2005 Philadelphia Phillies season

The 2005 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 123rd season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies finished in second place in the National League East with a record of 88–74, two games behind the Atlanta Braves, and one game behind the NL Champion Houston Astros, who won the NL Wild Card race for the second consecutive season. The Phillies were managed by their new manager Charlie Manuel, as they played their home games at Citizens Bank Park. First baseman Ryan Howard was named the National League Rookie of the Year for the 2005 season.

Offseason

 * October 29, 2004: Chris Coste signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies.
 * November 15, 2004: AJ Hinch was signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies.
 * December 3, 2004: Kenny Lofton was traded by the New York Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Felix Rodriguez.

Regular season
The Phillies again contended for the wild card down to the last day of the season. But, an 0–6 record against the eventual wild card winning Houston Astros doomed the team. One loss included a game on September 7, in which the Phillies led 6-5 in the ninth inning. With Billy Wagner on the mound, the Phillies gave up a fielding error and an infield single with two outs before Craig Biggio went up to the plate. Biggio subsequently lined a deep shot into left field that gave them an 8-6 lead that the Phillies did not recover from.
 * On September 14, 2005, Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves hit his 300th career home run which went 430 feet off Phils reliever Geoff Geary in a 12–4 Phillies win. The ball landed in the upper deck in left field.

As a result of another year out of the playoffs, general manager Ed Wade was fired at the end of the season.

Transactions

 * May 14, 2005: Marlon Byrd was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Washington Nationals for Endy Chávez.
 * June 8, 2005: Ugueth Urbina was traded by the Detroit Tigers with Ramón Martínez to the Philadelphia Phillies for Plácido Polanco.

First Washington Nationals game

 * On April 4, 2005, Brad Wilkerson (after being the last player to ever wear a Montreal Expo jersey) had the honor of being the first batter for the Washington Nationals and he promptly responded with the first hit in the new team's history. Nevertheless, Kenny Lofton hit a three-run homer and Jon Lieber pitched 5$2⁄3$ effective innings, leading the home team Philadelphia Phillies to an 8–4 victory over the new Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. (Lieber was credited with the win for the Phillies and would also score a win for Philadelphia in the last game of the 2005 Nationals season.)  Outfielder Terrmel Sledge hit the Nats' first home run in the April 4 contest.
 * Scorecard


 * On April 6, 2005, the Washington Nationals recorded their first-ever regular season win by beating the Phillies, 7–3. The win came in their second game of the season and was highlighted by Wilkerson's hit for the cycle.

Starters by position
''Note: Pos= Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched, W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts