| 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) |
| MLB seasons | |
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 BondsSF | .362 |
| HR | Manny Ramírez BOS | 43 | Adrián BeltréLA | 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 PeavySD | 2.27 |
| SO | Johan Santana MIN | 265 | Randy JohnsonAZ | 290 |
| SV | Mariano Rivera NYY | 53 | Armando Benítez FLA Jason Isringhausen STL |
47 |
| SB | Carl CrawfordTB | 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.
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2004 MLB season by team
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| American League teams |
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| National League teams |
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