2004 Texas Rangers season
The 2004 Texas Rangers season was the 44th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 33rd in Arlington as the Rangers, and their 11th season at The Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers finished the season third in the American League West with an 89–73 record, their first winning season since 1999. Five Rangers were All Stars, Francisco Cordero, Kenny Rogers, Hank Blalock, Michael Young and All-Star Game MVP Alfonso Soriano.
Offseason
- October 8, 2003: Tony Mounce was released by the Rangers.
- November 19, 2003: Ken Huckaby was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.
- February 5, 2004: Mike Lamb was traded by the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees for Jose Garcia.
- February 16, 2004: Alex Rodriguez was traded by the Texas Rangers with cash to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later and Alfonso Soriano. The New York Yankees sent Joaquin Arias to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.
Regular season
Opening Day starters
- Gerald Laird, C
- Mark Teixeira, 1B
- Alfonso Soriano, 2B
- Hank Blalock, 3B
- Michael Young, SS
- David Dellucci, LF
- Laynce Nix, CF
- Kevin Mench, RF
- Brad Fullmer, DH
- Kenny Rogers, LHP
Season summary
- May 8: Alfonso Soriano set a club record with six hits in nine innings in a 16–15, 10-inning victory over the Detroit Tigers. The game featured an hour-long fifth inning: up by two runs entering the inning, Detroit scored eight runs in the top half of the inning to take a ten run lead over the Rangers; the Rangers would score ten runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game.
- October 1: In a game against the Texas Rangers, Ichiro Suzuki set an MLB record for most hits in one season.
Notable transactions
- July 6, 2004: Ken Huckaby was selected off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles from the Texas Rangers.
- August 18, 2004: Ken Huckaby was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.
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 | Rod Barajas | 108 | 358 | 89 | .249 | 15 | 58 |
| 1B | Mark Teixeira | 145 | 545 | 153 | .281 | 38 | 112 |
| 2B | Alphonso Soriano | 145 | 608 | 170 | .280 | 28 | 91 |
| SS | Michael Young | 160 | 690 | 216 | .313 | 22 | 99 |
| 3B | Hank Blalock | 159 | 624 | 172 | .276 | 32 | 110 |
| LF | David Dellucci | 107 | 331 | 80 | .242 | 17 | 61 |
| CF | Laynce Nix | 115 | 371 | 92 | .248 | 14 | 46 |
| RF | Kevin Mench | 125 | 438 | 122 | .279 | 26 | 71 |
| DH | Brad Fullmer | 76 | 258 | 60 | .233 | 11 | 33 |
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 |
| Eric Young Sr. | 104 | 344 | 99 | .288 | 1 | 27 |
| Gary Matthews | 87 | 280 | 77 | .275 | 11 | 36 |
| Brian Jordan | 61 | 212 | 47 | .222 | 5 | 23 |
| Gerald Laird | 49 | 147 | 33 | .224 | 1 | 16 |
| Herbert Perry | 49 | 134 | 30 | .224 | 5 | 17 |
| Chad Allen | 20 | 58 | 14 | .241 | 0 | 6 |
| Jason Conti | 22 | 55 | 10 | .182 | 0 | 4 |
| Adrián González | 16 | 42 | 10 | .238 | 1 | 7 |
| Ken Huckaby | 16 | 38 | 5 | .132 | 0 | 0 |
| Manny Alexander | 21 | 21 | 5 | .238 | 0 | 3 |
| Ramón Nivar | 7 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 4 |
| Andy Fox | 12 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Ardoin | 6 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
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 |
| Kenny Rogers | 35 | 211.2 | 18 | 9 | 4.76 | 126 |
| Ryan Drese | 34 | 207.2 | 14 | 10 | 4.20 | 98 |
| Chan Ho Park | 16 | 95.2 | 4 | 7 | 5.46 | 63 |
| Chris Young | 7 | 36.1 | 3 | 2 | 4.71 | 27 |
| Ricardo Rodríguez | 5 | 26.2 | 3 | 1 | 2.03 | 15 |
| Juan Domínguez | 4 | 23.0 | 1 | 2 | 3.91 | 14 |
| Scott Erickson | 4 | 19.0 | 1 | 3 | 6.16 | 6 |
| Nick Bierbrodt | 4 | 17.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.82 | 10 |
| Mike Bacsik | 3 | 15.2 | 1 | 1 | 4.60 | 6 |
| Colby Lewis | 3 | 15.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.11 | 11 |
| Sam Narron | 1 | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |
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 |
| R.A. Dickey | 25 | 104.1 | 6 | 7 | 5.61 | 57 |
| Joaquin Benoit | 28 | 103.0 | 3 | 5 | 5.68 | 95 |
| John Wasdin | 15 | 65.0 | 2 | 4 | 6.78 | 36 |
| Nick Regilio | 6 | 19.1 | 0 | 4 | 6.05 | 12 |
| Mickey Callaway | 4 | 11.1 | 0 | 1 | 7.94 | 9 |
| Kameron Loe | 2 | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 3 |
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 |
| Francisco Cordero | 67 | 3 | 4 | 49 | 2.13 | 79 |
| Carlos Almanzar | 67 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3.72 | 44 |
| Ron Mahay | 60 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.55 | 54 |
| Brian Shouse | 53 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.23 | 34 |
| Frank Francisco | 45 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3.33 | 60 |
| Doug Brocail | 43 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.13 | 43 |
| Erasmo Ramirez | 34 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4.29 | 21 |
| Jeff Nelson | 29 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5.32 | 22 |
| Jay Powell | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.38 | 17 |
| Michael Tejera | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.13 | 7 |
| Rosman García | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 5 |
| Travis Hughes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 4 |
| Ryan Snare | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 0 |
Awards and honors
- Alfonso Soriano, 2004 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
- Alfonso Soriano, Second Base, Silver Slugger Award
- Kenny Rogers, Pitcher, Gold Glove Award
- Buck Showalter, American League Manager of the Year Award
- Mark Teixeira, First Base, Silver Slugger Award
- Alfonso Soriano, second base, starter
- Francisco Cordero, pitcher, reserve
- Kenny Rogers, pitcher, reserve
- Hank Blalock, third base, reserve
- Michael Young, shortstop, reserve