2004 Major League Baseball season

The 2004 MLB season was the 101st season of Major League Baseball. The 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.

Postseason

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

Template:Baseballplayoffsbracket

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

Home Runs

The following players reached major milestones in 2004:

500 Home Run Club

Ken Griffey, Jr - June 15

300 Wins Club

Greg Maddux - August 7 2004

References