2004 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | Major League Baseball |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | March 30 – October 27, 2004 |
Number of games | 162 |
Number of teams | 30 |
TV partner(s) | Fox, ESPN |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Matt Bush |
Picked by | San Diego Padres |
Regular Season | |
Season MVP | AL: Vladimir Guerrero (ANA) NL: Barry Bonds (SF) |
Postseason | |
AL champions | Boston Red Sox |
AL runners-up | New York Yankees |
NL champions | St. Louis Cardinals |
NL runners-up | Houston Astros |
World Series | |
Champions | Boston Red Sox |
Runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
World Series MVP | Manny Ramirez (BOS) |
The 2004 Major League Baseball season ended when the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game World Series sweep. The Red Sox championship ended an 86-year-long drought known as the Curse of the Bambino. The Red Sox were also the first team in MLB history and the third team from a major North American professional sports league ever to come back from a 3–0 postseason series deficit and win. This happened in the ALCS against the New York Yankees.
The Montreal Expos would play their last season in Montreal, before relocating to Washington DC, becoming the Washington Nationals in 2005.
Statistic | American League | National League | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
AVG | Ichiro Suzuki SEA | .372 | Barry Bonds SF | .362 |
HR | Manny Ramírez BOS | 43 | Adrián Beltré LA | 48 |
RBI | Miguel Tejada BAL | 150 | Vinny Castilla COL | 131 |
Wins | Curt Schilling BOS | 21 | Roy Oswalt HOU | 20 |
ERA | Johan Santana MIN | 2.61 | Jake Peavy SD | 2.27 |
SO | Johan Santana MIN | 265 | Randy Johnson AZ | 290 |
SV | Mariano Rivera NYY | 53 | Armando Benítez FLA Jason Isringhausen STL | 47 |
SB | Carl Crawford TB | 59 | Scott Podsednik MIL | 70 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(1) New York Yankees | 101 | 61 | .623 | — | 57–24 | 44–37 |
(4) Boston Red Sox | 98 | 64 | .605 | 3 | 55–26 | 43–38 |
Baltimore Orioles | 78 | 84 | .481 | 23 | 38–43 | 40–41 |
Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 70 | 91 | .435 | 30½ | 41–39 | 29–52 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 67 | 94 | .416 | 33½ | 40–41 | 27–53 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(3) Minnesota Twins | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 49–32 | 43–38 |
Chicago White Sox | 83 | 79 | .512 | 9 | 46–35 | 37–44 |
Cleveland Indians | 80 | 82 | .494 | 12 | 44–37 | 36–45 |
Detroit Tigers | 72 | 90 | .444 | 20 | 38–43 | 34–47 |
Kansas City Royals | 58 | 104 | .358 | 34 | 33–47 | 25–57 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(2) Anaheim Angels | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 45–36 | 47–34 |
Oakland Athletics | 91 | 71 | .562 | 1 | 52–29 | 39–42 |
Texas Rangers | 89 | 73 | .549 | 3 | 51–30 | 38–43 |
Seattle Mariners | 63 | 99 | .389 | 29 | 38–44 | 25–55 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(2) Atlanta Braves | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 49–32 | 47–34 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 86 | 76 | .531 | 10 | 42–39 | 44–37 |
Florida Marlins | 83 | 79 | .512 | 13 | 42–38 | 41–41 |
New York Mets | 71 | 91 | .438 | 25 | 38–43 | 33–48 |
Montreal Expos | 67 | 95 | .414 | 29 | 35–45 | 32–50 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(1) St. Louis Cardinals | 105 | 57 | .648 | — | 53–28 | 52–29 |
(4) Houston Astros | 92 | 70 | .568 | 13 | 48–33 | 44–37 |
Chicago Cubs | 89 | 73 | .549 | 16 | 45–37 | 44–36 |
Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 86 | .469 | 29 | 40–41 | 36–45 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 72 | 89 | .447 | 32½ | 39–41 | 33–48 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 67 | 94 | .416 | 37½ | 36–45 | 31–49 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(3) Los Angeles Dodgers | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 49–32 | 44–37 |
San Francisco Giants | 91 | 71 | .562 | 2 | 47–35 | 44–36 |
San Diego Padres | 87 | 75 | .537 | 6 | 42–39 | 45–36 |
Colorado Rockies | 68 | 94 | .420 | 25 | 38–43 | 30–51 |
Arizona Diamondbacks | 51 | 111 | .315 | 42 | 29–52 | 22–59 |
2004 was the last postseason until 2020 where both LCS went to 7 games.
Division Series (ALDS, NLDS) | League Championship Series (NLCS, ALCS) | World Series | ||||||||||||
1 | NY Yankees | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Minnesota | 1 | ||||||||||||
1 | NY Yankees | 3 | ||||||||||||
American League | ||||||||||||||
4 | Boston | 4 | ||||||||||||
2 | Anaheim | 0 | ||||||||||||
4 | Boston | 3 | ||||||||||||
AL4 | Boston | 4 | ||||||||||||
NL1 | St. Louis | 0 | ||||||||||||
1 | St. Louis | 3 | ||||||||||||
3 | Los Angeles | 1 | ||||||||||||
1 | St. Louis | 4 | ||||||||||||
National League | ||||||||||||||
4 | Houston | 3 | ||||||||||||
2 | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||
4 | Houston | 3 |
Note: Two teams in the same division could not meet in the division series.
Team | Manager | Comments |
---|---|---|
Arizona Diamondbacks | Bob Brenly | Replaced during the season by Al Pedrique |
Atlanta Braves | Bobby Cox | |
Chicago Cubs | Dusty Baker | |
Cincinnati Reds | Dave Miley | |
Colorado Rockies | Clint Hurdle | |
Florida Marlins | Jack McKeon | |
Houston Astros± | Jimy Williams | Replaced during the season by Phil Garner |
Los Angeles Dodgers | Jim Tracy | |
Milwaukee Brewers | Ned Yost | |
Montreal Expos | Frank Robinson | |
New York Mets | Art Howe | |
Philadelphia Phillies | Larry Bowa | |
Pittsburgh Pirates | Lloyd McClendon | |
St. Louis Cardinals | Tony La Russa | Won the National League pennant |
San Diego Padres | Bruce Bochy | |
San Francisco Giants | Felipe Alou |
±hosted the MLB All Star Game
The following players reached major milestones in 2004:
Randy Johnson pitched the 17th perfect game in MLB history on May 18, 2004.
Randy Johnson struck out Jeff Cirillo on June 29, 2004, for his 4000th strikeout.
Ken Griffey Jr. – June 20
Greg Maddux – August 7, 2004
Ichiro Suzuki – 262 hits (broke George Sisler's 84-year-old record of 257)
There were a total of 80 walk-off home runs, which was then the MLB single-season record until 2018. [1]
Month | American League | National League |
---|---|---|
April | Carlos Beltrán | Barry Bonds |
May | Melvin Mora | Lance Berkman |
June | Iván Rodríguez | Jim Thome |
July | Mark Teixeira | Jim Edmonds |
August | Ichiro Suzuki | Barry Bonds |
September | Vladimir Guerrero | Adrián Beltré |
Month | American League | National League |
---|---|---|
April | Kevin Brown | Roger Clemens |
May | Mark Buehrle | Jason Schmidt |
June | Mark Mulder | Carl Pavano |
July | Johan Santana | Russ Ortiz |
August | Johan Santana | Jake Peavy |
September | Johan Santana | Carlos Zambrano |
Month | American League | National League |
---|---|---|
April | Gerald Laird | Khalil Greene |
May | Kevin Youkilis | Terrmel Sledge |
June | Bobby Crosby | Jason Bay |
July | Robb Quinlan | Jason Bay |
August | Frank Francisco | Khalil Greene |
September | Ross Gload | Jason Bay |
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game | Est. payroll | %± |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees [2] | 101 | 0.0% | 3,775,292 | 8.9% | 46,609 | $184,193,950 | 20.6% |
Los Angeles Dodgers [3] | 93 | 9.4% | 3,488,283 | 11.1% | 43,065 | $92,902,001 | -12.3% |
Anaheim Angels [4] | 92 | 19.5% | 3,375,677 | 10.3% | 41,675 | $100,534,667 | 27.2% |
San Francisco Giants [5] | 91 | -9.0% | 3,256,854 | -0.2% | 39,718 | $82,019,166 | -1.0% |
Philadelphia Phillies [6] | 86 | 0.0% | 3,250,092 | 43.8% | 40,125 | $93,219,167 | 31.7% |
Chicago Cubs [7] | 89 | 1.1% | 3,170,154 | 7.0% | 38,660 | $90,560,000 | 13.4% |
Houston Astros [8] | 92 | 5.7% | 3,087,872 | 25.8% | 38,122 | $75,397,000 | 6.1% |
St. Louis Cardinals [9] | 105 | 23.5% | 3,048,427 | 4.7% | 37,635 | $84,340,333 | 0.7% |
San Diego Padres [10] | 87 | 35.9% | 3,016,752 | 48.6% | 37,244 | $55,384,833 | 22.5% |
Seattle Mariners [11] | 63 | -32.3% | 2,940,731 | -10.0% | 35,863 | $81,515,834 | -6.3% |
Boston Red Sox [12] | 98 | 3.2% | 2,837,294 | 4.2% | 35,028 | $127,298,500 | 27.4% |
Baltimore Orioles [13] | 78 | 9.9% | 2,744,018 | 11.8% | 33,877 | $51,623,333 | -30.1% |
Arizona Diamondbacks [14] | 51 | -39.3% | 2,519,560 | -10.2% | 31,106 | $69,780,750 | -13.5% |
Texas Rangers [15] | 89 | 25.4% | 2,513,685 | 20.0% | 31,033 | $55,050,417 | -46.8% |
Colorado Rockies [16] | 68 | -8.1% | 2,338,069 | 0.2% | 28,865 | $65,445,167 | -2.6% |
Atlanta Braves [17] | 96 | -5.0% | 2,327,565 | -3.1% | 28,735 | $90,182,500 | -15.1% |
New York Mets [18] | 71 | 7.6% | 2,318,951 | 8.3% | 28,629 | $102,035,970 | -12.9% |
Cincinnati Reds [19] | 76 | 10.1% | 2,287,250 | -2.9% | 28,238 | $46,915,250 | -21.0% |
Oakland Athletics [20] | 91 | -5.2% | 2,201,516 | -0.7% | 27,179 | $59,425,667 | 18.2% |
Milwaukee Brewers [21] | 67 | -1.5% | 2,062,382 | 21.3% | 25,462 | $27,528,500 | -32.2% |
Chicago White Sox [22] | 83 | -3.5% | 1,930,537 | -0.5% | 23,834 | $65,212,500 | 27.8% |
Detroit Tigers [23] | 72 | 67.4% | 1,917,004 | 40.1% | 23,667 | $46,832,000 | -4.8% |
Minnesota Twins [24] | 92 | 2.2% | 1,911,490 | -1.8% | 23,599 | $53,890,000 | -2.9% |
Toronto Blue Jays [25] | 67 | -22.1% | 1,900,041 | 5.6% | 23,457 | $50,017,000 | -2.4% |
Cleveland Indians [26] | 80 | 17.6% | 1,814,401 | 4.9% | 22,400 | $34,319,300 | -29.4% |
Florida Marlins [27] | 83 | -8.8% | 1,723,105 | 32.2% | 21,539 | $42,143,042 | -14.8% |
Kansas City Royals [28] | 58 | -30.1% | 1,661,478 | -6.7% | 20,768 | $47,609,000 | 17.5% |
Pittsburgh Pirates [29] | 72 | -4.0% | 1,580,031 | -3.5% | 19,750 | $32,227,929 | -41.2% |
Tampa Bay Devil Rays [30] | 70 | 11.1% | 1,274,911 | 20.4% | 15,936 | $29,856,667 | 52.1% |
Montreal Expos [31] | 67 | -19.3% | 749,550 | -26.9% | 9,369 | $41,197,500 | -20.7% |
This was the fourth season that national TV coverage was split between ESPN and Fox Sports. ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected weeknight and Sunday night games, and selected Division Series playoff games. Fox televised Saturday baseball, the All-Star Game, selected Division Series games, both League Championship Series, and the World Series.
The 2005 Major League Baseball season was notable for the league's new steroid policy in the wake of the BALCO scandal, which enforced harsher penalties than ever before for steroid use in Major League Baseball. Several players, including veteran Rafael Palmeiro, were suspended under the new policy. Besides steroids it was also notable that every team in the NL East finished the season with at least 81 wins. Additionally it was the first season featuring a baseball team in Washington, D.C. since the second iteration of the Washington Senators last played there in 1971; the Washington Nationals had moved from Montreal, the first relocation of a team in 34 years and currently the last time this has occurred in the majors.
The 2003 Major League Baseball season ended when the Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees in a six-game World Series. The Detroit Tigers set the American League record for losses in a season, with 119, and the Marlins became the first team to win the championship twice as a wild card.
The 2006 Major League Baseball season ended with the National League's St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series with the lowest regular-season victory total (83) in a fully-played season in major league history. The Atlanta Braves failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 1990. Individual achievements included Barry Bonds who, despite questions surrounding his alleged steroid use and involvement in the BALCO scandal, surpassed Babe Ruth for second place on the career home runs list. The American League continued its domination at the All-Star Game by winning its fourth straight game, and ninth of the prior 10 contests.
The 2007 Major League Baseball season began on April 1 with a rematch of the 2006 National League Championship Series; the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets played the first game of the season at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, which was won by the Mets, 6–1. The regular season concluded with seven teams entering the postseason who had failed to reach the 2006 playoffs including all National League teams, with only the New York Yankees returning; a dramatic one-game playoff between the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres; and the largest September collapse for a leading team in baseball history, with the Mets squandering a 7-game lead with 17 to play, losing on the final day of the regular season, and the Philadelphia Phillies capturing the National League East for the first time since 1993. The season ended on October 28, with the Boston Red Sox sweeping the World Series over the Rockies, four games to zero.
The 2001 Major League Baseball season finished with the Arizona Diamondbacks defeating the New York Yankees in seven games for the World Series championship. The September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. pushed the end of the regular season from September 30 to October 7. Because of the attacks, the World Series was not completed until November 4. The 2001 World Series was the first World Series to end in November.
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