2004 Atlanta Braves season

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

2004 Atlanta Braves
NL East Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record96–66 (.593)
Divisional place1st
Other information
OwnersAOL Time Warner
General managersJohn Schuerholz
ManagersBobby Cox
Local televisionTBS Superstation
Turner South
(Don Sutton, Joe Simpson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
FSN South
(Tom Paciorek, Bob Rathbun)
Local radioWSB (AM)
(Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
WWWE
(Luis Octavio Dozal, Jose Manuel Flores)
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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 Division Series (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
PositionName
Starting PitcherRuss Ortiz
CatcherJohnny Estrada
First BasemanJulio Franco
Second BasemanMarcus Giles
Third BasemanMark DeRosa
ShortstopRafael Furcal
Left FielderChipper Jones
Center FielderAndruw Jones
Right FielderJ. D. Drew

[10]

National League East
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 9666 0.593 — 49–32 47–34
Philadelphia Phillies 8676 0.531 10 42–39 44–37
Florida Marlins 8379 0.512 13 42–38 41–41
New York Mets 7191 0.438 25 38–43 33–48
Montreal Expos 6795 0.414 29 35–45 32–50

Record vs. opponents
2004 National League record

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
Arizona—2–44–23–36–133–42–43–163–30–63–41–52–47–125–141–56–12
Atlanta4–2—3–32–44–214–53–34–34–215–412–710–94–23–34–32–48–10
Chicago2–43–3—9–85–13–310–92–410–73–34–23–313–54–22–48–118–4
Cincinnati3–34–28–9—3–34–26–114–210–84–23–33–39–102–43–35–145-7
Colorado 13–62–41–53–3—1–51–58–112–42–41–55–32–410–98–111–58–10
Florida4–35–143–32–45–1—3–33–34–211–815–412–71–54–22–52–47–11
Houston4–23–39–1011–65–13-3—1–513–62–42–46–012–52–42–410–87–5
Los Angeles 16–33–44–22–411–83–35–1—3–34–33–31–56–010–910–92–410–8
Milwaukee3–32–47–108–104–22–46–133–3—5–12–40–66–122–41–58–98–4
Montreal6–04–153–32–44–28-114–23–41–5—9–107–124–21–61–53–37–11
New York4–37–122–43–35–14–154–23–34–210–9—8–111–51–64–21–510–8
Philadelphia5-19–103–33–33–57–120–65–16–012–711–8—3–35–12–43–39–9
Pittsburgh4–22–45–1310–94–25–15–120–612–62–45–13–3—3–35–15–122–10
San Diego12–73–32–44–29–102–44–29–104–26–16–11–53–3—12–72–48–10
San Francisco14–53–44–23–311–85–24–29–105–15–12–44–21–57–12—3–311–7
St. Louis5–14–211–814–55–14-28–104–29–83–35–13–312–54–23–3—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

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
CJohnny Estrada134462145.314976
1BAdam LaRoche11032490.2781345
2BMarcus Giles102379118.311848
SSRafael Furcal143563157.2791459
3BChipper Jones137472117.2483096
LFCharles Thomas8323668.288731
CFAndruw Jones154570149.2612991
RFJ.D. Drew145518158.3053193

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 Franco12532099.309657
Mark DeRosa11830974.239331
Nick Green9526472.273326
Eli Marrero9025080.3201040
Eddie Pérez7417039.229313
DeWayne Wise7716237.228617
Jesse Garcia5011529.252110
Mike Hessman29699.13025
Wilson Betemit22478.17003
Damon Hollins7228.36405

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 Ortiz34204.21594.13143
John Thomson33198.11483.72133
Jaret Wright32186.11583.28159
Mike Hampton29172.11394.2887
Paul Byrd19114.1873.9479
Horacio Ramírez1060.1242.3931

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 Smith1640.2236.2026
José Capellán38.00111.254

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 Smoltz7301442.7685
Chris Reitsma846424.0760
Antonio Alfonseca796402.5745
Kevin Gryboski693222.8424
Juan Cruz506202.7570
Tom Martin290103.7112
C.J. Nitkowski221004.5016
Román Colón182103.3215
Armando Almanza131106.1713
Tim Drew110004.507
Sam McConnell101003.864
Will Cunnane91107.3011
Dan Meyer20000.001

2004 National League Division Series
Main article: 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.

GameScoreDate
1Houston 9, Atlanta 3October 6
2Atlanta 4, Houston 2 (11 innings)October 7
3Houston 8, Atlanta 5October 9
4Atlanta 6, Houston 5October 10
5Houston 12, Atlanta 3October 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
See also: Minor League Baseball
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. 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
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