2004 Toronto Blue Jays season
Radio | CJCL (AM) (Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek, Mike Wilner) | |
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The 2004 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 28th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 67 wins and 94 losses, their worst record since 1980. The Blue Jays' radio play-by-play announcer, Tom Cheek, called every Blue Jays game from the team's inaugural contest on April 7, 1977, until June 3, 2004, when he took two games off following the death of his father – a streak of 4,306 consecutive regular season games and 41 postseason games. It was the team's first season where Ace is the sole mascot, following the removal of Diamond at the end of the previous season.
Transactions
Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 2004 season.[1]
September 2003
September 29 | Ken Huckaby granted free agency (signed with Texas Rangers to a one-year contract on November 19, 2003). Doug Linton granted free agency (signed with Kansas City Royals to a one-year contract on January 16, 2004). John Wasdin granted free agency (signed with Texas Rangers to a one-year contract on October 22, 2003). |
September 30 | DeWayne Wise granted free agency (signed with Atlanta Braves to a one-year, $325,000 contract on October 25, 2003). |
October 2003
October 8 | Released Doug Creek. |
October 15 | Florida Marlins to a one-year contract on January 28, 2004). to a contract on November 24, 2003).
Dan Reichert granted free agency (signed with Milwaukee Brewers to a one-year contract on February 25, 2004). Anthony Sanders granted free agency (signed with Colorado Rockies to a contract on February 5, 2004). Tanyon Sturtze granted free agency (signed with Los Angeles Dodgers to a contract on December 19, 2003). Corey Thurman granted free agency (signed with Cincinnati Reds to a contract on November 26, 2003). Scott Wiggins granted free agency (signed with Milwaukee Brewers |
October 26 | Anaheim Angels to a three-year, $18.75 million contract on November 24, 2003). to a one-year, $2.75 million contract on January 6, 2004).
Cory Lidle granted free agency (signed with Cincinnati Reds |
October 28 | Re-signed Frank Catalanotto to a one-year, $2.3 million contract. |
November 2003
November 18 | Signed free agent Pat Hentgen from the Baltimore Orioles to a one-year, $2.2 million contract. Acquired Ted Lilly from the Oakland Athletics for Bobby Kielty. |
November 20 | Signed free agent Dave Maurer to a one-year contract. |
November 26 | Signed free agent Bruce Chen from the Boston Red Sox to a contract. |
December 2003
December 9 | Signed free agent Kerry Ligtenberg from the Baltimore Orioles to a two-year, $4.5 million contract. |
December 14 | As part of three-team trade: Acquired Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent Joe Kennedy to the Colorado Rockies .
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December 18 | Signed free agent Miguel Batista from the Arizona Diamondbacks to a three-year, $13.1 million contract. |
December 21 | Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a one-year, $650,000 contract on January 7, 2004). to a one-year, $800,000 on January 7, 2004).
Cliff Politte granted free agency (signed with Chicago White Sox |
December 27 | Signed free agent Valerio De Los Santos from the Philadelphia Phillies to a one-year, $850,000 contract.
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January 2004
January 1 | Signed free agent Jayson Durocher from the Milwaukee Brewers to a one-year contract. |
January 7 | Signed free agent . |
January 14 | Re-signed Ted Lilly to a two-year, $5 million contract. |
January 20 | Re-signed Justin Speier to a one-year, $1.6 million contract. |
January 22 | Re-signed Roy Halladay to a four-year, $42 million contract. |
March 2004
March 5 | Released Pete Walker. |
March 29 | Acquired Jason Frasor from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jayson Werth. |
March 31 | Selected Sean Douglass off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. |
Regular season
Summary
The 2004 season was a disappointing year for the Blue Jays right from the beginning. They started the season 0–8 at
The offense really sputtered due to the injuries of Wells, Delgado, Catalanotto and others, although in their absence, Josh Phelps emerged as the team's go to guy, hitting 12 homers and driving in 51 runs before being limited to playing against left-handed pitching and was traded to the
With the team struggling in last place and mired in a five-game losing streak, manager Carlos Tosca was fired on August 8, 2004, and was replaced by first-base coach John Gibbons through the end of the season. The Jays' trying year would also touch long-time radio announcer Tom Cheek, who had to break his streak of calling all 4,306 regular season games in franchise history, upon the death of his father. Cheek had to take more time off later to remove a brain tumor, and by the end of the season, Cheek only called the home games.
Nevertheless, prospects
On October 2, 2004, the Toronto Blue Jays announced the dismissals of pitching coach Gil Patterson and first-base coach Joe Breeden, effective at the end of the season. One day later, the Blue Jays finished the 2004 campaign with a 3–2 loss against the New York Yankees in front of an announced crowd of 49,948. However, the Jays' annus horribilis continued after the game, when it was announced that former pitcher and current TV broadcaster John Cerutti died suddenly of natural causes at the age of only 44.
More losses to the Jays family came in the offseason.
Just days after superstar Carlos Delgado became a free agent after the club refused
Season standings
AL East | W
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L
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Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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New York Yankees | 101 | 61 | 0.623 | — | 57–24 | 44–37 |
Boston Red Sox | 98 | 64 | 0.605 | 3 | 55–26 | 43–38 |
Baltimore Orioles | 78 | 84 | 0.481 | 23 | 38–43 | 40–41 |
Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 70 | 91 | 0.435 | 30½ | 41–39 | 29–52 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 67 | 94 | 0.416 | 33½ | 40–41 | 27–53 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | |||||||||||||||
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Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
Anaheim | — | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–2 | 7–0 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 10–9 | 13–7 | 6–1 | 9–10 | 4–5 | 7–11 |
Baltimore | 3–6 | — | 10–9 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–14 | 0–7 | 7–2 | 11–8 | 5–2 | 11–8 | 5–13 |
Boston | 5–4 | 9–10 | — | 4–2 | 3–4 | 6–1 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 11–8 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 14–5 | 4–5 | 14–5 | 9–9 |
Chicago | 4–5 | 4–2 | 2–4 | — | 10–9 | 8–11 | 13–6 | 9–10 | 3–4 | 2–7 | 7–2 | 4–2 | 6–3 | 3–4 | 8–10 |
Cleveland | 5–4 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 9–10 | — | 9–10 | 11–8 | 7–12 | 2–4 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 1–8 | 5–2 | 10–8 |
Detroit | 2–7 | 0–6 | 1–6 | 11–8 | 10–9 | — | 8–11 | 7–12 | 4–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 4–5 | 4–2 | 9–9 |
Kansas City | 0–7 | 3–6 | 2–4 | 6–13 | 8–11 | 11–8 | — | 7–12 | 1–5 | 2–7 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 3–3 | 6–12 |
Minnesota | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–2 | 10–9 | 12–7 | 12–7 | 12–7 | — | 2–4 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 11–7 |
New York | 4–5 | 14–5 | 8–11 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 5–1 | 4–2 | — | 7–2 | 6–3 | 15–4 | 5–4 | 12–7 | 10–8 |
Oakland | 9–10 | 7–0 | 1–8 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 2–7 | — | 11–8 | 7–2 | 11–9 | 6–3 | 10–8 |
Seattle | 7–13 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 5–2 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 8–11 | — | 2–5 | 7–12 | 2–7 | 9–9 |
Tampa Bay | 1–6 | 8–11 | 5–14 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–15 | 2–7 | 5–2 | — | 2–7 | 9–9 | 15–3 |
Texas | 10–9 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 2–5 | 4–5 | 9–11 | 12–7 | 7–2 | — | 7–2 | 10–8 |
Toronto | 5–4 | 8–11 | 5–14 | 4–3 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–12 | 3–6 | 7–2 | 9–9 | 2–7 | — | 8–10 |
Transactions
Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2004 regular season.[2]
April 2004
April 9 | Signed free agent Gregg Zaun from the Montreal Expos to a one-year contract. Selected Micheal Nakamura off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. |
April 18 | Sent Scott Cassidy to the Boston Red Sox as part of a conditional deal. |
May 2004
May 1 | Sent Bruce Chen to the Baltimore Orioles as part of a conditional deal. |
May 3 | Received Cleveland Indians as part of a conditional deal.
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May 12 | Received Frank Menechino from the Oakland Athletics as part of a conditional deal. |
May 21 | Signed free agent Bobby Estalella from the Arizona Diamondbacks to a one-year contract. |
May 27 | Signed free agent Marvin Benard from the Chicago White Sox to a one-year contract. |
June 2004
June 2 | Signed free agent Ryan Glynn from the Atlanta Braves to a contract. |
June 16 | Acquired Julius Matos from the Montreal Expos for G.J. Raymundo. |
June 23 | Received Anthony Sanders from the Colorado Rockies as part of a conditional deal. |
July 2004
July 14 | Released Mark Lukasiewicz. |
July 24 | Acquired John Hattig from the Boston Red Sox for Terry Adams. |
August 2004
August 2 | Signed free agent Jesús Sánchez from the Cincinnati Reds to a contract. |
August 4 | Acquired Cleveland Indians for Josh Phelps .
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September 2004
September 2 | Released Marvin Benard. |
September 13 | Re-signed Frank Catalanotto to a two-year, $5.4 million contract. |
2004 Draft picks
Source [3]
The 2004 MLB draft was held on June 7–8. The Blue Jays had two compensation picks.
Round | Pick | Player | Position | College/School | Nationality | Signed |
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1 | 16 | David Purcey | LHP | Oklahoma | 2004–07–20 | |
1 | 32* | Zach Jackson | LHP | Texas A&M | 2004–07–23 | |
2 | 57 | Curtis Thigpen | C | Texas | 2004–07–09 | |
3 | 83* | Adam Lind | 1B | South Alabama | 2004–06–16 | |
3 | 87 | Danny Hill | RHP | Missouri | 2004–06–16 | |
4 | 117 | Casey Janssen | RHP | UCLA | 2004–06–16 | |
5 | 147 | Ryan Klosterman | SS | Vanderbilt | 2004–06–22 | |
6 | 177 | Preston Patton | OF | Texas A&M | – | |
7 | 207 | Randy Dicken | RHP | Shippensburg | 2004–06–16 | |
8 | 237 | Rhame Cannon | 1B | The Citadel
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2004–06–16 | |
9 | 267 | Joseph Metropoulos | 1B | Southern California | 2004–06–16 | |
10 | 297 | Brian Hall | 2B | Stanford | 2004–06–16 | |
24 | 717 | Jesse Litsch | RHP | South Florida Community College
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– |
- * The Blue Jays received the 32nd pick as compensation for loss of free agent Kelvim Escobar
- * The Blue Jays received the 83rd pick from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as compensation for signing of free agent Kelvim Escobar
Roster
Game log
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April
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May
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June
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July
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August
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September
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† At Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. |
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 |
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C | Gregg Zaun | 107 | 338 | 91 | .269 | 6 | 36 |
1B | Carlos Delgado | 128 | 458 | 123 | .269 | 32 | 99 |
2B | Orlando Hudson | 135 | 489 | 132 | .270 | 12 | 58 |
SS | Chris Gomez | 109 | 341 | 96 | .282 | 3 | 37 |
3B | Eric Hinske | 155 | 570 | 140 | .246 | 15 | 69 |
LF | Reed Johnson | 141 | 537 | 145 | .270 | 10 | 61 |
CF | Vernon Wells | 134 | 536 | 146 | .272 | 23 | 67 |
RF | Alex Ríos | 111 | 426 | 122 | .286 | 1 | 28 |
DH | Josh Phelps | 79 | 295 | 70 | .237 | 12 | 51 |
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 |
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Frank Catalanotto | 75 | 249 | 73 | .293 | 1 | 26 |
Frank Menechino | 71 | 236 | 71 | .301 | 9 | 25 |
Chris Woodward | 69 | 213 | 50 | .235 | 1 | 24 |
Kevin Cash | 60 | 181 | 35 | .193 | 4 | 21 |
Dave Berg | 58 | 154 | 39 | .253 | 3 | 23 |
Gabe Gross | 44 | 129 | 27 | .209 | 3 | 16 |
Howie Clark | 40 | 115 | 25 | .217 | 3 | 12 |
Russ Adams | 22 | 72 | 22 | .306 | 4 | 10 |
Guillermo Quiróz | 17 | 52 | 11 | .212 | 0 | 6 |
Simon Pond | 16 | 49 | 8 | .163 | 1 | 6 |
Eric Crozier | 14 | 33 | 5 | .152 | 2 | 4 |
Greg Myers | 8 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
Bobby Estalella | 5 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 0 |
Chad Hermansen | 4 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting 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 |
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Miguel Batista | 38 | 198.2 | 10 | 13 | 4.80 | 104 |
Ted Lilly | 32 | 197.1 | 12 | 10 | 4.06 | 168 |
Roy Halladay | 21 | 133.0 | 8 | 8 | 4.20 | 95 |
Josh Towers | 21 | 116.1 | 9 | 9 | 5.11 | 51 |
Dave Bush | 16 | 97.2 | 5 | 4 | 3.69 | 64 |
Justin Miller | 19 | 81.2 | 3 | 4 | 6.06 | 47 |
Pat Hentgen | 18 | 80.1 | 2 | 9 | 6.95 | 33 |
Gustavo Chacin |
2 | 14.0 | 1 | 1 | 2.57 | 6 |
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 |
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Sean Douglass | 14 | 38.2 | 0 | 2 | 6.28 | 36 |
Ryan Glynn | 6 | 20.0 | 1 | 0 | 4.05 | 14 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
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Jason Frasor | 63 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 4.08 | 54 |
Justin Speier | 62 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 3.91 | 52 |
Kerry Ligtenberg | 57 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6.38 | 49 |
Vinnie Chulk | 47 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4.66 | 44 |
Terry Adams | 42 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3.98 | 35 |
Bob File | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.81 | 15 |
Jason Kershner | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.04 | 15 |
Kevin Frederick | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.59 | 22 |
Micheal Nakamura | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7.36 | 24 |
Aquilino López | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.00 | 13 |
Valerio De Los Santos |
17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.17 | 10 |
Brandon League | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Adam Peterson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.88 | 2 |
Dave Maurer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 1 |
Frank Menechino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Award winners
- Ted Lilly, pitcher [4]
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Syracuse SkyChiefs
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International League | Marty Pevey |
AA | New Hampshire Fisher Cats | Eastern League
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Mike Basso |
A
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Dunedin Blue Jays | Florida State League | Omar Malavé |
A
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Charleston Alley Cats
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South Atlantic League | Ken Joyce |
A-Short Season
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Auburn Doubledays | New York–Penn League | Dennis Holmberg |
Rookie
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Pulaski Blue Jays
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Appalachian League | Gary Cathcart |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Hampshire[5]
References
- ^ "2004 Toronto Blue Jays Trades and Transactions". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ "2004 Toronto Blue Jays Trades and Transactions". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "Feature: 2004 Free Agent Draft Pick Compensation". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
- ^ Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
External links
- 2004 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Reference
- 2004 Toronto Blue Jays at Baseball Almanac