# 1904 New York Highlanders season

The 1904 New York Highlanders season, the team's second, finished with the team in second place in the American League with a record of 92–59. The team was managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at Hilltop Park.

## Offseason

* October 6, 1903: Jack O'Connor was traded by the Highlanders to the St. Louis Browns for John Anderson.
* January 5, 1904: Eddie Quick and Jack Zalusky were traded by the Highlanders to the Toledo Mud Hens for Red Kleinow.

## Regular season
### The name

The first verified use of the alternate nickname "Yankees" (a synonym for "Americans", the team being American Leaguers) occurred on April 7, 1904, when a spring training story from Richmond, Virginia carried the headline "Yankees Will Start Home From South To-Day." The New York Evening Journal screamed: "YANKEES BEAT BOSTON". The casual use of that nickname suggests it was already in the popular lexicon, although "Highlanders" would continue to be the primary (and equally unofficial) nickname for several more years.

### Season summary

The Highlanders were in the thick of the American League pennant race throughout the season, leading by two games as late as September 20. This led to the New York Giants announcement that they would not play in the World Series, since they considered the Highlanders to be only a "minor league" team.
On the final day of the season at Hilltop Park, New York pitcher Jack Chesbro threw a wild pitch in the ninth inning, giving the Boston Americans the win, and the 1904 AL pennant. Even though it was Boston who stole the pennant on the final day, the Giants stuck to their word and their refusal prevented the World Series from being played.
It would be a century later, in 2004, the next time Boston directly eliminated the Yankees from title contention, when they did so in the final game of the 2004 ALCS, a hundred years later in a repeat of sorts of the events of that year, the beginning of a long rivalry between the two clubs.

### Season standings

vteAmerican League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Americans | 95 | 59 | .617 | — | 49‍–‍30 | 46‍–‍29 |
| New York Highlanders | 92 | 59 | .609 | 1½ | 46‍–‍29 | 46‍–‍30 |
| Chicago White Sox | 89 | 65 | .578 | 6 | 50‍–‍27 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Naps | 86 | 65 | .570 | 7½ | 44‍–‍31 | 42‍–‍34 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 81 | 70 | .536 | 12½ | 47‍–‍31 | 34‍–‍39 |
| St. Louis Browns | 65 | 87 | .428 | 29 | 32‍–‍43 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 62 | 90 | .408 | 32 | 34‍–‍40 | 28‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 38 | 113 | .252 | 55½ | 23‍–‍52 | 15‍–‍61 |

### Record vs. opponents

1904 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYH | PHA | SLB | WSH |
| Boston | — | 13–9 | 9–13 | 16–6 | 12–10–2 | 13–9–1 | 12–10 | 20–2 |
| Chicago | 9–13 | — | 14–8 | 14–8–1 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 18–4 |
| Cleveland | 13–9 | 8–14 | — | 14–8–2 | 9–11–1 | 11–10 | 13–9 | 18–4 |
| Detroit | 6–16 | 8–14–1 | 8–14–2 | — | 7–15 | 10–12–1 | 11–11–2 | 12–8–4 |
| New York | 10–12–2 | 10–12–1 | 11–9–1 | 15–7 | — | 12–9 | 16–6 | 18–4 |
| Philadelphia | 9–13–1 | 14–8 | 10–11 | 12–10–1 | 9–12 | — | 11–10–1 | 16–6–1 |
| St. Louis | 10–12 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 11–11–2 | 6–16 | 10–11–1 | — | 11–10–1 |
| Washington | 2–20 | 4–18 | 4–18 | 8–12–4 | 4–18 | 6–16–1 | 10–11–1 | — |

### Roster
## 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 | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Deacon McGuire | 101 | 322 | 67 | .208 | 0 | 20 |
| 1B | John Ganzel | 130 | 465 | 121 | .260 | 6 | 48 |
| 2B | Jimmy Williams | 146 | 559 | 147 | .263 | 2 | 74 |
| 3B | Wid Conroy | 140 | 489 | 119 | .243 | 1 | 52 |
| SS | Kid Elberfeld | 122 | 445 | 117 | .263 | 2 | 46 |
| OF | Willie Keeler | 143 | 543 | 186 | .343 | 2 | 40 |
| OF | John Anderson | 143 | 558 | 155 | .278 | 3 | 82 |
| OF | Patsy Dougherty | 106 | 452 | 128 | .283 | 6 | 22 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Dave Fultz | 97 | 339 | 93 | .274 | 2 | 32 |
| Red Kleinow | 58 | 209 | 43 | .206 | 0 | 16 |
| Jack Thoney | 36 | 128 | 24 | .188 | 0 | 12 |
| Champ Osteen | 28 | 107 | 21 | .196 | 2 | 9 |
| Monte Beville | 9 | 22 | 6 | .273 | 0 | 2 |
| Bob Unglaub | 6 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 2 |
| Orth Collins | 5 | 17 | 6 | .353 | 0 | 1 |
| Frank McManus | 4 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Elmer Bliss | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Jack Chesbro | 55 | 454.2 | 41 | 12 | 1.82 | 239 |
| Jack Powell | 47 | 390.1 | 23 | 19 | 2.44 | 202 |
| Al Orth | 20 | 137.2 | 11 | 6 | 2.68 | 37 |
| Tom Hughes | 19 | 136.1 | 7 | 11 | 3.70 | 75 |
| Clark Griffith | 16 | 100.1 | 7 | 5 | 2.87 | 36 |
| Ned Garvin | 2 | 12.0 | 0 | 1 | 2.25 | 8 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Walter Clarkson | 13 | 66.1 | 1 | 2 | 5.02 | 43 |
| Ambrose Puttmann | 9 | 49.1 | 2 | 0 | 2.74 | 26 |
| Barney Wolfe | 7 | 33.2 | 0 | 3 | 3.21 | 8 |

## Awards and honors
### Records

* Jack Chesbro and Jack Powell, American League record, combined victories by two teammate pitchers (64)

#### Franchise records

* Jack Chesbro, Yankees single season record, most wins in a season (41)