2004 Atlanta Braves season

2004 Atlanta Braves
2004 NL East Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Eastern Division (since 1994)
Location
Turner Field (since 1997)
Atlanta (since 1966)
Results
Record	96–66 (.593)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	AOL Time Warner
General manager(s)	John Schuerholz
Manager(s)	Bobby Cox
Local television	TBS Superstation Turner South (Don Sutton, Joe Simpson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray) FSN South (Tom Paciorek, Bob Rathbun)
Local radio	WSB (AM) (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson) WWWE (Luis Octavio Dozal, Jose Manuel Flores)
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The 2004 Atlanta Braves season marked the franchise's 39th season in Atlanta. The Braves won their 13th consecutive division title under Manager of the Year Bobby Cox, finishing 10 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies. The Braves lost the 2004 Divisional Series to the Houston Astros, 3 games to 2.

J. D. Drew replaced Gary Sheffield in the outfield, free agent John Thomson joined the rotation, and rookies Adam LaRoche and Charles Thomas saw significant playing time on the young 2004 Braves team.

Offseason

• October 25, 2003: DeWayne Wise was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[1]
• November 14, 2003: Jorge Velandia was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[2]
• December 10, 2003: John Thomson signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[3]
• December 13, 2003: J. D. Drew was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Eli Marrero to the Atlanta Braves for Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Adam Wainwright.^[4]
• December 23, 2003: Antonio Alfonseca signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[5]
• January 12, 2004: Julio Franco was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[6]
• February 5, 2004: Russell Branyan was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[7]
• March 26, 2004: Chris Reitsma was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Atlanta Braves for Bubba Nelson (minors) and Jung Bong.^[8]

Regular season

Opening Day starters^[9]

Position	Name
Starting Pitcher	Russ Ortiz
Catcher	Johnny Estrada
First Baseman	Julio Franco
Second Baseman	Marcus Giles
Third Baseman	Mark DeRosa
Shortstop	Rafael Furcal
Left Fielder	Chipper Jones
Center Fielder	Andruw Jones
Right Fielder	J. D. Drew

Season standings

National League East

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	96	66	0.593	—	49–32	47–34
Philadelphia Phillies	86	76	0.531	10	42–39	44–37
Florida Marlins	83	79	0.512	13	42–38	41–41
New York Mets	71	91	0.438	25	38–43	33–48
Montreal Expos	67	95	0.414	29	35–45	32–50

Record vs. opponents

2004 National League Records Source:
Team	ARI	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MIL	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Arizona	—	2–4	4–2	3–3	6–13	3–4	2–4	3–16	3–3	0–6	3–4	1–5	2–4	7–12	5–14	1–5	6–12
Atlanta	4–2	—	3–3	2–4	4–2	14–5	3–3	4–3	4–2	15–4	12–7	10–9	4–2	3–3	4–3	2–4	8–10
Chicago	2–4	3–3	—	9–8	5–1	3–3	10–9	2–4	10–7	3–3	4–2	3–3	13–5	4–2	2–4	8–11	8–4
Cincinnati	3–3	4–2	8–9	—	3–3	4–2	6–11	4–2	10–8	4–2	3–3	3–3	9–10	2–4	3–3	5–14	5-7
Colorado	13–6	2–4	1–5	3–3	—	1–5	1–5	8–11	2–4	2–4	1–5	5–3	2–4	10–9	8–11	1–5	8–10
Florida	4–3	5–14	3–3	2–4	5–1	—	3–3	3–3	4–2	11–8	15–4	12–7	1–5	4–2	2–5	2–4	7–11
Houston	4–2	3–3	9–10	11–6	5–1	3-3	—	1–5	13–6	2–4	2–4	6–0	12–5	2–4	2–4	10–8	7–5
Los Angeles	16–3	3–4	4–2	2–4	11–8	3–3	5–1	—	3–3	4–3	3–3	1–5	6–0	10–9	10–9	2–4	10–8
Milwaukee	3–3	2–4	7–10	8–10	4–2	2–4	6–13	3–3	—	5–1	2–4	0–6	6–12	2–4	1–5	8–9	8–4
Montreal	6–0	4–15	3–3	2–4	4–2	8-11	4–2	3–4	1–5	—	9–10	7–12	4–2	1–6	1–5	3–3	7–11
New York	4–3	7–12	2–4	3–3	5–1	4–15	4–2	3–3	4–2	10–9	—	8–11	1–5	1–6	4–2	1–5	10–8
Philadelphia	5-1	9–10	3–3	3–3	3–5	7–12	0–6	5–1	6–0	12–7	11–8	—	3–3	5–1	2–4	3–3	9–9
Pittsburgh	4–2	2–4	5–13	10–9	4–2	5–1	5–12	0–6	12–6	2–4	5–1	3–3	—	3–3	5–1	5–12	2–10
San Diego	12–7	3–3	2–4	4–2	9–10	2–4	4–2	9–10	4–2	6–1	6–1	1–5	3–3	—	12–7	2–4	8–10
San Francisco	14–5	3–4	4–2	3–3	11–8	5–2	4–2	9–10	5–1	5–1	2–4	4–2	1–5	7–12	—	3–3	11–7
St. Louis	5–1	4–2	11–8	14–5	5–1	4-2	8–10	4–2	9–8	3–3	5–1	3–3	12–5	4–2	3–3	—	11–1

Notable transactions

• April 25, 2004: Russell Branyan was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Cleveland Indians for Scott Sturkie (minors).^[7]
• June 7, 2004: Clint Sammons was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 6th round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed July 12, 2004.^[10]

Roster

2004 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 57 Antonio Alfonseca 34 Armando Almanza 36 Paul Byrd 34 José Capellán 40 Román Colón 51 Juan Cruz 26 Will Cunnane 46 Tim Drew 49 Kevin Gryboski 32 Mike Hampton 38 Tom Martin 28 Sam McConnell 45 Dan Meyer 40 C. J. Nitkowski 48 Russ Ortiz 30 Horacio Ramírez 37 Chris Reitsma 43 Travis Smith 29 John Smoltz 52 John Thomson 27 Jaret Wright		Catchers 23 Johnny Estrada 12 Eddie Pérez Infielders 24 Wilson Betemit 16 Mark DeRosa 14 Julio Franco  1 Rafael Furcal  2 Jesse Garcia 22 Marcus Giles 20 Nick Green 15 Mike Hessman 10 Chipper Jones 19 Adam LaRoche		Outfielders  7 J. D. Drew 20 Damon Hollins 25 Andruw Jones  8 Eli Marrero 26 Charles Thomas 11 DeWayne Wise		Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 39 Pat Corrales (bench) 53 Bobby Dews (bullpen) 33 Fredi González (third base) 17 Glenn Hubbard (first base) 54 Leo Mazzone (pitching)  9 Terry Pendleton (hitting)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
LF	Thomas, CharlesCharles Thomas	83	236	68	.288	7	31

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

2004 National League Division Series

Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros

Houston wins series, 3-2

Game	Score	Date
1	Houston 9, Atlanta 3	October 6
2	Atlanta 4, Houston 2 (11 innings)	October 7
3	Houston 8, Atlanta 5	October 9
4	Atlanta 6, Houston 5	October 10
5	Houston 12, Atlanta 3	October 11

Award winners

2004 Major League Baseball season

• Bobby Cox was voted National League Manager of the Year for the second of three times with the Atlanta Braves.^[11]
• Andruw Jones (outfield) was chosen to receive a Gold Glove award.
• Johnny Estrada (catcher) was chosen to receive a Silver Slugger award.

2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Johnny Estrada represented the Atlanta Braves as a catcher for the National League All-Star team.

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Pat Kelly
AA	Greenville Braves	Southern League	Brian Snitker
A	Myrtle Beach Pelicans	Carolina League	Randy Ingle
A	Rome Braves	South Atlantic League	Rocket Wheeler
Rookie	Danville Braves	Appalachian League	Jim Saul
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Ralph Henriquez

^[12][13]

Notes

1. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wisede01.shtml
2. http://www.baseball-reference.com/v/velanjo01.shtml
3. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thomsjo01.shtml#trans
4. J. D. Drew Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
5. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alfonan01.shtml#trans
6. Julio Franco Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
7. Russell Branyan Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
8. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reitsch01.shtml#trans
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL200404060.shtml
10. http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sammocl01.shtml
11. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_2004.shtml
12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
13. Baseball America 2005 Annual Directory

External links

• 2004 Atlanta Braves team at Baseball-Reference