| 2004 MLB season | |
|---|---|
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Duration | March 30 – October 27, 2004 |
| Games | 162 |
| Teams | 30 |
| TV partner(s) | Fox,ESPN |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Matt Bush |
| Picked by | San Diego Padres |
| Regular Season | |
| SeasonMVP | 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 | |
| Venue | |
| Champions | Boston Red Sox |
| Runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
| World SeriesMVP | Manny Ramirez (BOS) |
| MLB seasons | |
The2004 Major League Baseball season ended when theBoston Red Sox defeated theSt. Louis Cardinals in a four-gameWorld Series sweep. The Red Sox championship ended an 86-year-long drought known as theCurse of the Bambino. The Red Sox were also the first team in MLB history and the third team from amajor North American professional sports league ever to come back from a 3–0 postseason series deficit and win. This happened in the ALCS against theNew York Yankees.
TheMontreal Expos would play their last season in Montreal, before relocating to Washington DC, becoming theWashington Nationals in 2005.
| Statistic | American League | National League | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVG | Ichiro Suzuki SEA | .372 | Barry Bonds SF | .362 |
| HR | Manny Ramírez BOS | 43 | Adrián Beltré LAD | 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 until2020 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.
±hosted theMLB 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 outJeff Cirillo on June 29, 2004, for his 4000th strikeout.
Ken Griffey Jr. – June 20
Greg Maddux – August 7, 2004
Ichiro Suzuki – 262 hits (brokeGeorge 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 until2018.[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 television coverage was split betweenESPN andFox Sports. ESPN andESPN2 aired selected weeknight andSunday night games, and selected Division Series playoff games. Fox televisedSaturday baseball, theAll-Star Game, selected Division Series games, both League Championship Series, and theWorld Series.
