2004 Minnesota Twins season

The 2004 Minnesota Twins met their goal of three-peating as American League Central Division champions. The team was able to do this in spite of several new players and the absence of three former all-stars. Closer Eddie Guardado, set-up man LaTroy Hawkins, starter Eric Milton, and catcher A. J. Pierzynski had all been dealt prior to the beginning of the season, while first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was traded midway through the season. The season had both highs – such as Johan Santana winning the Cy Young Award – and lows, such as highly anticipated rookie catcher Joe Mauer injuring his knee and playing for only 35 games. For the second year in a row, the team was not able to carry its regular season success into the post-season. The New York Yankees eliminated the Twins for the second year in a row in four games in the 2004 American League Division Series.

2004 Minnesota Twins
American league Central Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record92–70 (.568)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Carl Pohlad
General manager(s)Terry Ryan
Manager(s)Ron Gardenhire
Local televisionKSTC-TV/KSTP-TV
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden, Jack Morris)
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Offseason

Spring training

The Twins posted a 20–10 record in spring training, the best of any major league team in 2004.[2] This includes split-squad games but not ties or exhibition games.

Regular season

Offense

For a playoff team, the offense was not strong. This was partly due to injuries and starters absent from the lineup. Lew Ford surprised many by batting .299 in his first full year in the major leagues. Free agent acquisition José Offerman saw a majority of time in the designated hitter spot, but hit only .256 with two home runs. Shannon Stewart did hit .304, but injuries limited him to 378 at bats. In 107 at bats, Mauer was able to hit .307. In his absence, catcher Henry Blanco hit only .206. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz's hitting continued to decline, as he hit .246 with five home runs before being dealt to the Boston Red Sox.

Nine players hit ten or more home runs. When the Twins hit their record 225 homers in 1963, only eight players reached double figures.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRCorey Koskie25
RBITorii Hunter81
BALew Ford.299
RunsLew Ford89

Pitching

Brad Radke was the opening day starter, but he was soon overshadowed by Johan Santana's Cy Young year. Radke, Santana, and Carlos Silva anchored the starting rotation. Unfortunately, Kyle Lohse had a bad year that saw his ERA balloon to 5.34, while the fifth spot in the rotation was nebulous. (41-year-old Terry Mulholland made 15 starts, while Seth Greisinger made nine.)

The Twins set their club record of 32 consecutive scoreless innings in June, which included back-to-back-to-back shutouts by Radke, Santana and Lohse.

In the bullpen, Joe Nathan blew everyone away during his first year as a closer at any level, earning 44 saves with a 1.62 ERA. Juan Rincón and J. C. Romero continued playing as excellent set-up men, while the rest of the bullpen was weaker. Romero set a Twins record by going 36 innings over 32 appearances without allowing a run to score.

Santana finished the year with thirteen straight wins without a loss, then went 1-0 with a no-decision in the American League Division Series. He set the Twins record with 265 strikeouts this season.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERAJohan Santana2.61
WinsJohan Santana20
SavesJoe Nathan44
StrikeoutsJohan Santana265

Defense

Blanco and Mauer (when he played) were solid catchers, both with .991 fielding percentages. Mientkiewicz was a one-time Gold Glove winner, but his successor Justin Morneau surprised people with his .995 fielding percentage. Luis Rivas was dependable at second base, while Cristian Guzmán could turn exceptional plays at shortstop. (It was the routine ones that fooled him.) Corey Koskie was defensively average, while the outfield quartet of Hunter, Jacque Jones, Shannon Stewart and Ford were solid – especially Hunter, who won a Gold Glove.

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 9270 0.568 — 49–32 43–38
Chicago White Sox 8379 0.512 9 46–35 37–44
Cleveland Indians 8082 0.494 12 44–37 36–45
Detroit Tigers 7290 0.444 20 38–43 34–47
Kansas City Royals 58104 0.358 34 33–47 25–57

Record vs. opponents
2004 American League Records

Sources:
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim —6–34–55–44–57–27–05–45–410–913–76–19–104–57–11
Baltimore 3–6—10–92–43–36–06–34–55–140–77–211–85–211–85–13
Boston 5–49–10—4–23–46–14–22–411–88–15–414–54–514–59–9
Chicago 4–54–22–4—10–98–1113–69–103–42–77–24–26–33–48–10
Cleveland 5–43–34–39–10—9–1011–87–122–46–35–43–31–85–210–8
Detroit 2–70–61–611–810–9—8–117–124–34–55–43–34–54–29–9
Kansas City 0–73–62–46–138–1111–8—7–121–52–72–53–64–53–36–12
Minnesota 4–55–44–210–912–712–712–7—2–42–55–44–55–24–211–7
New York 4–514–58–114–34–23–45–14–2—7–26–315–45–412–710–8
Oakland 9–107–01–87–23–65–47–25–22–7—11–87–211–96–310–8
Seattle 7–132–74–52–74–54–55–24–53–68–11—2–57–122–79–9
Tampa Bay 1–68–115–142–43–33–36–35–44–152–75–2—2–79–915–3
Texas 10–92–55–43–68–15–45–42–54–59–1112–77–2—7–210–8
Toronto 5–48–115–144–32–52–43–32–47–123–67–29–92–7—8–10

Notable Transactions

Roster
2004 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Post Season

The Twins entered and exited the postseason almost exactly the same as the previous season, losing to the Yankees, 3 games to 1. The Yankees would go on to be upset by the Boston Red Sox on their way to breaking the curse.

See 2004 American League Division Series.

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
CHenry Blanco11431565.2061037
1BDoug Mientkiewicz7828470.246525
2BLuis Rivas10933686.2561034
SSCristian Guzmán145576158.274846
3BCorey Koskie118422106.2512571
LFLew Ford154569170.2991572
CFTorii Hunter138520141.2712381
RFJacque Jones151555141.2542480
DHJosé Offerman7717244.256222

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
Shannon Stewart92378115.3041147
Michael Cuddyer11533989.2631245
Justin Morneau7428076.2711958
Matt LeCroy8826471.269939
Joe Mauer3510733.308617
Nick Punto389123.253212
Michael Ryan367117.23907
Jason Kubel236018.30027
Augie Ojeda305920.33927
Michael Restovich294712.25526
Terry Tiffee174412.27328
Pat Borders194212.28605
Alex Prieto16328.25014
Rob Bowen17273.11112
Jason Bartlett8121.08301

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Johan Santana342282062.61265
Brad Radke34219.21183.48143
Carlos Silva332031484.2176
Kyle Lohse351949135.34111

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Terry Mulholland39123.1595.1860
Seth Greisinger1251256.1836
Matt Guerrier919015.6811
J.D. Durbin47.1017.366

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Juan Rincón7711622.63106
J.C. Romero747413.5169
Joe Nathan7312441.6289
Aaron Fultz553315.0437
Joe Roa482304.5047
Grant Balfour364104.3542
Jesse Crain223002.0014
Carlos Pulido60008.749
Brad Thomas300016.880
Joe Beimel300043.202

Miscellaneous
2004 AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana.

Other post-season awards
  • Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Johan Santana
  • Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Johan Santana
  • Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Joe Mauer
  • Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Juan Rincón
  • Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) – Keith Foulke
    • The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA
  • Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Torii Hunter
  • Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Position Player) – Jason Kubel
  • Jim Rantz Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Pitcher) – Scott Baker

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Phil Roof
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League Stan Cliburn
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Jose Marzan
A Quad Cities River Bandits Midwest League Kevin Boles
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Ray Smith
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Riccardo Ingram

[4][5]

References
  1. A. J. Pierzynski Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. "MLB Spring Training Standings – 2004". ESPN. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mientdo01.shtml
  4. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  5. Baseball America 2005 Annual Directory
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