2004 Minnesota Twins
American league Central Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionCentral
BallparkHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
CityMinneapolis
Record92–70 (.568)
Divisional place1st
OwnersCarl Pohlad
General managersTerry Ryan
ManagersRon Gardenhire
TelevisionKSTC-TV/KSTP-TV
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Dan Gladden, Jack Morris)
Seasons

The 2004 Minnesota Twins season was the 104th season in the franchise's history and its 44th season in the Twin Cities. The Twins were managed by Ron Gardenhire and played in the Metrodome.

The Twins finished with a 92–70 record and won the American League Central. They advanced to the ALDS, but they lost the series to the New York Yankees in four games. It was the second year in a row in which the Yankees eliminated the Twins in the ALDS.[1]

Twins pitcher Johan Santana won the 2004 Cy Young Award on a unanimous vote.[2]

Offseason

Spring training

The Twins posted a 20–10 record in spring training, the best of any major league team in 2004.[4] 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 13 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 record

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

Postseason

The Twins entered and exited the postseason nearly the same as the previous season, losing to the Yankees, 3 games to 1 in the Division Series. The Twins won the first game by a score of 2–0, with starting pitcher Johan Santana getting the win. However, the Twins lost the next three games, with the Yankees taking the series 3 games to 1. Game 1 of this series represented the last postseason victory for the Twins until 2023. Game 2 began a 18 game postseason losing streak for the team, tied with the 1975–79 Chicago Blackhawks for the longest such losing streak in North American sports history.[6] 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 Santana34228.02062.61265
Brad Radke34219.21183.48143
Carlos Silva33203.01484.2176
Kyle Lohse35194.09135.34111

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
Terry Mulholland39123.1595.1860
Seth Greisinger1251.0256.1836
Matt Guerrier919.0015.6811
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
Joe Nathan7312441.6289
Juan Rincón7711622.63106
J.C. Romero747413.5169
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

Farm system

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

[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ "2004 Minnesota Twins Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Twins' Johan Santana wins AL Cy Young Award". Minnesota Public Radio. November 11, 2004. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  3. ↑ A. J. Pierzynski Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ↑ "MLB Spring Training Standings – 2004". ESPN. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Doug Mientkiewicz Stats".
  6. ↑ "Twins tie record for longest playoff losing streak in North American sports after ALDS sweep by Yankees". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  8. ↑ Baseball America 2005 Annual Directory
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