2004 Minnesota Twins: Ups and Downs

2004 Minnesota Twins: Ups and Downs

2004 Minnesota Twins: Ups and Downs

The Minnesota Twins were steadily heading into a new era of baseball where promising talent laid claim of the future. 2004 saw the debut of catcher Joe Mauer, a player who was well beloved in the state of Minnesota well before he even reported to the Twins organization. 2004 also saw the continuation of success on the field of play as the Twins continued to handle the competition in the American League Central division very well.

The Twins went 92-70 in 2004 to win the American League Central division by 9 games over the Chicago White Sox. The Twins went 10-9 against the White Sox in head-to-head play. The Twins went 49-32 at home and went 43-38 on the road. In contrast to 2003, the Twins played better baseball throughout the course of the regular season as they went 15-7 in April, 14-12 in June, 17-10 in July, 15-13 in August and 17-11 in September.

Before the regular season the Twins stayed busy making some moves to improve their club. On November 14, 2003 the Twins traded catcher A.J. Pierzynski and cash to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for pitchers Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser. On December 3 the Twins traded Eric Milton to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for starting pitcher Carlos Silva, utility player Nick Punto and minor league relief pitcher Bobby Korecky. On December 18 the Twins signed catcher Henry Blanco. On January 8 the Twins signed relief pitcher Aaron Fultz. On February 6 the Twins signed infielder Jose Offerman. Most of these players would contribute to Minnesota’s cause right away.

Left fielder Lew Ford batted .299 with 15 home runs and 72 RBI’s off 170 hits, 31 doubles, 4 triples and 20 stolen bases. Shortstop Christian Guzman batted .274 with 8 home runs, 158 hits, 31 doubles, 4 triples and 10 stolen bases. Center fielder Torii Hunter batted .271 with 23 home runs and 81 RBI’s off 141 hits, 37 doubles and 21 stolen bases. Third baseman Corey Koskie had 25 home runs and 71 RBI’s off 106 hits, 24 doubles and 9 stolen bases in 118 games. Right fielder Jacques Jones had 24 home runs and 80 RBI’s off 141 hits, 22 doubles and 13 stolen bases.

Utility player and outfielder Shannon Stewart batted .304 with 11 home runs, 115 hits and 17 doubles in 92 games. Infielder Michael Cuddyer had 12 home runs, 89 hits and 22 doubles in 115 games. First baseman Justin Morneau batted .271 with 19 home runs, 76 hits and 17 doubles in 74 games. Second baseman Luis Rivas had 10 home runs, 86 hits, 19 doubles, 5 triples and 15 stolen bases in 109 games. Henry Blanco had 10 home runs, 65 hits and 19 doubles in 114 games. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz had 70 hits and 18 doubles in 78 games, and on July 31 he would be a part of a 4-team trade that would send him to the eventual World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs and the Montreal Expos were also involved in this 4-team trade.

For just 35 games Joe Mauer captured the imaginations of Minnesota baseball fans as he batted .308 with 6 home runs, 33 hits and 8 doubles, and he also performed like a true professional behind the plate catching games for starting pitchers. However, Mauer’s season would be cut short due to a serious knee injury.

The dominant ace of Minnesota’s starting rotation was Johan Santana as he went 20-6 with 265 strikeouts and a 2.61 ERA, recording 1 complete game and 1 shutout. Santana would win the American League Cy Young Award by posting these numbers. Carlos Silva went 14-8 with 1 complete game and 1 shutout. Brad Radke had felt the positive effect that Santana was having on the rest of the team as he went 11-8 with 143 strikeouts and a 3.48 ERA, recording 1 complete game and 1 shutout. Despite going 9-13 Kyle Lohse had 111 strikeouts, 1 complete game and 1 shutout.

As the closer Joe Nathan recorded 44 saves, 89 strikeouts and a very small 1.62 ERA. Relief pitcher Juan Rincon went 11-6 with 2 saves, 106 strikeouts and a 2.63 ERA. Juan Carlos Romero, who was better known as “J.C.”, went 7-4 with 1 save and a 3.51 ERA. Aaron Fultz went 3-3 with 1 save. Grant Balfour went 4-1 from the bullpen. Jesse Crain went 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA.

Making another late run in the regular season the Twins had a 9-game winning streak which began on September 7 with a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and it would end with a 10-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on September 16 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

In what turned out to be a complete mirror image of what occurred in the 2003 postseason, the 2004 postseason featured another battle against the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series for the Minnesota Twins. After winning the first game of the series, the Twins proceeded to drop the next 3 games and allow the Yankees to compete in the American League Championship Series.

In Game 1 on October 5 at Yankee Stadium II, the Twins blanked the Yankees 2-0. Johan Santana showed the Yankees why he had won the Cy Young Award as he pitched 7 innings and gave up 9 hits and 1 walk, but he managed to record 5 strikeouts. In the top of the 3rd inning Shannon Stewart had an RBI single, and in the top of the 6th Jacques Jones hit a solo home run.

2004 was clearly a year that had both ups and downs for the Minnesota Twins. Some of the highlights were very memorable while others were some that the Twins had wished turned out differently. The Twins would return to the postseason in 2006.