# 1904 Major League Baseball season

The 1904 major league baseball season was contested from April 14 to October 10, 1904. The Boston Americans and New York Giants finished atop the standings for the American League and National League, respectively. There was no postseason, as the Giants declined to meet the Americans in a World Series. Going into the season, the defending World Series champions were the Boston Americans from the 1903 season.
The St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers played 11 consecutive games against each other in September—the first six in Detroit and the final five in St. Louis—the most games played consecutively between two teams in major league history. The Chicago White Stockings shortened their name to the Chicago White Sox.

## Schedule

The 1904 schedule consisted of 154 games (an increase from 140 from the previous season) for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This format was an adjustment to the 140-game, 20-games-each format that had been in place from the 1901 season. This format would last until 1919.
Opening Day took place on April 14 with all but the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals playing. The National League and American League would see their final day of the regular season on October 9 & 10, respectively.

## Teams

| League | Team | City | Stadium | Capacity | Manager |
| American League | Boston Americans | Boston, Massachusetts | Huntington Avenue Grounds | 11,500 | Jimmy Collins |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | South Side Park | 14,000 | Jimmy Callahan |
| American League | Chicago White Sox | Chicago, Illinois | South Side Park | 14,000 | Fielder Jones |
| American League | Cleveland Naps | Cleveland, Ohio | League Park (Cleveland) | 9,000 | Bill Armour |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Bennett Park | 8,500 | Ed Barrow |
| American League | Detroit Tigers | Detroit, Michigan | Bennett Park | 8,500 | Bobby Lowe |
| American League | New York Highlanders | New York, New York | Hilltop Park | 16,000 | Clark Griffith |
| American League | Philadelphia Athletics | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Columbia Park | 9,500 | Connie Mack |
| American League | St. Louis Browns | St. Louis, Missouri | Sportsman's Park | 8,000 | Jimmy McAleer |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | American League Park | 7,000 | Malachi Kittridge |
| American League | Washington Senators | Washington, D.C. | American League Park | 7,000 | Patsy Donovan |
| National League | Boston Beaneaters | Boston, Massachusetts | South End Grounds | 6,600 | Al Buckenberger |
| National League | Brooklyn Superbas | New York, New York | Washington Park | 12,000 | Ned Hanlon |
| National League | Chicago Cubs | Chicago, Illinois | West Side Park | 13,000 | Frank Selee |
| National League | Cincinnati Reds | Cincinnati, Ohio | Palace of the Fans | 12,000 | Joe Kelley |
| National League | New York Giants | New York, New York | Polo Grounds | 16,000 | John McGraw |
| National League | Philadelphia Phillies | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | National League Park | 18,000 | Hugh Duffy |
| National League | Pittsburgh Pirates | Allegheny, Pennsylvania | Exposition Park | 16,000 | Fred Clarke |
| National League | St. Louis Cardinals | St. Louis, Missouri | League Park (St. Louis) | 15,200 | Kid Nichols |

## Standings
### American League

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 |

### National League

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 106 | 47 | .693 | — | 56‍–‍26 | 50‍–‍21 |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 60 | .608 | 13 | 49‍–‍27 | 44‍–‍33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | 65 | .575 | 18 | 49‍–‍27 | 39‍–‍38 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 87 | 66 | .569 | 19 | 48‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍36 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 79 | .487 | 31½ | 39‍–‍36 | 36‍–‍43 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 56 | 97 | .366 | 50 | 31‍–‍44 | 25‍–‍53 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 55 | 98 | .359 | 51 | 34‍–‍45 | 21‍–‍53 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 52 | 100 | .342 | 53½ | 28‍–‍43 | 24‍–‍57 |

## Postseason

No postseason was held this year.

## Managerial changes
### Off-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Philadelphia Phillies | Chief Zimmer | Hugh Duffy |
| St. Louis Cardinals | Patsy Donovan | Kid Nichols |
| Washington Senators | Tom Loftus | Malachi Kittridge |

### In-season

| Team | Former Manager | New Manager |
| Chicago White Stockings | Jimmy Callahan | Fielder Jones |
| Detroit Tigers | Ed Barrow | Bobby Lowe |
| Washington Senators | Malachi Kittridge | Patsy Donovan |

## League leaders

Any team shown in small text indicates a previous team a player was on during the season.

### American League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | .376 |
| OPS | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | .959 |
| HR | Harry Davis (PHA) | 10 |
| RBI | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | 102 |
| R | Patsy Dougherty (NYH/BSA) | 113 |
| H | Nap Lajoie (CLE) | 208 |
| SB | Harry Bay (CLE) Elmer Flick (CLE) | 38 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Jack Chesbro$^1$ (NYH) | 41 |
| L | Happy Townsend (WSH) | 26 |
| ERA | Addie Joss (CLE) | 1.59 |
| K | Rube Waddell (PHA) | 349 |
| IP | Jack Chesbro (NYH) | 454.2 |
| SV | Casey Patten (WSH) | 3 |
| WHIP | Cy Young (BSA) | 0.937 |
$^1$ Modern (1901–present) single-season wins record

### National League

Hitting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| AVG | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .349 |
| OPS | Honus Wagner (PIT) | .944 |
| HR | Harry Lumley (BKN) | 9 |
| RBI | Bill Dahlen (NYG) | 80 |
| R | George Browne (PIT) | 99 |
| H | Ginger Beaumont (PIT) | 185 |
| SB | Honus Wagner (PIT) | 53 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Total |
| W | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 35 |
| L | Vic Willis (BSB) Oscar Jones (BKN) | 25 |
| ERA | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 1.61 |
| K | Christy Mathewson (NYG) | 212 |
| IP | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 408.0 |
| SV | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 5 |
| WHIP | Joe McGinnity (NYG) | 0.963 |

## Home field attendance

| Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
| Boston Americans | 95 | 4.4% | 623,295 | 64.3% | 7,695 |
| New York Giants | 106 | 26.2% | 609,826 | 5.2% | 7,260 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 89 | 48.3% | 557,123 | 94.7% | 7,143 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 81 | 8.0% | 512,294 | 21.3% | 6,485 |
| Chicago Cubs | 93 | 13.4% | 439,100 | 13.7% | 5,629 |
| New York Highlanders | 92 | 27.8% | 438,919 | 107.2% | 5,852 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | 18.9% | 391,915 | 11.4% | 4,961 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 74.4% | 386,750 | 70.7% | 5,089 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 87 | −4.4% | 340,615 | 4.2% | 4,367 |
| St. Louis Browns | 65 | 0.0% | 318,108 | −16.4% | 4,078 |
| Cleveland Naps | 86 | 11.7% | 264,749 | −14.9% | 3,394 |
| Brooklyn Superbas | 56 | −20.0% | 214,600 | −4.5% | 2,824 |
| Detroit Tigers | 62 | −4.6% | 177,796 | −20.8% | 2,251 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 52 | 6.1% | 140,771 | −7.2% | 1,928 |
| Boston Beaneaters | 55 | −5.2% | 140,694 | −1.7% | 1,781 |
| Washington Senators | 38 | −11.6% | 131,744 | 2.2% | 1,689 |

## No-hitters

* May 5 – Cy Young
* August 17 – Jesse Tannehill

## Events

* May 30 – Frank Chance of the Chicago Cubs is hit by a pitch five times in a double header.