2005 American League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Chicago White Sox (4) Ozzie Guillén 99–63, .611, GA: 6 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1) Mike Scioscia 95–67, .586, GA: 7
Dates	October 11–16
MVP	Paul Konerko (Chicago)
Umpires	Jerry Crawford Doug Eddings Ted Barrett Ron Kulpa Ed Rapuano Randy Marsh
Broadcast
Television	Fox (United States) MLB International (International)
TV announcers	Joe Buck,Tim McCarver,Lou Piniella andChris Myers (Fox) Dave O'Brien andRick Sutcliffe (MLB International)
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Miller andJoe Morgan
ALDS	Chicago White Sox overBoston Red Sox (3–0) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim overNew York Yankees (3–2)
← 2004 ALCS 2006 →

The2005 American League Championship Series (ALCS), the second round of theAmerican League side inMajor League Baseball's2005 postseason, which determined the 2005 American League champion, matched the Central Division champion and top-seededChicago White Sox against the West Division champion and second-seededLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The White Sox, by virtue of having the best record in the AL during the 2005 season, had the home-field advantage. The White Sox won the series four games to one to become the American League champions, and faced theHouston Astros in the2005 World Series, in which the White Sox swept the Astros in four games to win their first World Series championship in88 years; as a result of the2005 All-Star Game played in Detroit, Michigan atComerica Park on July 12, the White Sox had home-field advantage in the World Series. The series was notable both for a controversial call in Game 2 of the series, and the outstanding pitching and durability of Chicago's starting rotation, pitching four consecutive complete games; the+2⁄3 of an inningNeal Cotts pitched in the first game was the only work the White Sox bullpen saw the entire series.

The White Sox and Angels were victorious in theAL Division Series (ALDS), with the White Sox defeating the defending World Champion and wild card qualifierBoston Red Sox three games to none, and the Angels defeating the Eastern Division championNew York Yankees three games to two. It was the first ALCS since2002 not to feature the Red Sox or the Yankees.

Chicago won the series, 4–1.

In the series opener, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won 3–2 in their third game in as many nights and as many cities. The Angels took the lead in the second inning on aGarret Anderson leadoff home run. Next inning,Steve Finley andAdam Kennedy hit back-to-back leadoff singles and advanced one base each onChone Figgins's sacrifice bunt.Orlando Cabrera's single andVladimir Guerrero's groundout scored a run each. White Sox starterJosé Contreras allowed no more runs, going8+1⁄3 innings. In the bottom of the inning,Joe Crede's home run off ofPaul Byrd put the Sox on the board. Next inning, Chicago'sCarl Everett singled with one out, moved to second on a groundout, and scored onA. J. Pierzynski's single to make it a one-run game. However, neither team would score for the rest of the game. It was the first time in six tries that the Angels won a Game 1 under managerMike Scioscia, despite having won the World Series in 2002. This turned out to be the only game the White Sox would lose in the entire postseason.

Then-Senator and future President of the United StatesBarack Obama threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Behind a complete game fromMark Buehrle and a now infamous strikeout in the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox evened the series at a game apiece. In the bottom of the first,Scott Podsednik reached second on an error, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored onJermaine Dye's ground out.Jarrod Washburn and two relievers held the Sox scoreless over the next seven innings whileRobb Quinlan's fifth inning home run tied the game. It remained tied until the bottom of the ninth. With two strikes,A. J. Pierzynski swung and missed at a low pitch from Angels pitcherKelvim Escobar for strike three.Josh Paul, the Angels catcher, rolled the ball to the mound and left the infield. Pierzynski realized strike three had been called, so he ran to first base in case the umpire ruled that the catcher had not legally caught the strike-three pitch^[6] (seeUncaught third strike rule).^[7] In a controversial call, home-plate umpireDoug Eddings ruled that the ball hit the ground before going into the catcher's glove and signalled strike 3 but did not call him out,^[8] so the pitch was considered uncaught and Pierzynski was safe at first. Apinch-runner,Pablo Ozuna, stole second base.Third basemanJoe Crede delivered a base hit three pitches later, scoring Ozuna for the winning run.

Chicago jumped to a 3−0 lead in the first inning off ofJohn Lackey as the series moved west to Anaheim.Scott Podsednik hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and came home onJermaine Dye's single beforePaul Konerko's two-run home run capped the scoring.Tadahito Iguchi singled to lead off the third, moved to second on a walk, and scored onCarl Everett's single. Two innings later, Iguchi doubled with one out and scored on Konerko's two-out single to put Chicago up 5−0. A two-run home run byOrlando Cabrera in the sixth cut the lead to 5−2, but it would not be enough as the White Sox took the series lead, two games to one, withJon Garland pitching acomplete game.

The visitors again jumped to a 3−0 lead in the first. Angel starterErvin Santana walkedScott Podsednik and hitTadahito Iguchi beforePaul Konerko, after a disputed check swing on a 2–2 pitch, homered for the second straight game. The Angels cut it to 3−1 in the second whenDarin Erstad walked with one out, moved to third onCasey Kotchman's single and White Sox pitcherFreddy Garcia's throwing error to first, then scored onBengie Molina's single. With men on first and third,Steve Finley hit a ground ball to second for an inning-ending double play, but argued that Sox catcherA. J. Pierzynski had interfered with his swing. Chicago got that run back whenJermaine Dye reached on shortstopOrlando Cabrera's throwing error to first, stole second, and scored onCarl Everett's base hit. Pierzynski's home run next inning made it 5−1. In the bottom of the inning, AngelGarret Anderson singled with one out and scored on Kotchman's two-out double, but in the fifth, Podsednik drew a leadoff walk and afterScot Shields relieved Santana, stole second and scored on Everett's single.Esteban Yan walked Everett to lead off the eighth, allowed a subsequent double toAaron Rowand followed byJoe Crede's two-run single to put the Sox up 8−2. García pitched the White Sox's third straight complete game, helping put them one win from their firstWorld Series visit since1959.

Still on the road, Chicago struck first in Game 5 whenAaron Rowand hit a leadoff ground-rule double in the second off ofPaul Byrd, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, then scored onJoe Crede's sacrifice fly. But the Angels tied it in the third whenJuan Rivera hit a leadoff double, moved to third on pitcherJose Contreras's pickoff attempt error, and scored onAdam Kennedy's single. In the top of the fifth,Juan Uribe doubled and scored onJermaine Dye's single, but in the bottom of the inning, Kennedy hit a leadoff single and scored onChone Figgins's double. Figgins scored on aGarret Anderson sacrifice fly to put the Angels up 3−2. Crede's leadoff home run in the seventh off ofKelvim Escobar tied the game. Next inning, Escobar walked Rowand with two outs and an error moved him to second.Francisco Rodriguez relieved Escobar and Crede greeted him with an RBI single to put the White Sox up 4−3. They got two insurance runs in the ninth whenPaul Konerko's double after back-to-back walks and Rowand's sacrifice fly scored a run each. Contreras delivered the fourth consecutive complete game by a White Sox pitcher, retiring the Angels in order in the ninth. Chicago captured its first American League pennant since1959. This marked the first time in77 years that a team threw four straight complete-game victories in the playoffs, becoming the first time it was done by four different pitchers since theChicago Cubs did it in the1907 World Series.

Konerko was named the ALCS MVP. He finished the seriesbatting .286, with twohome runs and sevenRBIs. His two home runs came in the first innings of Games 3 and 4; he became only the third player in Major League history to hit homers in the first inning of consecutive playoff games, the other two having beenDan Ford during the1979 ALCS andCarlos Beltrán during the2004 NLCS.^[9]

2005 ALCS(4–1):Chicago White Sox overLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Doug Eddings' controversial call in Game 2, when he ruled that a strikeout toA. J. Pierzynski byKelvim Escobar had not been legally caught (anuncaught third strike) by catcherJosh Paul but made no audible call that the ball hit the ground, proved to be the most pivotal point in the series. At the team's ten-year anniversary in 2015, White Sox chairmanJerry Reinsdorf acknowledged that losing home-field advantage and going down 0-2 in a best-of-seven series would have been too difficult of a hole to climb out of. Catcher A. J. Pierzynski, who was at the center of the call, said the year before when he was inSan Francisco, he was on the other end of that same type of play. BothPaul Konerko and general managerKenny Williams believed that Eddings likely got the call wrong.^[10] According to umpire supervisorRich Rieker, the replays showed "there was definitely a change in direction there" indicating the ball touched the ground and felt, at best, the replay was inconclusive.^[11] A. J. Pierzynski was booed every time he played in Anaheim until his retirement for his role in the controversy.^[12][13] Major League Baseball did not adoptreview via instant replay on calls such as this until the2014 season.

As of 2025, the White Sox in the 2005 ALCS are the only team to throw four complete games in a playoff series since the beginning of league championship series play in 1969. Prior to that, several teams had done so when the World Series was the only round of the MLB postseason.^[14][15]

As of the 2025 season, this is the last White Sox' AL Championship Series appearance. The Angels returned to the postseason in2007,2008,2009, and2014, but made it to an ALCS once, in2009.

• 2005 ALCS at Baseball Reference

• American League Championship Series
• 2005 Major League Baseball season
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