2004 Atlanta Braves season

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2004 Atlanta Braves
National League East Champions
LeagueNational League
DivisionEast
BallparkTurner Field
CityAtlanta
Record96–66 (.593)
Divisional place1st
OwnersAOL Time Warner
General managersJohn Schuerholz
ManagersBobby Cox
TelevisionTBS Superstation
Turner South
(Don Sutton, Joe Simpson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
FSN South
(Tom Paciorek, Bob Rathbun)
RadioWSB (AM)
(Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
WWWE
(Luis Octavio Dozal, Jose Manuel Flores)
← 2003 Seasons 2005 →

The 2004 Atlanta Braves season marked the franchise's 39th season in Atlanta and 134th overall. The Braves won their tenth consecutive division title, finishing 10 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.

On September 29, 2004, Bobby Cox won his 2,000th game as a manager. He became the ninth manager to achieve the feat, doing so with a 6–3 win over the New York Mets at Turner Field in the final home game of the year [1] He was named Manager of the Year after the season ended.

J. D. Drew replaced Gary Sheffield (lost to the Yankees in free agency) in the outfield, free agent John Thomson joined the rotation, and rookies Adam LaRoche and Charles Thomas saw significant playing time on a younger 2004 Braves team.

The Braves would face the Houston Astros in the NLDS (the fourth time that these two teams met in seven years, all of which were won by Atlanta), but the Braves lost three games to two.

Offseason

  • October 25, 2003: DeWayne Wise was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[2]
  • November 14, 2003: Jorge Velandia was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[3]
  • December 10, 2003: John Thomson signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[4]
  • 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.[5]
  • December 23, 2003: Antonio Alfonseca signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[6]
  • January 12, 2004: Julio Franco was re-signed from free agency to the Atlanta Braves.[7]
  • February 5, 2004: Russell Branyan was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[8]
  • March 26, 2004: Chris Reitsma was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Atlanta Braves for Bubba Nelson (minors) and Jung Bong.[9]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

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

[10]

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


Source: [1]
Team AZ ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LA MIL MTL 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).[8]
  • 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.[11]

Roster

2004 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
C Johnny Estrada 134 462 145 .314 9 76
1B Adam LaRoche 110 324 90 .278 13 45
2B Marcus Giles 102 379 118 .311 8 48
SS Rafael Furcal 143 563 157 .279 14 59
3B Chipper Jones 137 472 117 .248 30 96
LF Charles Thomas 83 236 68 .288 7 31
CF Andruw Jones 154 570 149 .261 29 91
RF J.D. Drew 145 518 158 .305 31 93

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
Julio Franco 125 320 99 .309 6 57
Mark DeRosa 118 309 74 .239 3 31
Nick Green 95 264 72 .273 3 26
Eli Marrero 90 250 80 .320 10 40
Eddie Pérez 74 170 39 .229 3 13
DeWayne Wise 77 162 37 .228 6 17
Jesse Garcia 50 115 29 .252 1 10
Mike Hessman 29 69 9 .130 2 5
Wilson Betemit 22 47 8 .170 0 3
Damon Hollins 7 22 8 .364 0 5

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
Russ Ortiz 34 204.2 15 9 4.13 143
John Thomson 33 198.1 14 8 3.72 133
Jaret Wright 32 186.1 15 8 3.28 159
Mike Hampton 29 172.1 13 9 4.28 87
Paul Byrd 19 114.1 8 7 3.94 79
Horacio Ramírez 10 60.1 2 4 2.39 31

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
Travis Smith 16 40.2 2 3 6.20 26
José Capellán 3 8.0 0 1 11.25 4

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
John Smoltz 73 0 1 44 2.76 85
Chris Reitsma 84 6 4 2 4.07 60
Antonio Alfonseca 79 6 4 0 2.57 45
Kevin Gryboski 69 3 2 2 2.84 24
Juan Cruz 50 6 2 0 2.75 70
Tom Martin 29 0 1 0 3.71 12
C.J. Nitkowski 22 1 0 0 4.50 16
Román Colón 18 2 1 0 3.32 15
Armando Almanza 13 1 1 0 6.17 13
Tim Drew 11 0 0 0 4.50 7
Sam McConnell 10 1 0 0 3.86 4
Will Cunnane 9 1 1 0 7.30 11
Dan Meyer 2 0 0 0 0.00 1

2004 National League Division Series

Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros

Houston wins series, 3-2. Atlanta suffered a 1st round elimination for the third consecutive postseason and fourth time out of the last five.

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.[12]
  • Andruw Jones (outfield) was once again 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

[13][14]

Notes

  1. ^ "Atlanta Braves Give Manager Bobby Cox His 2,000th Win". September 29, 2004.
  2. ^ "Dewayne Wise Stats".
  3. ^ "Jorge Velandia Stats".
  4. ^ "John Thomson Stats".
  5. ^ J. D. Drew Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. ^ "Antonio Alfonseca Stats".
  7. ^ Julio Franco Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  8. ^ a b Russell Branyan Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  9. ^ "Chris Reitsma Stats".
  10. ^ "New York Mets at Atlanta Braves Box Score, April 6, 2004".
  11. ^ "Clint Sammons Stats".
  12. ^ "2004 Awards Voting".
  13. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  14. ^ Baseball America 2005 Annual Directory

External links