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Chicago White Sox celebrate 2005 World Series champions

There hasn't been much to celebrate at U.S. Cellular Field since 2008, which is the last year the Chicago White Sox made the playoffs.

That changed Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Kicking off a weekend that is certain to stir fading memories, many of the players and coaches from the 2005 World Series champions were back on the field before the Sox played Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Royals.

"It seems like it was just yesterday," said Jermaine Dye, the World Series MVP. "Time flies. You see a lot of new faces here, a new clubhouse, but it's good to be back. You see some familiar faces and it's good to be back with some old teammates. Just enjoy the festivities and talk about old times."

The 10th anniversary celebration is set for Saturday, before the White Sox play Kansas City at 1:10 p.m.

"We had 25 leaders in that clubhouse and every day somebody else stepped up," Aaron Rowand said. "Everybody always pulled on the same end of the rope, working and caring about each other. It turned into something very special. It's really nice to come and see all those guys, the guys that you still think about as family. To be able to be out here and share it with them is awesome."

It was an awesome season for the Sox in '05, even if going in they weren't given much of a shot to win their first World Series since 1917.

"I think we knew we would be competing for the division," Paul Konerko said. "But I'm not going to lie and sit here and say we were great or anything. I don't think that was the case. I just knew we were better than what people thought. I know everybody says that every year coming out of spring, but I think we had the right mix.

"I remember Jermaine saying one time, this is a good team, this team can win. I spent all my time with the White Sox so my opinion mattered least. I had nothing to compare it to. So when you have guys from other organizations saying this group is good, this is a good team, stuff like that, you start hearing that and it proved to be true."

There were some very anxious moments at the end of the regular season, when the Sox saw their 15-game lead on Aug. 1 shrink to 1½ games on Sept. 24.

The White Sox regrouped and went 6-2 to end the regular season and hold off the hard-charging Indians in the AL Central.

"I didn't think we were going to win it there because there was too much pressure for the guys, too much for them to do," said former manager Ozzie Guillen. "When we clinched in Detroit (on Sept. 29) I told myself, 'This ballclub has got a chance to win because we've got the pitching staff ready for it, we've got the heavy bat equipment, it's all loaded. Now we start over.'

"We already passed a really tough time. We played through it. I think we were ready mentally, prepared better for the playoffs than we were before the season."

The White Sox barreled through the '05 postseason, going 11-1 while sweeping the Houston Astros in the World Series.

"That team we had was special," Willie Harris said. "We had a guy for everything. We had a vocal manager. I remember times I was on first base during the regular season, they didn't even give me the steal sign. Ozzie would stand up on top of the steps and do like this (whistle). The way he managed that team, it kept everybody loose. It kept everybody calm.

"He played the game. He knew what we were going through. Everybody was pulling the rope the same way. We didn't have anybody on the other side tugging, going the opposite way. Everything worked out for us. I'm fortunate to be a part of that."

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