2004 Boston Red Sox season

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2004 Boston Red Sox
World Series Champions
American League Champions
American League Wild Card
Tim Wakefield and the 2004 World Series trophy.jpg
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 98–64 (.605)
Divisional place 2nd
Other information
Owner(s) John W. Henry (New England Sports Ventures)
General manager(s) Theo Epstein
Manager(s) Terry Francona
Local television WSBK-TV
WBZ-TV
(Sean McDonough, Jerry Remy)
NESN
(Don Orsillo, Jerry Remy)
Local radio WEEI
(Jerry Trupiano, Joe Castiglione)
WROL
(Bill Kulik, Uri Berenguer, Juan Pedro Villamán)
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The 2004 Boston Red Sox season was the 104th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. Managed by Terry Francona, the Red Sox finished with a 98–64 record, three games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. The Red Sox qualified for the postseason as the AL wild card, swept the Anaheim Angels in the ALDS, and faced the Yankees in the ALCS for the second straight year. After losing the first three games to the Yankees and trailing in the ninth inning of the fourth game, the Red Sox became the first team in major league history to come back from a three-game postseason deficit, defeating the Yankees in seven games. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, capturing their first championship since 1918.[1]

Offseason

  • December 22, 2003: Gabe Kapler was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.[4]
  • December 23, 2003: Pokey Reese was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox.[5]

Pre-season events

During the 2003–04 off season, the Red Sox acquired a starting ace pitcher; Curt Schilling, as well as a closer, Keith Foulke.[6] Many visitors at their spring training at Fort Myers, Florida, were very enthusiastic about the 2004 Red Sox team. Expectations once again ran high that 2004 would finally be the year that the Red Sox ended their championship drought.[7]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 101 61 0.623 57–24 44–37
Boston Red Sox 98 64 0.605 3 55–26 43–38
Baltimore Orioles 78 84 0.481 23 38–43 40–41
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 70 91 0.435 30½ 41–39 29–52
Toronto Blue Jays 67 94 0.416 33½ 40–41 27–53


Record vs. opponents

2004 American League Records

Sources:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim 6–3 4–5 5–4 4–5 7–2 7–0 5–4 5–4 10–9 13–7 6–1 9–10 4–5 7–11
Baltimore 3–6 10–9 2–4 3–3 6–0 6–3 4–5 5–14 0–7 7–2 11–8 5–2 11–8 5–13
Boston 5–4 9–10 4–2 3–4 6–1 4–2 2–4 11–8 8–1 5–4 14–5 4–5 14–5 9–9
Chicago 4–5 4–2 2–4 10–9 8–11 13–6 9–10 3–4 2–7 7–2 4–2 6–3 3–4 8–10
Cleveland 5–4 3–3 4–3 9–10 9–10 11–8 7–12 2–4 6–3 5–4 3–3 1–8 5–2 10–8
Detroit 2–7 0–6 1–6 11–8 10–9 8–11 7–12 4–3 4–5 5–4 3–3 4–5 4–2 9–9
Kansas City 0–7 3–6 2–4 6–13 8–11 11–8 7–12 1–5 2–7 2–5 3–6 4–5 3–3 6–12
Minnesota 4–5 5–4 4–2 10–9 12–7 12–7 12–7 2–4 2–5 5–4 4–5 5–2 4–2 11–7
New York 4–5 14–5 8–11 4–3 4–2 3–4 5–1 4–2 7–2 6–3 15–4 5–4 12–7 10–8
Oakland 9–10 7–0 1–8 7–2 3–6 5–4 7–2 5–2 2–7 11–8 7–2 11–9 6–3 10–8
Seattle 7–13 2–7 4–5 2–7 4–5 4–5 5–2 4–5 3–6 8–11 2–5 7–12 2–7 9–9
Tampa Bay 1–6 8–11 5–14 2–4 3–3 3–3 6–3 5–4 4–15 2–7 5–2 2–7 9–9 15–3
Texas 10–9 2–5 5–4 3–6 8–1 5–4 5–4 2–5 4–5 9–11 12–7 7–2 7–2 10–8
Toronto 5–4 8–11 5–14 4–3 2–5 2–4 3–3 2–4 7–12 3–6 7–2 9–9 2–7 8–10


Notable transactions

Opening Day lineup

18 Johnny Damon CF
11 Bill Mueller 3B
24 Manny Ramirez LF
34 David Ortiz DH
15 Kevin Millar 1B
19 Gabe Kapler RF
33 Jason Varitek C
12 Mark Bellhorn 2B
  3 Pokey Reese SS
45 Pedro Martínez P

Source: [18][19]

Roster

2004 Boston Red Sox roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated hitter

Pinch hitter

Manager

Coaches

Road to a Championship

The regular season started well in April, but through midseason the team struggled due to injuries, inconsistency and defensive woes, and fell more than eight games behind New York. A bright point came on July 24, when the Red Sox overcame a five-run deficit as Bill Mueller hit a game-winning home run to right-center off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. The game also featured the infamous brawl between Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez and Red Sox catcher and captain Jason Varitek.

Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein shook up the team at the MLB trading deadline July 31, trading the team's wildly popular yet often hurt and disgruntled shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra, to the Chicago Cubs,[20] receiving Orlando Cabrera from the Montreal Expos and Doug Mientkiewicz from the Minnesota Twins in return. In a separate transaction, the Red Sox also traded AAA outfielder Henri Stanley to the Los Angeles Dodgers for center fielder Dave Roberts. With valuable players like Cabrera, Mientkiewicz, and Roberts in the lineup, the club turned things around, winning twenty-two out of twenty-five games and going on to finish within three games of the Yankees in the AL East and qualifying for the playoffs as the AL Wild Card.

The team played its home games at Fenway Park, before a regular season total attendance of 2,837,294 fans.

Game log

2004 Game Log