2004 Chicago Cubs season

MLB yearly infobox alt
name=Chicago Cubs
season=2004
misc=
logo=Chicago Cubs Logo.pngcurrent league=National League
y1=1876
division=Central Division
y2=1994
Uniform logo =
ballpark=Wrigley Field
y4=1916
city=Chicago, Illinois
y5=1871
owners=Tribune Company
general managers = Jim Hendry
managers=Dusty Baker
television = WCIU-TV
Superstation WGN
FSN Chicago
(Chip Caray, Steve Stone (baseball player))
radio = WGN
(Ron Santo, Pat Hughes)
espntn=chc
brtn=CHC|

Offseason

*November 25, 2003: Derrek Lee was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for Hee Seop Choi and Mike Nannini (minors). [http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/leede02.shtml]
*December 2, 2003: Scott McClain was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcclasc01.shtml]
*December 18, 2003: Todd Hollandsworth was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hollato01.shtml]
*March 23, 2004: Greg Maddux was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maddugr01.shtml]

Regular season

In 2004, despite the return of Greg Maddux and a midseason deal for Nomar Garciaparra, misfortune struck the Cubs again. They led the Wild Card by 1.5 games over San Francisco and Houston on September 25, and both of those teams lost that day, giving the Northsiders a chance at increasing the lead to a commanding 2.5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, and the Cubs lost the game in extra innings, a defeat that seemingly deflated the team, as they proceeded to drop 6 of their last 8 games as the Astros won the Wild Card. Despite the fact that the Cubs had won 89 games, this fallout was decidedly unlovable, as the Cubs traded superstar Sammy Sosa after he had left the season's final game early and then lied about it publicly.

eason standings

Transactions

*April 1, 2004: Scott McClain was released by the Chicago Cubs. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcclasc01.shtml]
*June 7, 2004: Sam Fuld was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed July 9, 2004. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fuldsa01.shtml]
*July 30, 2004: Denny Hocking was signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hockide01.shtml Dennis Hocking Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*July 31, 2004: Alex Gonzalez was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Chicago Cubs with Francis Beltran and Brendan Harris to the Montreal Expos. The Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. The Montreal Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gonzaal01.shtml]

Roster

Relief pitchers

Farm system [Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., "The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball," 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007]

* Class AAA: Iowa Cubs (Pacific Coast League; Mike Quade, manager)
* Class AA: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Southern League; Bobby Dickerson, manager)
* Class A: Daytona Cubs (Florida State League; Steve McFarland, manager) -- LEAGUE CO-CHAMPION
* Class A: Lansing Lugnuts (Midwest League; Julio Garcia, manager)
* Class SS-A: Boise Hawks (Northwest League; Tom Beyers, manager) -- LEAGUE CHAMPION
* Rookie: AZL Cubs (Arizona League; Trey Forkerway, manager)

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2004.shtml 2004 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference]