2004 Atlanta Braves season

2004  Atlanta Braves
National League East Champions
League	National League
Division	East
Ballpark	Turner Field
City	Atlanta
Record	96–66 (.593)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	AOL Time Warner
General managers	John Schuerholz
Managers	Bobby Cox
Television	TBS Superstation Turner South (Don Sutton, Joe Simpson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray) FSN South (Tom Paciorek, Bob Rathbun)
Radio	WSB (AM) (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson) WWWE (Luis Octavio Dozal, Jose Manuel Flores)
←  2003 Seasons 2005  →

The 2004 Atlanta Braves season marked the franchise's 39th season in Atlanta and 134th overall. The Braves won their tenth consecutive division title, finishing 10 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.

On September 29, 2004, Bobby Cox won his 2,000th game as a manager. He became the ninth manager to achieve the feat, doing so with a 6–3 win over the New York Mets at Turner Field in the final home game of the year ^[1] He was named Manager of the Year after the season ended.

J. D. Drew replaced Gary Sheffield (lost to the Yankees in free agency) in the outfield, free agent John Thomson joined the rotation, and rookies Adam LaRoche and Charles Thomas saw significant playing time on a younger 2004 Braves team.

The Braves would face the Houston Astros in the NLDS (the fourth time that these two teams met in seven years, all of which were won by Atlanta), but the Braves lost three games to two.

Offseason

• October 25, 2003: DeWayne Wise was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. ^[2]
• November 14, 2003: Jorge Velandia was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. ^[3]
• December 10, 2003: John Thomson signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. ^[4]
• December 13, 2003: J. D. Drew was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Eli Marrero to the Atlanta Braves for Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Adam Wainwright. ^[5]
• December 23, 2003: Antonio Alfonseca signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. ^[6]
• January 12, 2004: Julio Franco was re-signed from free agency to the Atlanta Braves. ^[7]
• February 5, 2004: Russell Branyan was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. ^[8]
• March 26, 2004: Chris Reitsma was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Atlanta Braves for Bubba Nelson (minors) and Jung Bong. ^[9]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Position	Name
Starting Pitcher	Russ Ortiz
Catcher	Johnny Estrada
First Baseman	Julio Franco
Second Baseman	Marcus Giles
Third Baseman	Mark DeRosa
Shortstop	Rafael Furcal
Left Fielder	Chipper Jones
Center Fielder	Andruw Jones
Right Fielder	J. D. Drew

^[10]

Season standings

National League East

v t e NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	96	66	0.593	—	49–32	47–34
Philadelphia Phillies	86	76	0.531	10	42–39	44–37
Florida Marlins	83	79	0.512	13	42–38	41–41
New York Mets	71	91	0.438	25	38–43	33–48
Montreal Expos	67	95	0.414	29	35–45	32–50

Record vs. opponents

2004 National League record v t e Source:
Team	ARI	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MIL	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Arizona	—	2–4	4–2	3–3	6–13	3–4	2–4	3–16	3–3	0–6	3–4	1–5	2–4	7–12	5–14	1–5	6–12
Atlanta	4–2	—	3–3	2–4	4–2	14–5	3–3	4–3	4–2	15–4	12–7	10–9	4–2	3–3	4–3	2–4	8–10
Chicago	2–4	3–3	—	9–8	5–1	3–3	10–9	2–4	10–7	3–3	4–2	3–3	13–5	4–2	2–4	8–11	8–4
Cincinnati	3–3	4–2	8–9	—	3–3	4–2	6–11	4–2	10–8	4–2	3–3	3–3	9–10	2–4	3–3	5–14	5-7
Colorado	13–6	2–4	1–5	3–3	—	1–5	1–5	8–11	2–4	2–4	1–5	5–3	2–4	10–9	8–11	1–5	8–10
Florida	4–3	5–14	3–3	2–4	5–1	—	3–3	3–3	4–2	11–8	15–4	12–7	1–5	4–2	2–5	2–4	7–11
Houston	4–2	3–3	9–10	11–6	5–1	3-3	—	1–5	13–6	2–4	2–4	6–0	12–5	2–4	2–4	10–8	7–5
Los Angeles	16–3	3–4	4–2	2–4	11–8	3–3	5–1	—	3–3	4–3	3–3	1–5	6–0	10–9	10–9	2–4	10–8
Milwaukee	3–3	2–4	7–10	8–10	4–2	2–4	6–13	3–3	—	5–1	2–4	0–6	6–12	2–4	1–5	8–9	8–4
Montreal	6–0	4–15	3–3	2–4	4–2	8-11	4–2	3–4	1–5	—	9–10	7–12	4–2	1–6	1–5	3–3	7–11
New York	4–3	7–12	2–4	3–3	5–1	4–15	4–2	3–3	4–2	10–9	—	8–11	1–5	1–6	4–2	1–5	10–8
Philadelphia	5-1	9–10	3–3	3–3	3–5	7–12	0–6	5–1	6–0	12–7	11–8	—	3–3	5–1	2–4	3–3	9–9
Pittsburgh	4–2	2–4	5–13	10–9	4–2	5–1	5–12	0–6	12–6	2–4	5–1	3–3	—	3–3	5–1	5–12	2–10
San Diego	12–7	3–3	2–4	4–2	9–10	2–4	4–2	9–10	4–2	6–1	6–1	1–5	3–3	—	12–7	2–4	8–10
San Francisco	14–5	3–4	4–2	3–3	11–8	5–2	4–2	9–10	5–1	5–1	2–4	4–2	1–5	7–12	—	3–3	11–7
St. Louis	5–1	4–2	11–8	14–5	5–1	4-2	8–10	4–2	9–8	3–3	5–1	3–3	12–5	4–2	3–3	—	11–1

Notable transactions

• April 25, 2004: Russell Branyan was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Cleveland Indians for Scott Sturkie (minors). ^[8]
• June 7, 2004: Clint Sammons was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 6th round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed July 12, 2004. ^[11]

Roster

2004 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 57 Antonio Alfonseca 34 Armando Almanza 36 Paul Byrd 34 José Capellán 40 Román Colón 51 Juan Cruz 26 Will Cunnane 46 Tim Drew 49 Kevin Gryboski 32 Mike Hampton 38 Tom Martin 28 Sam McConnell 45 Dan Meyer 40 C. J. Nitkowski 48 Russ Ortiz 30 Horacio Ramírez 37 Chris Reitsma 43 Travis Smith 29 John Smoltz 52 John Thomson 27 Jaret Wright		Catchers 23 Johnny Estrada 12 Eddie Pérez Infielders 24 Wilson Betemit 16 Mark DeRosa 14 Julio Franco  1 Rafael Furcal  2 Jesse Garcia 22 Marcus Giles 20 Nick Green 15 Mike Hessman 10 Chipper Jones 19 Adam LaRoche		Outfielders  7 J. D. Drew 20 Damon Hollins 25 Andruw Jones  8 Eli Marrero 26 Charles Thomas 11 DeWayne Wise		Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 39 Pat Corrales (bench) 53 Bobby Dews (bullpen) 33 Fredi González (third base) 17 Glenn Hubbard (first base) 54 Leo Mazzone (pitching)  9 Terry Pendleton (hitting)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Johnny Estrada	134	462	145	.314	9	76
1B	Adam LaRoche	110	324	90	.278	13	45
2B	Marcus Giles	102	379	118	.311	8	48
SS	Rafael Furcal	143	563	157	.279	14	59
3B	Chipper Jones	137	472	117	.248	30	96
LF	Charles Thomas	83	236	68	.288	7	31
CF	Andruw Jones	154	570	149	.261	29	91
RF	J.D. Drew	145	518	158	.305	31	93

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Julio Franco	125	320	99	.309	6	57
Mark DeRosa	118	309	74	.239	3	31
Nick Green	95	264	72	.273	3	26
Eli Marrero	90	250	80	.320	10	40
Eddie Pérez	74	170	39	.229	3	13
DeWayne Wise	77	162	37	.228	6	17
Jesse Garcia	50	115	29	.252	1	10
Mike Hessman	29	69	9	.130	2	5
Wilson Betemit	22	47	8	.170	0	3
Damon Hollins	7	22	8	.364	0	5

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Russ Ortiz	34	204.2	15	9	4.13	143
John Thomson	33	198.1	14	8	3.72	133
Jaret Wright	32	186.1	15	8	3.28	159
Mike Hampton	29	172.1	13	9	4.28	87
Paul Byrd	19	114.1	8	7	3.94	79
Horacio Ramírez	10	60.1	2	4	2.39	31

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Travis Smith	16	40.2	2	3	6.20	26
José Capellán	3	8.0	0	1	11.25	4

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
John Smoltz	73	0	1	44	2.76	85
Chris Reitsma	84	6	4	2	4.07	60
Antonio Alfonseca	79	6	4	0	2.57	45
Kevin Gryboski	69	3	2	2	2.84	24
Juan Cruz	50	6	2	0	2.75	70
Tom Martin	29	0	1	0	3.71	12
C.J. Nitkowski	22	1	0	0	4.50	16
Román Colón	18	2	1	0	3.32	15
Armando Almanza	13	1	1	0	6.17	13
Tim Drew	11	0	0	0	4.50	7
Sam McConnell	10	1	0	0	3.86	4
Will Cunnane	9	1	1	0	7.30	11
Dan Meyer	2	0	0	0	0.00	1

2004 National League Division Series

Main article: 2004 National League Division Series

Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros

Houston wins series, 3-2. Atlanta suffered a 1st round elimination for the third consecutive postseason and fourth time out of the last five.

Game	Score	Date
1	Houston 9, Atlanta 3	October 6
2	Atlanta 4, Houston 2 (11 innings)	October 7
3	Houston 8, Atlanta 5	October 9
4	Atlanta 6, Houston 5	October 10
5	Houston 12, Atlanta 3	October 11

Award winners

2004 Major League Baseball season

• Bobby Cox was voted National League Manager of the Year for the second of three times with the Atlanta Braves. ^[12]
• Andruw Jones (outfield) was once again chosen to receive a Gold Glove award.
• Johnny Estrada (catcher) was chosen to receive a Silver Slugger award.

2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Johnny Estrada represented the Atlanta Braves as a catcher for the National League All-Star team.

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Pat Kelly
AA	Greenville Braves	Southern League	Brian Snitker
A	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Carolina League	Randy Ingle
A	Rome Braves	South Atlantic League	Rocket Wheeler
Rookie	Danville Braves	Appalachian League	Jim Saul
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Ralph Henriquez

^{[13] [14]}

Notes

1. "Atlanta Braves Give Manager Bobby Cox His 2,000th Win". September 29, 2004.
2. "Dewayne Wise Stats".
3. "Jorge Velandia Stats".
4. "John Thomson Stats".
5. J. D. Drew Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
6. "Antonio Alfonseca Stats".
7. Julio Franco Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
8. Russell Branyan Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
9. "Chris Reitsma Stats".
10. "New York Mets at Atlanta Braves Box Score, April 6, 2004".
11. "Clint Sammons Stats".
12. "2004 Awards Voting".
13. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
14. Baseball America 2005 Annual Directory

External links

• 2004 Atlanta Braves team at Baseball-Reference