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2004 Chicago Cubs Season
The 2004 Chicago Cubs season was the 133rd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 129th in the National League and the 89th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs attempted to make a push for the National League pennant after their shocking end to 2003. The Cubs finished 89-73, good for 3rd in the NL Central. Despite the strong record, the Cubs faltered down the stretch and did not make the playoffs. The season is largely viewed as one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. Offseason * November 25, 2003: Derrek Lee was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Chicago Cubs for Hee-seop Choi and Mike Nannini (minors). * December 2, 2003: Scott McClain was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. * December 18, 2003: Todd Hollandsworth was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. * March 23, 2004: Greg Maddux was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. Regular season In 2004, despite the return of Greg Maddux and a midseason deal for Nomar Garciaparra, misfort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National League Central
The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League East (the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals). When the division was created in 1994, the Pirates were originally supposed to stay in the East while the Atlanta Braves were to be moved to the Central from the West. However, the Braves, wanting to form a natural rivalry with the expansion Florida Marlins, requested to remain in the East. Despite the Marlins offering to go to the Central, the Pirates instead gave up their spot in the East to the Braves. Since then, the Pirates have tried several times unsuccessfully to be placed back in the East. In 1998, the NL Central became the largest division in Major League Baseball when the Milwaukee Brewers were moved in from the American League Central. In 2013, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott McClain
Scott Michael McClain (born May 19, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman who is a scout in Nippon Professional Baseball. A versatile athlete, he played quarterback for Atascadero High School in Atascadero, California and signed a National Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Southern California before being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles. McClain has spent most of his professional career bouncing around the minor leagues for numerous Major League Baseball organizations. As a major leaguer, he has played in nine games as a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in , 13 games with the Chicago Cubs in , eight games with the San Francisco Giants in , and 14 more with the Giants in . He played in the Pacific League in Japan for the Seibu Lions from – and in the Central League for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in . Over his professional career McClain has hit a total of 359 home runs: 287 in the minors, 71 in Japan and two in the MLB. He has also batted i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kyle Farnsworth
Kyle Lynn Farnsworth (born April 14, 1976) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He has played for the Chicago Cubs (1999–2004), Detroit Tigers (2005, 2008), Atlanta Braves (2005, 2010), New York Yankees (2006–2008), Kansas City Royals (2009–2010), Tampa Bay Rays (2011–2013), Pittsburgh Pirates (2013), New York Mets (2014), Houston Astros (2014) in Major League Baseball, and for the Pericos de Puebla (2015) and the Broncos de Reynosa (2016) of the Mexican League. In 2017, Farnsworth was the pitching coach for the Brookhaven Bucks of the Sunbelt Baseball League. High school and college Farnsworth graduated from Milton High School in Alpharetta, Georgia, in 1994. During high school, he played baseball, basketball, and football. He continued to play baseball in college at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in Tifton, Georgia. Farnsworth is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Kyle was inducted into the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryan Dempster
Ryan Scott Dempster (born May 3, 1977), is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox. Dempster batted and threw right-handed. He was both a starter and a reliever in his career. Professional career Draft and minor leagues He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 3rd round of the 1995 MLB draft and began his career with the Gulf Coast Rangers. He subsequently played for the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Kane County Cougars and the Charleston RiverDogs. Florida Marlins (1998–2002) Dempster was traded to the Florida Marlins on August 8, 1996 (with Rick Helling) for John Burkett. Dempster made his MLB debut for the Marlins, working two innings of relief, on May 23, 1998 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing three earned runs on two hits in that game. He later made his first start on June 1 against the Chicago Cubs, lasting only innings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt Clement
Matthew Paul Clement (born August 12, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Clement played for the San Diego Padres (–), Florida Marlins (), Chicago Cubs (–) and Boston Red Sox (–). While on the Red Sox active roster, he was injured all of the 2007 season. He batted and threw right-handed. Clement had a sinking fastball in the low 90s and a hard slider he mixed with a four-seamer and a changeup. In nine seasons, Clement won 87 games and lost 86, and was 1–2 in post-season play, going 1–1 with the Cubs in 2003 and 0–1 with Boston in 2005. His win in Game 4 of the 2003 National League Championship Series at Florida brought the Cubs within one game of the pennant. He held opposing batters to a .233 batting average from 2002 to 2005, while posting a 47–42 record and a 3.99 ERA. Baseball career In 2000, Clement led the major leagues in walks (125), and led the National League and wild pitches three times between 2000 and 2003. In June 2004, Cleme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Borowski (baseball)
Joseph Thomas Borowski (born May 4, 1971) is a sports broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as a former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Florida Marlins, and Cleveland Indians. Career High school career Borowski grew up in Bayonne, attended Marist High School and was an All-America selection in both football and baseball and a two-time All-State selection in both sports. He attended Rutgers University in New Jersey. Major League Baseball career Borowski was a 32nd round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 1989. In 2000, Borowski pitched in the Mexican League for the Monterrey Sultanes and in the Northern League. Before his second year with the Chicago Cubs in 2002, Borowski had never appeared in more than 25 games, but when given a chance to appear frequently he did very well. Between his stints with the Yankees a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Beltrán
Francis Lebrón Beltrán (born November 29, 1979) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos, and Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. Career Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs signed Beltran as an undrafted free agent in 1996 and assigned him to the Arizona League Cubs, their rookie-level minor league affiliate. Beltran spent three seasons (1997–1999) with the Arizona team, with a combined record of 1–3, with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.99 in 35 appearances. Midway through the 1999 season, the Cubs promoted him to the Single-A Eugene Emeralds. There his ERA ballooned to 8.36, and the Cubs kept him in Eugene for the 2000 season. Beltran's ERA improved to 2.68, and the Cubs promoted him to the Single-A Lansing Lugnuts, where he went 1–1 with a 9.86 ERA. In 2001, the Cubs moved Beltran up to the Single-A Daytona Cubs, where he went 6–9 with an ERA of 5.00. In November of that year, the Cubs signaled their c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Anderson (baseball)
James Drew Anderson (born January 22, 1976) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who pitched for five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Anderson made his MLB debut in 1999, appearing in 13 games for the Pirates. In 2000, Anderson pitched in 27 games (26 starts), compiling a record of 5-11 in 144 innings. In 2001, Anderson had career highs in wins (9), games started (34), innings pitched (206.1) and strikeouts (89). He finished 9-17 with a 5.10 ERA. In 2002, Anderson regressed and lost control, walking 63 batters while striking out just 47 in innings for the Pirates. He was let go after the season and signed with the Cincinnati Reds. He went 1-5 in 8 games for the Reds and was later designated for assignment. Instead of choosing an outright assignment to AAA, Anderson refused and became a free agent. Anderson later signed a minor league deal with the Giants, for which he started 8 games, going 1-4 with a 6.44 ERA. In 2004, Anderson signed a minor league dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Gonzalez (shortstop, Born 1973)
Alexander Scott Gonzalez (born April 8, 1973) is a former Major League Baseball infielder, who spent the majority of his 13-year career with the Toronto Blue Jays. Gonzalez established a career-high with 20 home runs for the Chicago Cubs in 2003 and hit 20 or more doubles eight times. He was regarded as a glove-first player, sporting a lower-than-average batting average (career .243 hitter), on-base percentage (.302), and OPS (.694) while leading the American league twice in fielding percentage. At Killian High School in Miami, Florida, Gonzalez was an All-State pick in baseball as a senior. He was drafted straight out of high school in the 14th round of the 1991 Major League Baseball Draft by the Blue Jays. He is Cuban-American and was nicknamed "Gonzo" in order to tell the difference between him and the other Alex Gonzalez, who signed with the Blue Jays on November 26, 2009; coincidentally, they would face each other in the 2003 National League Championship Series between th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Fuld
Samuel Babson Fuld (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and the current general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics, and Minnesota Twins. He began his baseball career by twice batting .600 in high school, during which time ''Baseball America'' ranked him 19th in the country. Fuld played college baseball at Stanford University. There, he was a two-time All-American, set the school record for career runs scored, and established the College World Series record for career hits. Fuld was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft. He was an All Star two years later in the Florida State League. A year after that, Fuld was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Arizona Fall League. In the minor leagues—as a result of his defensive play—he was referred to as "a crash test dummy with a death wish", a "hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Sosa
Samuel Peralta Sosa (born November 12, 1968) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs. After playing for the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox, Sosa joined the Cubs in 1992 and became regarded as one of the game's best hitters. Sosa hit his 400th home run in his 1,354th game and his 5,273rd at-bat, reaching this milestone quicker than any player in National League history. He is one of nine players in MLB history to hit 600 career home runs. In 1998, Sosa and Mark McGwire achieved national fame for their home run-hitting prowess in pursuit of Roger Maris' single-season home-run record. With the Cubs, Sosa became a 7-time All-Star while holding numerous team records. He finished his career with stints with the Baltimore Orioles and the Rangers for a second time. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of the American Association (19th century), American Association in 1881 before joining the NL in 1890. The Reds played in the NL National League West, West division from 1969 to 1993, before joining the Central division in 1994. For several years in the 1970s, they were considered the most dominant team in baseball, most notably winning the 1975 World Series, 1975 and 1976 World Series; the team was colloquially known as the "Big Red Machine" during this time, and it included National Baseball Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame members Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez. Overall, the Reds have won five World Series championships, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant and 10 division titles. The team plays its home games at Great American Ball Park, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
