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 attempted to make a push for the National League pennant after their shocking end to 2003. The Cubs finished 89–73 (an improvement from their 2003 record), good for third in the National League Central. Despite the strong record, the Cubs faltered down the stretch and did not make the playoffs. The season is largely viewed as one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history.
Offseason November 25, 2003: Derrek Lee was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for Hee-seop Choi and Mike Nannini (minors). December 2, 2003: Scott McClain was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. December 18, 2003: Todd Hollandsworth was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. March 23, 2004: Greg Maddux was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs.
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, including back-to-back 12 inning games to the lowly Cincinnati Reds at home, 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 Division
Record vs. opponents
Transactions April 1, 2004: Scott McClain was released by the Chicago Cubs. April 3, 2004: Trenidad Hubbard was released by the Chicago Cubs. April 12, 2004: Trenidad Hubbard was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. 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. July 30, 2004: Denny Hocking was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs.Dennis Hocking Statistics Baseball-Reference.com 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.
Roster 2004 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaching Staff (first base) (special asst) (third base) (bullpen) (hitting) (bench) (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 C Michael Barrett 134 456 131 .287 16 65 1B Derrek Lee 161 605 168 .278 32 98 2B Todd Walker 129 372 102 .274 15 50 SS Ramón Martínez 102 260 64 .246 3 30 3B Aramis Ramírez 145 547 174 .318 36 103 LF Moises Alou 155 601 176 .293 39 106 CF Corey Patterson 157 631 168 .266 24 72 RF Sammy Sosa 126 478 121 .253 35 80
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 Mark Grudzielanek 81 257 79 .307 6 23 José Macías 98 194 52 .268 3 22 Nomar Garciaparra 43 165 49 .297 4 20 Todd Hollandsworth 57 148 47 .318 8 22 Paul Bako 49 138 28 .203 1 10 37 129 28 .217 3 8 Tom Goodwin 77 105 21 .200 0 3 Neifi Pérez 23 62 23 .371 2 6 Rey Ordóñez 23 61 10 .164 1 5 Jason Dubois 20 23 5 .217 1 5 Ben Grieve 15 16 4 .250 1 6 Damian Jackson 7 15 1 .067 1 1 David Kelton 8 10 1 .100 0 0 Brendan Harris 3 9 2 .222 0 1 Calvin Murray 11 5 1 .200 0 1 Mike DiFelice 4 3 0 .000 0 0
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 Greg Maddux 33 212.2 16 11 4.02 151 Carlos Zambrano 31 209.2 16 8 2.75 188 Matt Clement 30 181.0 9 13 3.68 190 Kerry Wood 22 140.1 8 9 3.72 144 Mark Prior 21 118.2 6 4 4.02 139
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 Glendon Rusch 32 129.2 6 2 3.47 90 Sergio Mitre 12 51.2 2 4 6.62 37
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 LaTroy Hawkins 77 5 4 25 2.63 69 Kyle Farnsworth 72 4 5 0 4.73 78 Kent Mercker 71 3 1 0 2.55 51 Mike Remlinger 48 1 2 2 3.44 35 Francis Beltrán 34 2 2 0 4.63 40 Jon Leicester 32 5 1 0 3.89 35 Michael Wuertz 31 1 0 1 4.34 30 Ryan Dempster 23 1 1 2 3.92 18 Joe Borowski 22 2 4 9 8.02 17 Todd Wellemeyer 20 2 1 0 5.92 30 Jimmy Anderson 7 0 0 1 4.66 3 Andy Pratt 4 0 1 0 21.60 1
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Boise; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: DaytonaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
Notes
References 2004 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference