LEBANON’S COTTS PLAYED KEY ROLE IN WHITE SOX’ 2005 CHAMPIONSHIP RUN
Appeared in All Four Games of Series; Earned the Win in Game 2
By Tom Emery
Game 2 of the 2005 World Series will forever be remembered for Scott Podsednik’s one-out home run in the bottom of the ninth. An Illinois State University product earned the win on the mound.
October 23 marks 20 years since the thrilling game, when Neal Cotts, a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection at ISU, picked up the victory in relief as the Chicago White Sox beat Houston 7-6. The Sox went on to win in a sweep for their first championship since 1917.
It was part of a breakout year for Cotts, who appeared in all four games of the Series. A lefthanded middle reliever, Cotts pitched in 483 Major League games over ten years.
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A three-sport standout at Lebanon High School in southwestern Illinois, Cotts’ father was a steelworker, while his mother was a high school mathematics teacher. As a senior at Lebanon, he batted .557 while striking out 105 in 62 innings of work, including a no-hitter and a perfect game. He was the state champion in the IHSA Class A hitting derby.
Cotts continued his baseball career at Illinois State, where he went 18-9 with 263 strikeouts in 236.1 innings over three seasons. He recorded nine complete games in 46 career appearances while earning MVC Player of the Week honors four times.
He is fifth in career strikeouts at ISU, and holds the single-season record for most strikeouts with 113. Cotts was a first-team all-MVC pick in 2001, and was an MVC Scholar-Athlete selection in both 2000 and 2001.
Cotts was drafted in the second round by Oakland in 2011, the highest draft pick by an ISU player in school history. He made his major-league debut on Aug. 12, 2003 with the White Sox.
Cotts’ best year was 2005, when he was 4-0 with a sparkling 1.94 ERA in 69 appearances as he won the MLB “Setup Man of the Year Award.”
It was a magical season for the White Sox, who were in first place from wire to wire, going 99-63 to win the A.L. Central by six games over Cleveland. The Sox then dispatched Boston in a three-game sweep in the ALDS, then beat Los Angeles behind overpowering starting pitching in five games in the league championship series.
That put the Sox in the Series for the first time since 1959, and Chicago hammered Houston ace Roger Clemens early in Game 1, jumping to a 3-1 lead after two innings. Chicago led 4-3 in the top of the eighth inning, when Cotts came in with one on and no outs.
The lefthander allowed a single to give Houston runners on first and third before striking out the next two batters. Cotts was then replaced by closer Bobby Jenks, who ended the inning with a strikeout. Podsednik produced an RBI triple for an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, and Jenks retired Houston in order in the ninth as Chicago won 5-3.
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The opener thrilled Sox fans, but they were ecstatic in Game 2 as Chicago rallied with four in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-4 lead. The Astros, however, picked up a a two-run, two-out single off Jenks in the top of the ninth to tie the game.
Cotts came on in relief, and retired pinch hitter Mike Lamb on a flyout to left to end the inning. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Podsednik – who was 0-for-4 on the night and had not homered in the regular season – hammered a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall for a 7-6 win.
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It was one of the most dramatic moments in Chicago franchise history, and the game is considered one of the best in recent World Series history. But while everyone remembers Podsednik’s homer, Cotts’ win in relief is largely overlooked.
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Cotts faced one batter each in Game 3, a 7-5 Sox win in eleven innings in Houston, and in Game 4, a 1-0 Sox victory in the clincher.
In the four games of the Series, he faced six total batters, allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts and no earned runs. He had also appeared in one game each in the ALCS and ALDS prior to the Series.
In November 2006, Cotts was traded to the crosstown Cubs, where he played for three seasons while battling persistent injuries.
He pitched in two games of the NLDS with the crosstown Cubs in 2008, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth in Game 3. In eight career playoff appearances, Cotts never allowed an earned run.
After 2009, Cotts’ injuries kept him out of the majors for nearly four seasons until he returned with Texas in 2013, when he posted a career-best 1.11 ERA with an 8-3 record in 58 appearances. He also pitched in a career-high 73 games for the Rangers in 2014. Cotts pitched in a combined 68 games, with a 3.41 ERA, with Milwaukee and Minnesota in 2015, his last year in the majors.
Cotts had left Illinois State after three years to pursue a career in pro baseball but returned to complete his degree, graduating from ISU in 2020. Five years earlier, he was inducted into the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame. He is currently an instructor at a baseball facility in the Chicago area.
Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.
