2004 Los Angeles Dodgers season

2004 Los Angeles Dodgers
National league West champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890) Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Dodger Stadium (since 1962) Los Angeles (since 1958)
Results
Record	93–69 (.574)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	Frank McCourt
General manager(s)	Paul DePodesta
Manager(s)	Jim Tracy
Local television	Fox Sports Net West 2; KCOP (13)
Local radio	KFWB Vin Scully, Ross Porter, Rick Monday KWKW Jaime Jarrín, Pepe Yñiguez, Fernando Valenzuela
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The 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 116th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 47th season in Los Angeles, California. It brought change to the Dodgers as the sale of the franchise to developer Frank McCourt was finalized during spring training. McCourt promptly dismissed General Manager Dan Evans and hired Paul DePodesta to take over the team. That led to a flurry of trade activity as the new group attempted to rebuild the Dodgers in their image.

Despite it all, the Dodgers managed to finish the season in first place in the Western Division of the National League and won their first post season game since 1988. However they lost the NL Division Series 3-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Offseason[]

• December 13, 2003: Acquired Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazobán and Brandon Weeden from the New York Yankees for Kevin Brown and cash
• March 29, 2004: Acquired Jason Grabowski from the Oakland Athletics for cash
• March 30, 2004: Acquired Jayson Werth from the Toronto Blue Jays for Jason Frasor
• April 1, 2004: Acquired Cody Ross from the Detroit Tigers for Steve Colyer and cash
• April 3, 2004: Acquired Aaron Looper and Ryan Ketchner from the Seattle Mariners for Jolbert Cabrera
• April 3, 2004: Acquired Antonio Perez from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Jason Romano
• April 4, 2004: Acquired Milton Bradley from the Cleveland Indians for Franklin Gutierrez and Andrew Brown

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

National League West[]

v t NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	93	69	0.574	—	49–32	44–37
San Francisco Giants	91	71	0.562	2	47–35	44–36
San Diego Padres	87	75	0.537	6	42–39	45–36
Colorado Rockies	68	94	0.420	25	38–43	30–51
Arizona Diamondbacks	51	111	0.315	42	29–52	22–59

Record vs. opponents[]

2004 National League Records v t Source: [1]
Team	ARI	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MIL	MON	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

Opening Day lineup[]

Opening Day Starters
Name	Position
Dave Roberts	Left fielder
César Izturis	Shortstop
Milton Bradley	Center fielder
Shawn Green	First baseman
Paul Lo Duca	Catcher
Juan Encarnación	Right fielder
Adrián Beltré	Third baseman
Alex Cora	Second baseman
Hideo Nomo	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions[]

• July 30, 2004: Acquired Brad Penny, Hee-Seop Choi and Bill Murphy from the Florida Marlins for Guillermo Mota, Paul Lo Duca and Juan Encarnación
• July 31, 2004: Acquired Brent Mayne and Steve Finley from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Bill Murphy, Koyie Hill and Reggie Abercrombie
• July 31, 2004: Acquired Henri Stanley from the Boston Red Sox for Dave Roberts
• August 19, 2004: Acquired Elmer Dessens and cash from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jereme Milons

Roster[]

2004 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 47 Wilson Álvarez 43 Yhency Brazobán 55 Giovanni Carrara 46 Elmer Dessens 37 Darren Dreifort 58 Brian Falkenborg 38 Éric Gagné 17 Kazuhisa Ishii 22 Edwin Jackson 60 Masao Kida 27 José Lima 51 Tom Martin 59 Guillermo Mota 46 Rodney Myers 10 Hideo Nomo 30 Brad Penny 45 Odalis Pérez 50 Duaner Sánchez 57 Scott Stewart 41 Mike Venafro 36 Jeff Weaver		Catchers 16 Paul Lo Duca  6 Brent Mayne 40 David Ross  7 Tom Wilson Infielders 29 Adrián Beltré  5 Hee-Seop Choi 13 Alex Cora 54 Jose Flores 15 Shawn Green 18 José Hernández  3 César Izturis 26 Antonio Pérez  8 Olmedo Sáenz 49 Joe Thurston 23 Robin Ventura		Outfielders 21 Milton Bradley 52 Chin-Feng Chen 43 Juan Encarnación 12 Steve Finley 33 Jason Grabowski 30 Dave Roberts 28 Jayson Werth		Manager 12,16 Jim Tracy Coaches 48 Jim Colborn (pitching) 35 Glenn Hoffman (third base) 14 Jim Lett (bullpen) 11 Manny Mota 56 Jim Riggleman (bench) 31 John Shelby (1st base) 25 Tim Wallach (hitting)

Starting Pitchers stats[]

Name	G	GS	IP	W/L	ERA	BB	SO	CG
Jeff Weaver	34	34	220.0	13-13	4.01	67	153	0
Kazuhisa Ishii	31	31	172.0	13-8	4.71	98	99	2
Odalis Pérez	31	31	196.3	7-6	3.25	44	128	0
José Lima	36	24	170.3	13-5	4.07	34	93	0
Hideo Nomo	18	18	84.0	4-11	8.25	42	54	0
Edwin Jackson	8	5	24.7	2-1	7.30	11	16	0
Brad Penny	3	3	11.7	1-2	3.09	6	6	0

Relief Pitchers stats[]

Name	G	GS	IP	W/L	ERA	BB	SO	SV
Éric Gagné	70	0	82.3	7-3	2.19	22	114	45
Duaner Sánchez	67	0	80.0	3-1	3.38	27	44	0
Darren Dreifort	60	0	50.7	1-4	4.44	36	63	1
Guillermo Mota	52	0	63.0	8-4	2.14	27	52	1
Tom Martin	47	0	28.3	0-1	4.13	14	18	1
Wilson Álvarez	40	15	120.7	7-6	4.03	31	102	1
Giovanni Carrara	42	0	53.7	5-2	2.18	20	48	2
Yhency Brazobán	31	0	32.7	6-2	2.48	15	27	0
Elmer Dessens	12	1	19.7	1-0	3.20	8	18	0
Brian Falkenborg	6	0	14.3	1-0	7.53	9	11	0
Scott Stewart	11	0	12.3	1-0	5.84	6	8	0
Mike Venafro	17	0	9.0	0-0	4.00	3	6	0
Masao Kida	3	0	4.7	0-0	0.00	1	5	0
Rodney Myers	1	0	2.0	0-0	0.00	0	1	0

Batting Stats[]

Name	Pos	G	AB	Avg.	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
Paul Lo Duca	C/1B	91	349	.301	41	105	10	49	2
David Ross	C	70	165	.170	13	28	5	15	0
Brent Mayne	C	47	96	.188	5	18	0	5	0
Tom Wilson	C	9	8	.125	1	1	0	0	0
Shawn Green	1B/RF	157	590	.266	92	157	28	86	5
Alex Cora	2B	138	405	.264	47	107	10	47	3
César Izturis	SS	159	670	.288	90	193	4	62	25
Adrián Beltré	3B	156	598	.334	104	200	48	121	7
Jose Hernandez	2B/SS/3B/LF	95	211	.289	32	61	13	29	3
Robin Ventura	1B/3B	102	152	.243	19	37	5	28	0
Olmedo Sáenz	1B	77	111	.279	17	31	8	22	0
Hee-Seop Choi	1B	31	62	.161	5	10	0	6	0
Joe Thurston	2B	17	17	.176	1	3	0	1	0
Antonio Perez	2B/SS	13	13	.231	5	3	0	0	1
Jose Flores	3B	9	4	.250	0	1	0	0	0
Jayson Werth	LF/RF/CF	89	290	.262	56	76	16	47	4
Milton Bradley	CF/LF/RF	141	516	.267	72	138	19	67	15
Juan Encarnación	RF/LF	86	324	.235	42	76	13	43	3
Dave Roberts	LF/CF	68	233	.253	45	59	2	21	33
Steve Finley	CF	58	224	.324	31	59	13	46	1
Jason Grabowski	LF/RF	113	173	.220	18	38	7	20	0
Chin-Feng Chen	LF	8	8	.000	1	0	0	0	0

2004 National League Division Series[]

The 2004 National League Division Series was played between the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis ended up winning the series 3-1.

Game 1, October 5[]

Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	3	9	1
St. Louis	1	0	5	1	0	0	1	0	X	8	9	0
W: Woody Williams (1-0)  L: Odalis Pérez (0-1)
HRs: LA – Tom Wilson (1); STL – Albert Pujols (1), Larry Walker 2 (2), Jim Edmonds (1), Mike Matheny (1)

Game 2, October 7[]

Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	1
St. Louis	0	3	0	0	3	0	2	0	X	8	11	0
W: Danny Haren (1-0)  L: Jeff Weaver (0-1)
HRs: LA – Milton Bradley (1), Shawn Green (1), Jayson Werth (1)

Game 3, October 9[]

Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Los Angeles	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	X	4	7	0
W: José Lima (1-0)  L: Matt Morris (0-1)
HRs: LA – Shawn Green 2 (3)

Game 4, October 10[]

Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St. Louis	0	1	1	3	0	0	1	0	0	6	8	0
Los Angeles	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	1
W: Jeff Suppan (1-0)  L: Wilson Álvarez (0-1)
HRs: STL – Albert Pujols (2), Reggie Sanders (1); LA – Jayson Werth (2)

2004 Awards[]

• 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Éric Gagné reserve
  • Paul Lo Duca reserve
• Relief Man of the Year
  • Éric Gagné
• Gold Glove Award
  • Steve Finley
  • César Izturis
• Silver Slugger Award
  • Adrián Beltré
• National League Player of the Month
  • Adrián Beltré (September 2004)
• National League Player of the Week
  • Adrián Beltré (June 21–27, 2004)
  • Steve Finley (Sep. 6–12, 2004)

Farm system[]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Las Vegas 51s	Pacific Coast League	Terry Kennedy
AA	Jacksonville Suns	Southern League	Dino Ebel
High A	Vero Beach Dodgers	Florida State League	Scott Little
A	Columbus Catfish	South Atlantic League	Dann Bilardello
Rookie	Ogden Raptors	Pioneer League	Travis Barbary
Rookie	Gulf Coast Dodgers	Gulf Coast League	Luis Salazar
Rookie	DSL Dodgers DSL Dodgers 2	Dominican Summer League

Major League Baseball Draft[]

The Dodgers selected 52 players in this draft. Of those, nine of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They gained an extra first round pick and a supplemental first round pick as compensation for the loss of free agent pitcher Paul Quantrill.

With their three first round picks, the Dodgers selected left handed pitcher Scott Elbert from Seneca High School, right-handed pitcher Justin Orenduff from Virginia Commonwealth University and second baseman Blake DeWitt from Sikeston High School. Elbert became a relief pitcher for the Dodgers, but numerous injuries kept him from reaching his potential. Orenduff never reached the Majors, pitching in 131 minor league games through 2011. DeWitt hit .257 in 426 games in the Majors, primarily as a utility player.

2004 Draft Picks

Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Scott Elbert LHP Seneca High School Yes 2004–2015 MLB 1 Blake DeWitt 2B Sikeston High School Yes 2004–2013 MLB 1s Justin Orenduff RHP Virginia Commonwealth University Yes 2004–2011 AAA 2 Blake Johnson RHP Parkview Baptist High School Yes 2004–2013 AAA 3 Cory Dunlap 1B Contra Costa College No Nationals-2006 2004–2007 AAA 4 Javy Guerra RHP Billy Ryan High School Yes 2004–present MLB 5 Anthony Raglani OF George Washington University Yes 2004–2007 AA 6 Daniel Batz 1B University of Rhode Island Yes 2004–2006 A 7 B. J. Richmond OF Spartanburg Methodist College Yes 2004–2007 A 8 Carlos Medero-Stullz C Goleman High School Yes 2004–2006 A 9 David Nicholson 3B University of California, Berkeley Yes 2004–2007 AA 10 Cory Wade RHP Kentucky Wesleyan College Yes 2004–2014 MLB 11 Chris Westervelt C Stetson University Yes 2004–2006 A+ 12 Sam Steidl OF University of Minnesota Duluth Yes 2004–2005 A 13 Jeff Larish OF Arizona State University No Tigers-2005 2005–2013 MLB 14 Brian Akin RHP Davidson College Yes 2004–2009 AAA 15 Joe Savery LHP Lamar High School No Phillies-2007 2007–2014 MLB 16 Chase Dardar RHP Delgado Community College No Rockies-2006 2006 A- 17 Daniel Forrer LHP Chipola College No Pirates-2007 2007 A- 18 Matt Paul 2B Southern University and A&M College Yes 2004–2005 A+ 19 David Price LHP Blackman High School No Rays-2008 2008–present MLB 20 Mark Alexander RHP University of Missouri, Columbia Yes 2004–2008 AAA 21 Justin Simmons LHP University of Texas at Austin Yes 2004–2006 AAA 22 Kyle Wilson RHP University of California, Los Angeles Yes 2005–2013 AA 23 Kenny Plaisance RHP Louisiana State University, Eunice Yes 2004 A 24 Kody Kaiser SS Edmond Santa Fe High School No Tigers-2007 2007–2011 AA 25 Justin Ruggiano OF Texas A&M University Yes 2004–2017 MLB 26 Ben Petralli C Weatherford High School No 2010 Ind 27 Levander Graves C Dillon High School No 28 James Lawler 1B San Jacinto College No 29 Ryan Strieby 1B Edmonds Community College No Tigers-2006 2006–2015 AAA 30 Paul Gran SS Bothell High School No Marlins-2008 2008–2013 AAA 31 Ryan Koch RHP Osceola High School No Blue Jays-2008 2008–2009 A 32 Michael Stutes RHP Lake Oswego High School No Phillies-2008 2008–2013 MLB 33 James Gilbert RHP Chabot College Yes 2006 Rookie 34 Chris Lemay LHP Kwantlen College No 35 Lynn Henry OF Buras High School No 36 Michael Burgher OF Shorecrest High School No 37 Jeremy Brown OF Pratt Community College Yes 2005–2007 AAA 38 Justin Crist 2B Chandler–Gilbert Community College Yes 2004–2005 A 39 Michael Branham RHP Jesuit High School No 40 Brandon Carter SS Old Dominion University Yes 2004–2010 A 41 Troy Grundy RHP Carbon High School No 42 Christopher Johnson RHP Cabell Midland High School No 43 David Bilardello LHP Vero Beach High School No Cardinals-2007 2007–2011 A+ 44 Kyle Rapp LHP Wabash Valley College No 45 Mike Hernandez OF Connors State College No Tigers-2006 2006–2014 AA 46 Andrew Brewer RHP Metro Christian Academy No 47 Bobby Bratton SS Central High School No 2008 Ind 48 Joe Norrito RHP Nova Southeastern University Yes 2004–2009 AAA 49 Scott Bates C Salado High School No 50 Ross Hoffman 1B Bakersfield College No [1]

References[]

External links[]

• 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site
• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page