2004 New York Yankees season

The 2004 New York Yankees season was the 102nd season for the New York Yankees franchise. The Yankees opened the season by playing two games against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Japan on March 30, 2004. The team finished with a record of 101–61, finishing 3 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. The 2004 season was the Yankees third straight season of 100+ wins, the first such instance in franchise history. New York was managed by Joe Torre. In the playoffs, the Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins, 3 games to 1, in the ALDS, before losing to the wild card Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3, in the ALCS. The 2004 Yankees are notable as the only team in MLB history to lose a 7-game playoff series after taking a 3 games to none lead. This was the fourth straight year in which the Yankees lost to the eventual World Series champions in the postseason. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers have duplicated the same feat.

Offseason

October 27, 2003: Luis Sojo was released by the New York Yankees.
December 16, 2003: Nick Johnson was traded by the New York Yankees with Randy Choate and Juan Rivera to the Montreal Expos for Javier Vázquez.
December 23, 2003: Buddy Carlyle was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
January 6, 2004: Kenny Lofton signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
February 5, 2004: Mike Lamb was traded by the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees for Jose Garcia.
February 16, 2004: The New York Yankees sent Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later were sent to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Alex Rodriguez. The New York Yankees sent Joaquin Arias to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.
March 25, 2004: Mike Lamb was traded by the New York Yankees to the Houston Astros for Juan DeLeon.

Signed Gary Sheffield

Regular season

Season summary

July

Derek Jeter dives into stands chasing and catching a pop up in the 12th inning of a 3 to 3 game against the Boston Red Sox, the play was later named the dive.

August

On August 31 the Yankees had their worst loss in history by run differential, losing 22–0 to the Cleveland Indians.

September

On September 30 the Yankees clinched their division.

Notable transactions

June 7, 2004: Phil Hughes was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1st round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed June 16, 2004.
July 22, 2004: Donzell McDonald was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
July 31, 2004: Esteban Loaiza was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the New York Yankees for José Contreras and cash.
August 3, 2004: John Olerud was signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
August 17, 2004: Shane Spencer signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.

Player stats

Batting

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
Jorge Posada, C	137	449	122	.272	21	81
Tony Clark, 1B	106	253	56	.221	16	49
Miguel Cairo, 2B	122	360	105	.292	6	42
Derek Jeter, SS	154	643	188	.292	23	78
Alex Rodriguez, 3B	155	601	172	.286	36	106
Hideki Matsui, LF	162	584	174	.298	31	108
Bernie Williams, CF	148	561	147	.262	22	70
Gary Sheffield, RF	154	573	166	.290	36	121
Rubén Sierra, DH	107	307	75	.244	17	65

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
Kenny Lofton	83	276	76	.275	3	18
Jason Giambi	80	264	55	.208	12	40
Enrique Wilson	93	240	51	.213	6	31
John Olerud	49	164	46	.280	4	26
John Flaherty	47	127	32	.252	6	16
Bubba Crosby	55	53	8	.151	2	7
Travis Lee	7	19	2	.105	0	2
Félix Escalona	5	8	0	.000	0	0
Andy Phillips	5	8	2	.250	1	2
Homer Bush	9	7	0	.000	0	0
Dioner Navarro	5	7	3	.429	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
Javier Vázquez	32	198.0	14	10	4.91	150
Jon Lieber	27	176.2	14	8	4.33	102
Mike Mussina	27	164.2	12	9	4.59	132
Kevin Brown	22	132.0	10	6	4.09	83
José Contreras	18	95.2	8	5	5.64	82
Orlando Hernández	15	84.2	8	2	3.30	84
Brad Halsey	8	32.0	1	3	6.47	25

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
Esteban Loaiza	10	42.1	1	2	8.50	34
Donovan Osborne	9	17.2	2	0	7.13	10
Jorge De Paula	3	9.0	0	1	5.00	2
Alex Graman	3	5.0	0	0	19.80	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
Mariano Rivera	74	4	2	53	1.94	66
Paul Quantrill	86	7	3	1	4.72	37
Tom Gordon	80	9	4	4	2.21	96
Félix Heredia	47	1	1	0	6.28	25
Tanyon Sturtze	28	6	2	1	5.47	56
Bret Prinz	26	1	0	0	5.08	22
Scott Proctor	26	2	1	0	5.40	21
Gabe White	24	0	1	0	8.27	8
C.J. Nitkowski	19	1	1	0	7.62	10
Steve Karsay	7	0	0	0	2.70	4
Juan Padilla	6	0	0	0	3.97	5
Sam Marsonek	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and records

Derek Jeter, Shortstop, Gold Glove
Gary Sheffield, Outfield, Silver Slugger
Mariano Rivera, Yankees Single Season Record, Most Saves in a Season

2004 MLB All-Star Game

Jason Giambi, first baseman, starter
Alex Rodriguez, third baseman, starter
Derek Jeter, shortstop, starter
Mariano Rivera, relief pitcher, reserve
Javier Vasquez, pitcher, reserve
Hideki Matsui, outfield, reserve
Gary Sheffield, outfield, reserve