2004 Minnesota Twins season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Minnesota Twins
season = 2004
misc = AL Central Champions

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Central Division
y2 = 1994
Uniform
ballpark = Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
y4 = 1982
city = Minneapolis
y5 = 1982
owners = Carl Pohlad
managers = Ron Gardenhire
television = KSTC-TV/KSTP-TV
FSN North
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer)
radio = 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal,John Gordon, Dan Gladden, Jack Morris)|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. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, the team was not able to carry its regular season success into the postseason. The New York Yankees eliminated the Twins for the second year in a row in four games in the 2004 American League Division Series.

Offseason

*November 14, 2003: Traded catcher A.J. Pierzynski and cash to the San Francisco Giants. Received Pitchers Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pierza.01.shtml A.J. Pierzynski Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*November 20, 2003: Selected pitcher Matt Guerrier off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
*December 3, 2003: Traded pitcher Eric Milton to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received pitcher Carlos Silva, IF Nick Punto, and a player to be named later. The Philadelphia Phillies sent Bobby Korecky (minors) (December 17) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade.
*December 18, 2003: Signed Henry Blanco as a free agent.
*January 8, 2004: Signed Aaron Fultz as a free agent.
*February 6, 2004: Signed Jose Offerman as a free agent.

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 Jose 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 hit .246 with five home runs before being dealt to the Boston Red Sox.

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

tarters by position

"Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In"

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Miscellaneous

*Johan Santana won the Cy Young Award; becoming the third player in Minnesota Twins history to do so. The first two were Jim Perry in 1970 and Frank Viola in 1988.

*The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was Closer Joe Nathan.

*The highest paid Twin in 2004 was Brad Radke at $ 10,750,000; followed by Torii Hunter at $ 6,500,000.

*Earl Battey was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2004.shtml Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=2004&t=MIN Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com]
* [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline5.jsp Twins history since 2000, from www.mlb.com]
* [http://shrpsports.com/mlb/stand/2004finaldiv.htm 2004 Standings] succession box
title = AL Central Championship Season
years = 2004
before =Minnesota Twins
2003
after = Chicago White Sox
2005