2005 Astrology Awards Recap
View the 2005 FABL Lineups Here!
Two important things started in the 2005 season: the tenure of the Washington Nationals franchise playing in the nation’s capitol, and suspensions under MLB’s new drug policy. This first round - which included such notable players as Libra first baseman Rafael Palmeiro and Sagittarius outfielder Matt Lawton - lasted for just ten days, but they were increased to 50 games the very next year. While there were no Leo’s suspended this time around, I would venture to say that the Lions make up the majority of high profile PED cases, including numbers 1 and 4 on the all-time home run list.
The latter of those two (Alex Rodriguez, if you didn’t click through to my last post) took home the MVP award in the Positive Polarity with 3,018 points and an average of 18.7 points-per-game. He helped Leo take home the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League points crown, the first time we’ve seen the Lions win after they came agonizingly close in 2019. Finishing just eight (8) points behind A-Rod (although with a 0.1 advantage in PPG) is the Negative Polarity MVP Albert Pujols, whose Capricorn Goats led their polarity in fantasy points. Appropriately enough, these two won the respective MVP awards in their real life leagues in 2005 as well. Honorable mentions in the NP are Virgo first baseman Derrek Lee (2,986 / 18.9) and Scorpio DH David Ortiz (2,921 / 18.4), while we should also mention Aries first baseman Mark Teixeira (2,812 / 17.4) in the PP as well.
Another famous Leo steroid user had a great 2005 season, as Roger Clemens (2,490 / 77.8) took home the PP Cy Young Award while playing for the Astros, a team that’s no stranger to cheating. Curiously, a teammate of Clemens in Houston, Andy Pettitte (2,488 / 75.4), also had a career year in 2005. Could it be that the drug culture spread through the locker room? Just like the two FABL MVP winners, the NP CYA winner, Chris Carpenter (2,784 / 84.4), won the NL CYA, two years after missing the entire season due to injury. After Carpenter, the NP featured Johan Santana (2,699 / 81.8), who would win the NP CYA in the following season, then Dontrelle Willis (2,535 / 74.6) and Pedro Martinez (2,499 / 80.6) in their last true good seasons.
It’s subtle, but see how I replaced “YANKEES” with “ARCHERS” at the top?
Sagittarius had the top two relief pitchers in 2005, with Yankees legend Mariano Rivera (2,395 / 33.7) forming a 1-2 punch with Joe Nathan (2,222 / 32.2) of the Twins. The Reliable Reliever in the Negative Polarity goes to Chad Cordero (2,198 / 29.7) of the newly-moved Nationals. In FABL terms, Cordero pitches for Pisces, a member of which would win the RR award six times in the next eight years, interrupted by two wins for Francisco Rodriguez of Capricorn.
As we see so often in the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League for some reason, one polarity had a distinct advantage as far as rookies were concerned. In 2005 it was the Positive Polarity, with A’s closer Huston Street (1,671 / 24.9) leading the charge, meaning that Leo players won three of the four major awards. Then we have five more Positive rookies (four Sagittarians and Libra Robinson Cano) before the first Negative Polarity first-year. And then the two top NP rookies are so close together in points that it’s basically a tie: Virgo infielder Russ Adams (1,410 / 10.1) and Capricorn center fielder Willy Taveras (1,402 / 9.2).
There might come a day when I don’t automatically default to a recap for every five-year period. But it is not this day. This day, we look back to the last half-decade!