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

The Expos held spring training at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida, in 2004. It was their second year of spring training at the facility.

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

Source

Season standings

National League East

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Source

Notable transactions

Final days

Scorecard

September 29, Olympic Stadium, Montréal, Québec

Batting

Pitching

Montreal ExposIPHRERBBSO
Kim, L 2.055211
Majewski2.122211
Tucker0.242201
Horgan2.020002
Beltran1.010001
Cordero1.010002
Totals9.0159628

The final game as the Expos

Scorecard

October 3, Shea Stadium, Flushing, New York

Batting

Pitching

New York MetsIPHRERBBSO
Glavine, W, 6.031145
Bell1.210002
Franco0.110000
Fortunato1.000012
TOTALS9.051159

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 bases
Complete offensive statistics are available .
PosPlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIAVGSB
C135436401122031249.2570
1B1605721121463923267.25513
2B110412511212401460.2943
SS1033904196192431.24612
3B1576067614630232110.24114
LF133398451072061562.2693
CF13250265139206534.27732
RF134391481202411249.3076
1B732513563160733.2516
2B1022183663142016.2895
C5513993161111.2232
SS35133193270416.2411
OF39127832100214.2520
SS3210710225214.2064
OF468441420110.1672
UT32626111026.1771
OF30636111016.1750
UT32604134013.2171
IF2050482012.1600
UT40443122000.2732
CF1142290001.2140
IF3443240011.0930
1B1126040003.1540
MI714000000.0000
P348122070110.2470
P1933040001.1210
P1729110011.0340
P4128162005.2140
P4222010000.0450
P1425020000.0801
P1115110000.0670
P1516000000.0000
P4411000000.0000
P5112110000.0830
P799031000.3330
P96110012.1670
P454010001.2500
P223220000.6670
P672000000.0000
P32000000.0000
P352010000.5000
P112010000.5000
P162000000.0000
P500000000
P200000000
P1800000000
Totals1625474635136127627151605.249109

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 = Strikeouts
Complete pitching statistics are available
PosPlayerWLERAGGSSVIPRERBBK
SP11153.6035350255.010510283186
SP5103.9319190116.253514561
SP475.031919098.158554699
SP373.401515084.240322038
SP244.881616072.041394554
SP365.141212063.047362338
CL732.946901482.228274384
RP6122.69810290.130271563
RP486.924791178.069603151
RP423.72541067.228281744
RP413.15470240.018142230
464.5843170135.280695587
555.2545140118.175696489
035.86360027.219182318
125.40190025.016151322
301.5492023.144718
013.86160121.0159512
013.93210018.1108817
007.53110114.1121258
1216.003309.01616710
006.755005.14454
0013.502000.21100
Totals67954.33162162311447.07696965821032

Awards and honors

2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
After several years in a holding pattern, MLB began actively looking for a relocation site for the Expos. Some of the choices included Orlando, Florida; Dayton, Ohio; Oklahoma City; Washington, D.C.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Northern Virginia; Norfolk, Virginia; and Charlotte, North Carolina. In the decision-making process, Commissioner Bud Selig added Las Vegas, Nevada to the list of potential Expos homes.
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:
On August 10, 2010, the Washington Nationals formally presented a new "Ring of Honor" at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., to honor Major League Baseball Hall of Fame players with ties to the Washington Nationals, original Washington Senators, expansion Washington Senators, Homestead Grays, or Montreal Expos. Gary Carter and Andre Dawson were the former Expos honored in the Ring of Honor on that day. The Expos logo appears next to their names in the Ring of Honor. On May 9, 2015, the Nationals added former Expos and Nationals manager Frank Robinson to the Ring of Honor at Nationals Park.

Farm system