2004 Chicago Cubs season

2004 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916)
Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	Tribune Company
General manager(s)	Jim Hendry
Manager(s)	Dusty Baker
Local television	WCIU-TV Superstation WGN FSN Chicago (Chip Caray, Steve Stone)
Local radio	WGN (Pat Hughes, Ron Santo)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 2004 Chicago Cubs season was the 133rd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 129th in the National League and the 89th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished 89-73, good for 3rd in the NL Central. Despite the strong record, the Cubs faltered down the stretch and missed the playoffs, and the season is largely viewed as a disappointment as a result.

Offseason

• November 25, 2003: Derrek Lee was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for Hee-seop Choi and Mike Nannini (minors).^[1]
• December 2, 2003: Scott McClain was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.^[2]
• December 18, 2003: Todd Hollandsworth was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.^[3]
• March 23, 2004: Greg Maddux was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.^[4]

Regular season

In 2004, despite the return of Greg Maddux and a midseason deal for Nomar Garciaparra, misfortune struck the Cubs again. They led the Wild Card by 1.5 games over San Francisco and Houston on September 25, and both of those teams lost that day, giving the Northsiders a chance at increasing the lead to a commanding 2.5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, allowing a three-run game-tying home run with two outs in the ninth. The Cubs lost the game in extra innings, a defeat that seemingly deflated the team, as they proceeded to drop 6 of their last 8 games as the Astros won the Wild Card. Despite the fact that the Cubs had won 89 games, this fallout was decidedly unlovable, as the Cubs traded superstar Sammy Sosa after he had left the season's final game early.

Season standings

National League Central

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	105	57	0.648	—	53–28	52–29
Houston Astros	92	70	0.568	13	48–33	44–37
Chicago Cubs	89	73	0.549	16	45–37	44–36
Cincinnati Reds	76	86	0.469	29	40–41	36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates	72	89	0.447	32½	39–41	33–48
Milwaukee Brewers	67	94	0.416	37½	36–45	31–49

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

Transactions

• April 1, 2004: Scott McClain was released by the Chicago Cubs.^[2]
• April 3, 2004: Trenidad Hubbard was released by the Chicago Cubs.^[5]
• April 12, 2004: Trenidad Hubbard was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.^[5]
• June 7, 2004: Sam Fuld was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed July 9, 2004.^[6]
• July 30, 2004: Denny Hocking was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.^[7]
• July 31, 2004: Alex Gonzalez was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Chicago Cubs with Francis Beltrán and Brendan Harris to the Montreal Expos. The Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. The Montreal Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins.^[8]

Roster

2004 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 49 Jimmy Anderson 53 Francis Beltrán 48 Joe Borowski 30 Matt Clement 46 Ryan Dempster 44 Kyle Farnsworth 32 LaTroy Hawkins 51 Jon Leicester 31 Greg Maddux 50 Kent Mercker 52 Sergio Mitre 29 Andy Pratt 22 Mark Prior 37 Mike Remlinger 33 Glendon Rusch 40 Todd Wellemeyer 34 Kerry Wood 43 Michael Wuertz 38 Carlos Zambrano		Catchers  9 Paul Bako  8 Michael Barrett 19 Mike DiFelice Infielders  5 Nomar Garciaparra  8 Alex Gonzalez 11 Mark Grudzielanek 19 Brendan Harris 19 Damian Jackson 25 Derrek Lee  1 José Macías  6 Ramón Martínez 13,29 Rey Ordóñez 13 Neifi Pérez 16 Aramis Ramírez  7 Todd Walker		Outfielders 18 Moisés Alou  4 Jason Dubois 24 Tom Goodwin 29 Ben Grieve 28 Todd Hollandsworth 27 David Kelton 17 Calvin Murray 20 Corey Patterson 21 Sammy Sosa		Manager 12 Dusty Baker Coaching Staff  2 Gene Clines (first base) 15 Sonny Jackson (special asst)  3 Wendell Kim (third base) 59 Juan Lopez (bullpen) 36 Gary Matthews (hitting) 39 Dick Pole (bench) 41 Larry Rothschild (pitching)

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

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
Gonzalez, AlexAlex Gonzalez	37	129	28	.217	3	8

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

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Cubs	Pacific Coast League	Mike Quade
AA	West Tenn Diamond Jaxx	Southern League	Bobby Dickerson
A	Daytona Cubs	Florida State League	Steve McFarland
A	Lansing Lugnuts	Midwest League	Julio Garcia
A-Short Season	Boise Hawks	Northwest League	Tom Beyers
Rookie	AZL Cubs	Arizona League	Trey Forkerway

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Boise; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Daytona^[9]

Notes

1. http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/leede02.shtml
2. http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcclasc01.shtml
3. http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hollato01.shtml
4. http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maddugr01.shtml
5. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hubbatr01.shtml
6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fuldsa01.shtml
7. Dennis Hocking Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
8. http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gonzaal01.shtml
9. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 2004 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference