The 2005 Cleveland Indians season was the 105th season for the franchise. It involved the Indians attempting to win the American League Central division. They had a very good September (with 17 wins and 9 losses), and went into a season-closing series with the Chicago White Sox with a chance to tie the White Sox record (though the White Sox held the tiebreaker and had already won the division) and make it into the playoffs, but lost three close games to finish 6 games behind the White Sox, who were the eventual World Series winners, eliminating Cleveland from the possibility to go to the playoffs. Offseason November 3, 2004: Ernie Young was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians. November 24, 2004: Bob Wickman was signed as a free agent by the Indians. January 17, 2005: Juan González was signed as a free agent by the Indians. His season – and his career – ended on his first regular season at-bat, when he pulled a leg muscle trying to run out a ground ball. Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents Notable transactions June 7, 2005: Tim Lincecum was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 42nd round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign. Roster Game log |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 65 || June 17 || Diamondbacks || 13–6 || Lee (8–3) || Halsey (4–5) || || Jacobs Field || 23,138 || 35–30 || W7 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 66 || June 18 || Diamondbacks || 3–1 || Elarton (4–2) || Webb (7–3) || Wickman (19) || Jacobs Field || 28,306 || 35–30 || W8 |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 67 || June 19 || Diamondbacks || 3–2 || Westbrook (4–9) || Estes (5–5) || Wickman (20) || Jacobs Field || 27,416 || 37–30 || W9 |- |- style="text-align:center;" | Legend: = Win = Loss = PostponementBold = Indians team member |-align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 1 || April 4 || @ White Sox || 1 – 0 || Buehrle (1-0) || Westbrook (0-1) || Takatsu (1) || 38,141 || 0-1 |-align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 2 || April 6 || @ White Sox || 4 – 3 || Marte (1-0) || Wickman (0-1) || || 10,520 || 0-2 |-align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 3 || April 7 || @ White Sox || 11 – 5 (11) || Rhodes (1-0) || Vizcaíno (0-1) || || 10,800 || 1-2 |-align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 4 ||