Levine: Spirit Of 2005 White Sox Championship Team Endures

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The magic that embodied the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox has been hard to define.

The celebration of 10 years since the South Side 25 put a stranglehold on the City of Big Shoulders' hearts and minds is taking place at the ballpark and around Chicago this weekend.

Getting off to a huge lead in the first half in 2005, those White Sox saw the Cleveland Indians chop the lead down to 1.5 games in late September.

"That part where we lost brought us even closer together," said center fielder Aaron Rowand, one of the leaders of that unique group. "More than anything else, we realized that it wasn't us playing poorly but that Cleveland was playing some great baseball in the second half. We did not get down on ourselves or each other. That allowed us to stay tight and confident as a unit. We got to Detroit for the second-to-the-last series, knowing if we won one game it was over. We did just that."

The world champs won 15 of their last 16 games, culminating in a four-game sweep of Houston in the Series. This strong-minded, hard-playing group cinched championships in Detroit (Central Division), Los Angeles (American League pennant) and Houston. Thus, the White Sox became the first Chicago baseball team in 88 years to be crowned world champs (prior to that were the 1917 White Sox).

Much of the credit for putting the club together goes to then-general manager Ken Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen. With Guillen wanting a different mix than the home run-hitting clubs the White Sox had in the early 2000s, Williams came through.

The organization let Magglio Ordonez leave as a free agent and traded power hitter Carlos Lee for speedster Scott Podsednik. That kind of change of philosophy was what helped the team get off to a 15-game lead by late July.

"To win, it took 36 to 38 men to do it," Guillen said. "It wasn't one great player. It turned into one great team with somebody different every day doing it. We maybe did not have the best names in baseball, but we had the best team. Kenny deserves most of the credit for bringing in those players who fit perfectly."

The superstars like Hall of Famer Frank Thomas were few and far between. He called the 2005 club the closest he had played on during his 18-year career.

"Ozzie didn't change at all as a manager," said Thomas, who played seven years with Guillen as a teammate as well. "He always knew how to motivate people and take pressure off of them. He knew how to give players breaks and was great to their families. He was always pushing me to be better as a teammate, and he could (expletive) you off. It was all in the name of motivating people to be their best."

Thomas was thrilled to see the guys who showed up for this weekend's festivities.

"You never saw a team with groups hanging out together as this one," he said. "Five or six would go out here, five or six out there. Always groups doing things together. That was a special year, and I came back from injuries with resolve to get back with them. The whole thing was crazy, great. That pitching staff, the bench -- everybody did their thing to make that a total team effort. I played 19 years and only got one ring, so I knew more than most how special it was."

White Sox icon Paul Konerko felt the pitchers were unbeatable the last three weeks of that special campaign.

"The pitching was awesome, but the defense was clutch," Konerko said. "There is a difference between making great plays in an 8-2 game and making a big play holding on to a one-run lead. Even in the bad moments, we made the big play. We were very comfortable taking and holding a 2-1 or 3-2 lead."

Closeness is still easy to notice when you see this group together again.

"Ours was a fun/very honest type clubhouse," Konerko recalled. "There were some fights and tough words said to each other. Certainly, some incidents here and there that never got out. Looking backing back at it, all you say is, 'Wow, that was a special group, and it felt special doing it.' You don't think that way while doing it. Now, 10 years later, you say that group was special for a lot of reasons. Many people from different backgrounds came together and got along well, went to dinner together. You don't see that happening much."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.