- January 20
- Eric Gagne and the Los Angeles Dodgers agree to a $19-million, two-year deal. [56]
- January 21
- Roger Clemens agrees to one-year, US$18 million deal with the Houston Astros, making Clemens the most expensive pitcher in major league history. [56]
- January 25
- Carlos Delgado agrees to a four-year, US$52 million contract with the Florida Marlins. [56]
- January 27
- Lance Berkman agrees to a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Houston Astros. [56]
- February 4
- The Chicago Cubs sign Aramis Ramirez to a US$8.95 million, one-year contract. [56]
- February 6
- Super Bowl XXXIX: The New England Patriots win their second consecutive Super Bowl title, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. [26]
- February 7
- The Detroit Tigers sign right-fielder Magglio Ordonez for five-years for US$75 million. [56]
- February 10
- Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros agree to a two-year, US$16.9 million deal. [56]
- February 16
- The National Hockey League cancels its 2004-2005 season, becoming the first North American professional league to cancel a season due to a labour dispute. [26]
vvv advertisement vvv
^^^ advertisement ^^^
- March 1
- Tim Hudson agrees to a four-year, $47-million contract extension with the Atlanta Braves. [56]
- March 2
- President George W. Bush awards the nation's highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, posthumously to Jackie Robinson's widow. Robinson died in 1972. [56]
- March 17
- During over 11 hours of the Committee on Government Reform hearing concerning major league player use of steroids, Mark McGwire refuses to talk about the past and does not deny taking performance enhancing drugs. [56]
- March 19
- Lance Berkman agrees to a six-year, US$85 million contract with the Houston Astros. [56]
- Wales beats Ireland 32 - 20 to win their first Grand Slam since 1978 in Rugby Union's Six Nations tournament. [26]
- April 3
- Alex Sanchez becomes the first major league baseball player to be publicly identified under baseball's new steroid policy. The Tampa Bay outfielder will be suspended for ten days for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. [56]
- April 4
- North Carolina defeats Illinois 75-70 to win the 2005 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship at the Edward Jones Dome in Saint Louis, Missouri. [26]
- April 15
- The first major league game in Washington D.C. since September 30, 1971 is played between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks at RFK Stadium. President George W. Bush throws out the first ceremonial pitch. The Nationals win, 5-3. [56]
- Ben Sheets signs a US$38.5 million, four-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers American professional baseball team. It is the richest deal in Brewers' history. [56]
- April 30
- Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig asks players to agree to a 50-game suspension for the first offense for the use of steroids, 100-game suspension for the second offense, and a lifelong ban after the third offense. [56]
- May 2
- Trailing 9-3 after eight innings, the Saint Louis Cardinals mount their greatest ninth-inning comeback in franchise history defeating the Cincinnati Reds 10-9 at the Great American Ballpark. [56]
- May 7
- At the age of 46 years and 257 days old, Julio Franco of the Atlanta Braves becomes the second-oldest player to hit a home run in major league baseball history. [56]
- May 25
- Liverpool F.C. wins the UEFA Champions League of soccer by defeating AC Milan 3-2 in a penalty shootout in Istanbul. [26]
- June 14
- Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners becomes the third fastest major league player to reach the 1000-hit mark, in his 696th game. Suzuki also holds the record in Japan for being quickest player to attain a 1,000 hits, in his first 757 games. [56]
- June 23
- The San Antonio Spurs defeat the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the 2005 NBA Finals. The series is the first NBA Finals in 11 years to go to a seventh game. [26]
- July 5
- Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez hits his 20th career grand slam, the second-most in major league history. [56]
- July 6
- The International Olympic Committee awards the 2012 Summer Olympics to London. [26]
- July 8
- In Singapore, the International Olympic Committee takes a secret vote on the approval of the 28 current summer Olympic events scheduled to be played at the 2012 Summer Games in London. Baseball and softball are eliminated. [56]
- July 24
- Lance Armstrong wins a record 7th straight Tours de France before his scheduled retirement. [5] [26]
- July 25
- The 2004-2005 National Hockey League lockout ends. [26]
- July 26
- Greg Maddux of the Chicago Cubs becomes the 13th pitcher in major league baseball history to register 3,000 strikeouts. [56]
- July 31
- Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg are enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Also inducted are San Diego Padres announcer Jerry Coleman, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, and sportswriter and broadcast analyst Peter Gammon, recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award. [56]
- August 1
- Rafael Palmeiro of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the highest profile player to be suspended for violating the Major League Baseball steroids policy. [56]
- August 9
- EA Sports releases the Madden NFL 06 video game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube in the USA. (1.7 million copies are sold in the first week.) [9]
- August 25
- Saint Louis Cardinals' pitcher Tony LaRussa wins his 2,195th career game, moving into third place in all-time major league history. [56]
- August 27
- Jeff Kent of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the first major league player to hit 300 homers as a second baseman. [56]
- September 12
- The English cricket team draws the final match to win The 2005 Ashes. [26]
- September 20
- In the USA, the NFL sees the groundbreaking ceremony for two new stadiums, the Indianapolis Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys' temporarily named Dallas Cowboys New Stadium. [26]
- September 24
- Australian Rules Football team the Sydney Swans win the 2005 Grand Final, to become the AFL Premiers, defeating the West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to end a 72 year Premiership drought. [26]
- October 19
- The Houston Astros baseball team win their first National League Championship to advance to their first-ever World Series in franchise history. [26]
- October 26
- The Chicago White Sox of the American League defeat the Houston Astros of the National League in four games to win the World Series Fall Classic. This gives the team its first World Championship since 1917. [26] [56] [56]
- In the finale of the Japanese baseball series, the Chiba Lotte Marines win their first league championship in 31 years, defeating the Hanshin Tigers. Coach Bobby Valentine becomes the first foreign manager to win the Japan Series in the 70-year history of Japanese baseball. [56]
- November 15
- The American baseball players' association and franchise owners agree to toughen the current penalties for the use of steroids, using a 50-game suspension for a first offense, 100 games for a second, and then lifetime ban for a third. [56]
- November 26
- B.J. Ryan agrees to a $47 million, five-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. [56]
- November 27
- In Canada, for the second time in three years, the Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes 38-35 in an overtime thriller to win the 93rd Grey Cup at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. [26]
- November 28
- Pitcher Billy Wagner agrees to a US$43 million, four-year contract with the New York Mets. [56]
- December 5
- The Los Angeles Dodgers and Rafael Furcal agree to a US$39 million, three-year contract to play shortstop. [56]
- December 6
- The Toronto Blue Jays agree to a five-year, US$55 million deal with A.J. Burnett. [56]
- December 18
- The bat Pete Rose used to hit his 159th career home run in 1985 is acquired by GoldenPalace.com for $103,631.91 during Lelands Winter 2005 Auction. The on-line casino plans to saw the bat in half to determine if the bat is corked as is widely believed. [56]
- December 23
- Johnny Damon signs a US$52 million, four-year deal to play for the New York Yankees. [56]
- December 26
- ABC-TV airs the last Monday Night Football after 36 years. [457]
- December 28
- The Chicago White Sox and Jon Garland sign a three-year, US$29 million contract. [56]
- December 29
- Agreeing to a US$60 million, five-year contract, Kevin Millwood joins the Texas Rangers American baseball team. [56]
|