2004 Arizona Diamondbacks season explained

Arizona Diamondbacks
Season:	2004
League:	National League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Bank One Ballpark
City:	Phoenix, Arizona
Record:	51–111 (.315)
Divisional Place:	5th
Owners:	Ken Kendrick Jerry Colangelo
General Managers:	Joe Garagiola, Jr.
Managers:	Bob Brenly and Al Pedrique
Television:	FSN Arizona KTVK (3TV) (Thom Brennaman, Mark Grace, Greg Schulte, Joe Garagiola)
Radio:	KTAR (620 AM) (Greg Schulte, Jeff Munn, Ken Phelps)
Espntn:	ari
Brtn:	ARI

The 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks looked to improve on their 84–78 record from 2003. The D-backs hoped to contend for a postseason berth in what was a weaker National League West than in years past. However, just three years after winning a World Series title, the Diamondbacks instead finished the season with a record of 51–111, the worst record by any National League team since the 1965 Mets won one fewer game. The one highlight of a disastrous season was when Randy Johnson pitched a perfect game on May 18, 2004. The franchise record would not be threatened until 2021, when they finished 52–110. Despite the 110-loss season in 2021, the Diamondbacks didn't earn the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, as the Baltimore Orioles finished with a 52–110 record, but were worse due to records against American League opponents.

Offseason

November 28, 2003: Curt Schilling was traded by the Diamondbacks to the Boston Red Sox for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge de la Rosa, and Michael Goss (minors).^[1]
November 29, 2003: Jesse Orosco was signed as a free agent with the Diamondbacks.^[2]
December 1, 2003: Lyle Overbay, Chris Capuano, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Jorge de la Rosa, and Junior Spivey were traded by the Diamondbacks to the Milwaukee Brewers for Richie Sexson, Shane Nance and a player to be named later. The Brewers completed the deal by sending Noochie Varner (minors) to the Diamondbacks on December 15.^[3]
December 4, 2003: Félix José was signed as a free agent by the Diamondbacks.^[4]
December 15, 2003: Quinton McCracken was traded by the Diamondbacks to the Seattle Mariners for Greg Colbrunn and cash.^[5]
December 18, 2003: Brent Mayne was signed as a free agent by the Diamondbacks.^[6]
February 25, 2004: Bobby Estalella was signed as a free agent by the Diamondbacks.^[7]
February 25, 2004: Scott Service was signed as a free agent by the Diamondbacks.^[8]

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

12		CF
2		2B
20		LF
44		1B
10		SS
28		3B
29		RF
6		C
	51		P

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

June 11, 2004: Quinton McCracken was signed as a free agent by the Diamondbacks.
July 31, 2004: Steve Finley and Brent Mayne were traded by the Diamondbacks to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Reggie Abercrombie (minors), Koyie Hill and Bill Murphy.^[9]
August 19, 2004: Elmer Dessens was traded by the Diamondbacks to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Jereme Milons (minors).^[10]

Roster

2004 Arizona Diamondbacks
Roster
Pitchers	CatchersInfielders	OutfieldersOther batters	ManagerCoaches (bench) (bullpen/pitching) (first base) (pitching) (bullpen) (third base) (hitting) (first base/third base) (bench)

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	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	54	171	35	.205	3	12
1B	148	562	174	.310	15	80
2B	101	339	84	.248	13	29
SS	154	564	148	.262	4	49
3B	143	481	137	.285	8	53
LF	105	379	98	.259	17	48
CF	104	404	111	.275	23	48
RF	141	539	154	.286	11	65

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
62	229	56	.245	4	14
62	195	47	.241	4	18
42	162	40	.247	2	13
55	156	45	.288	2	13
38	110	34	.309	3	16
46	109	22	.202	1	4
50	107	24	.224	3	13
48	97	18	.186	2	5
29	96	23	.240	5	15
36	94	24	.255	0	10
23	90	21	.233	9	23
29	86	15	.174	0	8
79	85	20	.235	2	11
22	54	9	.167	0	2
13	36	9	.250	1	6
28	34	7	.206	1	6
20	27	3	.111	0	1
18	23	3	.130	0	0
7	14	2	.143	2	4

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
35	35	245.2	16	14	2.60	290
35	35	208.0	7	16	3.59	164
27	27	142.0	4	15	6.65	117
10	10	49.0	2	3	7.16	17
10	10	46.1	0	9	9.32	31
1	1	2.0	0	1	4.50	0

Other pitchers

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

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
29	120.2	3	7	6.04	57
38	85.1	1	6	4.75	55
17	45.1	1	4	8.14	24
6	25.1	1	1	4.62	14

Relief pitchers

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

G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
34	0	2	16	3.06	26
76	4	4	2	4.05	55
74	2	4	0	4.62	49
45	2	5	0	5.51	62
30	3	4	0	4.31	34
29	1	2	8	4.25	38
23	0	1	1	8.68	14
21	1	1	0	7.08	17
20	0	3	0	4.05	13
19	1	1	0	5.84	9
17	1	2	0	5.31	26
17	0	2	0	7.00	17
12	0	3	4	11.81	13
7	1	1	0	8.68	10
1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

References

https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/schilcu01.shtml Curt Schilling
https://www.baseball-reference.com/o/oroscje01.shtml Jesse Orosco
https://www.baseball-reference.com/o/overbly01.shtml Lyle Overbay
https://www.baseball-reference.com/j/josefe01.shtml Félix José
https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mccraqu01.shtml Quinton McCracken
https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maynebr01.shtml Brent Mayne
https://www.baseball-reference.com/e/estalbo02.shtml Bobby Estalella
https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/servisc01.shtml Scott Service
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/finlest01.shtmlSteve Finley
https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/desseel01.shtml Elmer Dessens
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007