2004 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 2004 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2004 in baseball.

2004 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	March 30, 2004 – October 27, 2004
Regular Season
Season MVP	AL: Vladimir Guerrero (ANA) NL: Barry Bonds (SFG)
League Postseason
AL champions	Boston Red Sox
AL runners-up	New York Yankees
NL champions	St. Louis Cardinals
NL runners-up	Houston Astros
World Series
World Series champions	Boston Red Sox
Runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series MVP	Manny Ramirez (BOS)
MLB seasons
← 2003 2005 →

The 2004 Major League Baseball season ended when the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game World Series sweep. This season was particularly notable since the Red Sox championship broke the 86-year-long popular myth known as the Curse of the Bambino. The Red Sox were also the first team to ever come back from a 3–0 postseason series deficit, in the ALCS against the New York Yankees.

Statistical leaders

American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat 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 ARI 290 SV Mariano Rivera NYY 53 Armando Benítez FLA Jason Isringhausen STL 47 SB Carl Crawford TB 59 Scott Podsednik MIL 70

Major league baseball final standings

American League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
East Division
1st	New York Yankees	101	61	.623	–
2nd	Boston Red Sox *	98	64	.605	3.0
3rd	Baltimore Orioles	78	84	.481	23.0
4th	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	70	91	.435	30.5
5th	Toronto Blue Jays	67	94	.416	33.5
Central Division
1st	Minnesota Twins	92	70	.568	–
2nd	Chicago White Sox	83	79	.512	9.0
3rd	Cleveland Indians	80	82	.494	12.0
4th	Detroit Tigers	72	90	.444	20.0
5th	Kansas City Royals	58	104	.358	34.0
West Division
1st	Anaheim Angels	92	70	.568	–
2nd	Oakland Athletics	91	71	.562	1.0
3rd	Texas Rangers	89	73	.549	3.0
4th	Seattle Mariners	63	99	.389	29.0

National League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
East Division
1st	Atlanta Braves	96	66	.593	–
2nd	Philadelphia Phillies	86	76	.531	10.0
3rd	Florida Marlins	83	79	.512	13.0
4th	New York Mets	71	91	.438	25.0
5th	Montreal Expos	67	95	.414	29.0
Central Division
1st	St. Louis Cardinals	105	57	.648	–
2nd	Houston Astros *	92	70	.568	13.0
3rd	Chicago Cubs	89	73	.549	16.0
4th	Cincinnati Reds	76	86	.469	29.0
5th	Pittsburgh Pirates	72	89	.447	32.5
6th	Milwaukee Brewers	67	94	.416	37.5
West Division
1st	Los Angeles Dodgers	93	69	.574	–
2nd	San Francisco Giants	91	71	.562	2.0
3rd	San Diego Padres	87	75	.537	6.0
4th	Colorado Rockies	68	94	.420	25.0
5th	Arizona Diamondbacks	51	111	.315	42.0

• The asterisk denotes the club that won the wild card for its respective league.

Managers

American League

Team	Manager	Comments
Anaheim Angels	Mike Scioscia
Baltimore Orioles	Lee Mazzilli
Boston Red Sox	Terry Francona	Won the World Series
Chicago White Sox	Ozzie Guillén
Cleveland Indians	Eric Wedge
Detroit Tigers	Alan Trammell
Kansas City Royals	Tony Pena
Minnesota Twins	Ron Gardenhire
New York Yankees	Joe Torre
Oakland Athletics	Ken Macha
Seattle Mariners	Bob Melvin
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Lou Piniella
Texas Rangers	Buck Showalter
Toronto Blue Jays	John Gibbons

National League

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 LaRussa	Won the National League pennant
San Diego Padres	Bruce Bochy
San Francisco Giants	Felipe Alou

±hosted the MLB All Star Game

Postseason

• World Series Champions – Boston Red Sox
• Playoffs – October 4 to October 27, 2004.

	Division Series (ESPN/Fox)					League Championship Series (Fox)					World Series (Fox)
	1	New York Yankees	3
	3	Minnesota Twins	1
						1	New York Yankees	3
	American League
						4	Boston Red Sox	4
	2	Anaheim Angels	0
	4	Boston Red Sox	3
											AL4	Boston Red Sox	4
											NL1	St. Louis Cardinals	0
	3	Los Angeles Dodgers	1
	1	St. Louis Cardinals	3
						1	St. Louis Cardinals	4
	National League
						4	Houston Astros	3
	2	Atlanta Braves	2
	4	Houston Astros	3

• Playoff MVPs
  • Manny Ramírez (WS)
  • David Ortiz (ALCS)
  • Albert Pujols (NLCS)
• All-Star Game, July 13 at Minute Maid Park: American League, 9–4; Alfonso Soriano, MVP

Milestones

The following players reached major milestones in 2004:

500 Home Run Club

Ken Griffey, Jr – June 20

300 Wins Club

Greg Maddux – August 7, 2004

References

• Baseball-Reference.com, 2004 American League season
• Baseball-Reference.com, 2004 National League season