of Dreams contest played in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 12, 2021, and the excitement met the buildup for this momentous event. Jose Abreu hit the first home run in the state of Iowa, with a first-inning blast off Andrew Heaney, but it was Tim Anderson’s “stalk-off” drive off Zack Britton into the corn fields in right that sent the White Sox back to Chicago as a winner and set off the celebratory fireworks at the ballpark.
10. Harold Baines ends a marathon
The Hall of Famer connected off Chuck Porter with one out in the bottom of the 25th inning to give the White Sox a 7-6 victory over the Brewers in a May 8, 1984, game covering 8 hours, 6 minutes. Tom Seaver earned the victory with one inning of relief, although Juan Agosto was the hero with seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen, and Seaver started and won the regularly scheduled game on May 9 after the 25-inning contest finished that same day.