2004 Montreal Expos season
The 2004 Montreal Expos season was the Expos′ 36th and final season in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team finished in fifth and last place in the National League East at 67-95, 29 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves. After the season, the team – which had played in Montreal since its foundation as an expansion franchise in 1969 – relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Nationals, as Major League Baseball returned to Washington for the 2005 season after a 33-season absence.
Offseason
- December 16, 2003: The Expos traded Javier Vázquez to the New York Yankees for Nick Johnson, Randy Choate, and Juan Rivera.
- January 6, 2004: The Expos signed Tony Batista as a free agent.
- January 8, 2004: The Expos signed Luis Lopez as a free agent.
Spring training
Regular season
Opening Day lineup
SourceSeason standings
National League East
Record vs. opponents
Game log
SourceNotable transactions
- June 11, 2004: The Expos released Luis Lopez.
- July 31, 2004: The Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox as part of a four-team deal. The Chicago Cubs sent Brendan Harris, Alex Gonzalez, and Francis Beltrán to the Expos. The Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Red Sox. The Cubs sent minor-league player Justin Jones to the Twins.
- September 16, 2004: The Expos sent Alex Gonzalez to the San Diego Padres as part of a conditional deal.
Roster
Final days
- September 29, 2004: Hours after the announcement of the impending move to Washington, D.C., the Expos played their final game in Montreal, a 9-1 loss to the Florida Marlins before 31,395 fans at Olympic Stadium. On that day the MLB officially recognized the 1994 Expos as "The Best Team in Baseball" with a banner for the center field wall,. The game was almost forfeited in the 8th inning when Expos fans threw golf balls onto the field in hopes of making the game longer.
- October 2, 2004: The Expos earned their last win before becoming the Nationals, defeating the New York Mets 6-3. Brad Wilkerson hit the last home run in Expos history in the ninth inning, his 32nd of the year.
- October 3, 2004: The New York Mets defeated Montreal 8-1 at Shea Stadium, in the final game as the Montreal Expos. Jamey Carroll scored the last Expos run and Endy Chávez became the final Expo batter in history when he grounded out in the top of the ninth to end the game. Coincidentally, Shea Stadium was where the Expos had played their first-ever game, in 1969.
The final game in Montreal
Scorecard
September 29, Olympic Stadium, Montréal, QuébecBatting
Pitching
Montreal Expos | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Kim, L | 2.0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Majewski | 2.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Tucker | 0.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Horgan | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Beltran | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Cordero | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 9.0 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
The final game as the Expos
Scorecard
October 3, Shea Stadium, Flushing, New YorkBatting
Pitching
New York Mets | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Glavine, W, | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Bell | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Franco | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fortunato | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
TOTALS | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
Attendance
Including both games played in Montreal and "home" games played in San Juan, the Expos drew 749,550 fans during the 2004 season, and were 16th in attendance among the 16 National League teams. Their highest attendance for the season was for their final game in Montreal on September 29, which attracted 31,395 fans to see them play the Florida Marlins, while their lowest was for a game in Montreal on May 5 against the Colorado Rockies, which drew only 3,609 fans. For games played in San Juan, the largest crowd was 16,836 for a game against the San Francisco Giants on May 22, and the smallest was a crowd of 7,436 that came to a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 9.The Expos lost one home date during the season, when the May 23 "home" game at San Juan against the Giants was rained out and rescheduled to be played as an away game in San Francisco as part of a single-admission doubleheader on August 18. The doubleheader drew 42,296.
Player stats
Batting
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen basesComplete offensive statistics are available .
Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
C | 135 | 436 | 40 | 112 | 20 | 3 | 12 | 49 | .257 | 0 | |
1B | 160 | 572 | 112 | 146 | 39 | 2 | 32 | 67 | .255 | 13 | |
2B | 110 | 412 | 51 | 121 | 24 | 0 | 14 | 60 | .294 | 3 | |
SS | 103 | 390 | 41 | 96 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 31 | .246 | 12 | |
3B | 157 | 606 | 76 | 146 | 30 | 2 | 32 | 110 | .241 | 14 | |
LF | 133 | 398 | 45 | 107 | 20 | 6 | 15 | 62 | .269 | 3 | |
CF | 132 | 502 | 65 | 139 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 34 | .277 | 32 | |
RF | 134 | 391 | 48 | 120 | 24 | 1 | 12 | 49 | .307 | 6 | |
1B | 73 | 251 | 35 | 63 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 33 | .251 | 6 | |
2B | 102 | 218 | 36 | 63 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 16 | .289 | 5 | |
C | 55 | 139 | 9 | 31 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 11 | .223 | 2 | |
SS | 35 | 133 | 19 | 32 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 16 | .241 | 1 | |
OF | 39 | 127 | 8 | 32 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 14 | .252 | 0 | |
SS | 32 | 107 | 10 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .206 | 4 | |
OF | 46 | 84 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | .167 | 2 | |
UT | 32 | 62 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .177 | 1 | |
OF | 30 | 63 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .175 | 0 | |
UT | 32 | 60 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .217 | 1 | |
IF | 20 | 50 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .160 | 0 | |
UT | 40 | 44 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .273 | 2 | |
CF | 11 | 42 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .214 | 0 | |
IF | 34 | 43 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .093 | 0 | |
1B | 11 | 26 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .154 | 0 | |
MI | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
P | 34 | 81 | 2 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 10 | .247 | 0 | |
P | 19 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .121 | 0 | |
P | 17 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .034 | 0 | |
P | 41 | 28 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .214 | 0 | |
P | 42 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .045 | 0 | |
P | 14 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .080 | 1 | |
P | 11 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .067 | 0 | |
P | 15 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
P | 44 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
P | 51 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .083 | 0 | |
P | 79 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | 0 | |
P | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .167 | 0 | |
P | 45 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | 0 | |
P | 22 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | 0 | |
P | 67 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
P | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
P | 35 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 | |
P | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 | |
P | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | |
P | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | |
P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | |
P | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | |
Totals | 162 | 5474 | 635 | 1361 | 276 | 27 | 151 | 605 | .249 | 109 |
Pitching
Note: Pos = Position; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = StrikeoutsComplete pitching statistics are available
Pos | Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | R | ER | BB | K |
SP | 11 | 15 | 3.60 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 255.0 | 105 | 102 | 83 | 186 | |
SP | 5 | 10 | 3.93 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 116.2 | 53 | 51 | 45 | 61 | |
SP | 4 | 7 | 5.03 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 98.1 | 58 | 55 | 46 | 99 | |
SP | 3 | 7 | 3.40 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 84.2 | 40 | 32 | 20 | 38 | |
SP | 2 | 4 | 4.88 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 72.0 | 41 | 39 | 45 | 54 | |
SP | 3 | 6 | 5.14 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 63.0 | 47 | 36 | 23 | 38 | |
CL | 7 | 3 | 2.94 | 69 | 0 | 14 | 82.2 | 28 | 27 | 43 | 84 | |
RP | 6 | 12 | 2.69 | 81 | 0 | 2 | 90.1 | 30 | 27 | 15 | 63 | |
RP | 4 | 8 | 6.92 | 47 | 9 | 11 | 78.0 | 69 | 60 | 31 | 51 | |
RP | 4 | 2 | 3.72 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 67.2 | 28 | 28 | 17 | 44 | |
RP | 4 | 1 | 3.15 | 47 | 0 | 2 | 40.0 | 18 | 14 | 22 | 30 | |
4 | 6 | 4.58 | 43 | 17 | 0 | 135.2 | 80 | 69 | 55 | 87 | ||
5 | 5 | 5.25 | 45 | 14 | 0 | 118.1 | 75 | 69 | 64 | 89 | ||
0 | 3 | 5.86 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 27.2 | 19 | 18 | 23 | 18 | ||
1 | 2 | 5.40 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 25.0 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 22 | ||
3 | 0 | 1.54 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 23.1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 18 | ||
0 | 1 | 3.86 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 21.0 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 12 | ||
0 | 1 | 3.93 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 18.1 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 17 | ||
0 | 0 | 7.53 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 14.1 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 8 | ||
1 | 2 | 16.00 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9.0 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 10 | ||
0 | 0 | 6.75 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | ||
0 | 0 | 13.50 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
Totals | 67 | 95 | 4.33 | 162 | 162 | 31 | 1447.0 | 769 | 696 | 582 | 1032 |
Awards and honors
- Liván Hernández, Silver Slugger Award
League leaders
- Liván Hernández, National League Leader, Complete Games, 9
- Liván Hernández, National League Leader, Innings Pitched, 255.0
- Liván Hernández, National League Leader, 3,927 pitches thrown
All-Stars
- Liván Hernández, Pitcher, Reserve
Relocation to Washington
On September 29, 2004, MLB officially announced that the Expos would move to Washington, D.C. in 2005. The move was approved by the owners of the other teams in a 28-1 vote on December 3. In addition, on November 15, 2004, a lawsuit by the former team owners against MLB and former majority owner Jeffrey Loria was struck down by arbitrators, ending legal moves to keep the Expos in Montreal.
Retired numbers ceremony
As a tribute to the Expos, on October 18, 2005, the Montreal Canadiens honoured the departed team by raising an Expos commemorative banner, which lists the retired numbers, to the rafters of the Bell Centre. Gary Carter and Andre Dawson were at the ceremony with Youppi, who was now the Canadiens mascot. The Banner featured all of the Expos retired numbers:- 8 Gary Carter, C, 1974-84 & 1992
- 10 Andre Dawson, OF, 1977–86 and Rusty Staub, OF, 1969-71 & 1979
- 30 Tim Raines, OF, 1979-90 & 2001
- 42 Jackie Robinson
Expos in the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor