| 1904 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | American League (AL) National League (NL) |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | April 14 – October 10, 1904 (AL) April 14 – October 9, 1904 (NL) |
| Games | 154 |
| Teams | 16 (8 per league) |
| Pennant winners | |
| AL champions | Boston Americans |
| AL runners-up | New York Highlanders |
| NL champions | New York Giants |
| NL runners-up | Chicago Cubs |
| MLB seasons | |
The1904 major league baseball season was contested from April 14 to October 10, 1904. TheBoston Americans andNew York Giants finished atop the standings for theAmerican League andNational League, respectively. There was no postseason: with still no formal arrangement in place between the two leagues, the Giants declined to meet the Americans in the1904 World Series. Going into the season, the Americans were the defending World Series from the1903 season.
TheSt. Louis Browns andDetroit Tigers played 11 consecutive games against each other in September—the first six in Detroit and the final five in St. Louis[1]—the most games played consecutively between two teams in major league history.[2] The Chicago White Stockings shortened their name to theChicago White Sox.
The 1904 schedule consisted of 154 games (an increase from 140 from theprevious season) for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This format was an adjustment to the 140-game, 20-games-each format that had been in place from the1901 season. This format would last until1919.
Opening Day took place on April 14 with all but thePittsburgh Pirates andSt. Louis Cardinals playing. The National League and American League would see their final day of the regular season on October 9 & 10, respectively.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Americans | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 49–30 | 46–29 |
| New York Highlanders | 92 | 59 | .609 | 1½ | 46–29 | 46–30 |
| Chicago White Sox | 89 | 65 | .578 | 6 | 50–27 | 39–38 |
| Cleveland Naps | 86 | 65 | .570 | 7½ | 44–31 | 42–34 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 81 | 70 | .536 | 12½ | 47–31 | 34–39 |
| St. Louis Browns | 65 | 87 | .428 | 29 | 32–43 | 33–44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 62 | 90 | .408 | 32 | 34–40 | 28–50 |
| Washington Senators | 38 | 113 | .252 | 55½ | 23–52 | 15–61 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 106 | 47 | .693 | — | 56–26 | 50–21 |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 60 | .608 | 13 | 49–27 | 44–33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | 65 | .575 | 18 | 49–27 | 39–38 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 87 | 66 | .569 | 19 | 48–30 | 39–36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 79 | .487 | 31½ | 39–36 | 36–43 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 56 | 97 | .366 | 50 | 31–44 | 25–53 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 55 | 98 | .359 | 51 | 34–45 | 21–53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 52 | 100 | .342 | 53½ | 28–43 | 24–57 |
No postseason was held this year. With still no formal arrangement in place between the two leagues regarding the staging of the World Series, the New York Giants refused to play against the Boston Americans or any other team from what they considered an inferior league.[4][5]
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies | Chief Zimmer | Hugh Duffy |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Patsy Donovan | Kid Nichols |
| Washington Senators | Tom Loftus | Malachi Kittridge |
| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Stockings | Jimmy Callahan | Fielder Jones |
| Detroit Tigers | Ed Barrow | Bobby Lowe |
| Washington Senators | Malachi Kittridge | Patsy Donovan |
Any team shown insmall text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | .376 |
| OPS | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | .959 |
| HR | Harry Davis (PHA) | 10 |
| RBI | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | 102 |
| R | Patsy Dougherty (NYH/BOS) | 113 |
| H | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | 208 |
| SB | Harry Bay (CLE) Elmer Flick (CLE) | 38 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Jack Chesbro1 (NYH) | 41 |
| L | Happy Townsend (WSH) | 26 |
| ERA | Addie Joss (CLE) | 1.59 |
| K | Rube Waddell (PHA) | 349 |
| IP | Jack Chesbro (NYH) | 454.2 |
| SV | Casey Patten (WSH) | 3 |
| WHIP | Cy Young (BOS) | 0.937 |
1 Modern (1901–present) single-seasonwins record
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AVG | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .349 |
| OPS | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .944 |
| HR | Harry Lumley (BRO) | 9 |
| RBI | Bill Dahlen (NYG) | 80 |
| R | George Browne (PIT) | 99 |
| H | Ginger Beaumont (PIT) | 185 |
| SB | Honus Wagner (PIT) | 53 |
| Stat | Player | Total |
|---|---|---|
| W | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 35 |
| L | Vic Willis (BSN) Oscar Jones (BRO) | 25 |
| ERA | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 1.61 |
| K | Christy Mathewson (NYG) | 212 |
| IP | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 408.0 |
| SV | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 5 |
| WHIP | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 0.963 |
| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Americans[10] | 95 | 4.4% | 623,295 | 64.3% | 7,695 |
| New York Giants[11] | 106 | 26.2% | 609,826 | 5.2% | 7,260 |
| Chicago White Stockings[12] | 89 | 48.3% | 557,123 | 94.7% | 7,143 |
| Philadelphia Athletics[13] | 81 | 8.0% | 512,294 | 21.3% | 6,485 |
| Chicago Cubs[14] | 93 | 13.4% | 439,100 | 13.7% | 5,629 |
| New York Highlanders[15] | 92 | 27.8% | 438,919 | 107.2% | 5,852 |
| Cincinnati Reds[16] | 88 | 18.9% | 391,915 | 11.4% | 4,961 |
| St. Louis Cardinals[17] | 75 | 74.4% | 386,750 | 70.7% | 5,089 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[18] | 87 | −4.4% | 340,615 | 4.2% | 4,367 |
| St. Louis Browns[19] | 65 | 0.0% | 318,108 | −16.4% | 4,078 |
| Cleveland Naps[20] | 86 | 11.7% | 264,749 | −14.9% | 3,394 |
| Brooklyn Superbas[21] | 56 | −20.0% | 214,600 | −4.5% | 2,824 |
| Detroit Tigers[22] | 62 | −4.6% | 177,796 | −20.8% | 2,251 |
| Philadelphia Phillies[23] | 52 | 6.1% | 140,771 | −7.2% | 1,928 |
| Boston Beaneaters[24] | 55 | −5.2% | 140,694 | −1.7% | 1,781 |
| Washington Senators[25] | 38 | −11.6% | 131,744 | 2.2% | 1,689 |
