In the American League, the New York Yankees made their tenth straight postseason appearance, the Minnesota Twins returned for the third straight year, the Anaheim Angels returned for the second time in three years, and the Boston Red Sox returned for the second straight year.
In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals returned for the fourth time in five years, the Atlanta Braves made their thirteenth straight appearance, the Houston Astros returned for the second time in four years, and the Los Angeles Dodgers made their first appearance of the new Millennium.
The postseason began on October 5, 2004, and ended on October 27, 2004, with the Red Sox sweeping the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. It was the Red Sox's first title since 1918, ending the Curse of the Bambino.
In a rematch of the previous year's series, the Yankees once again defeated the Twins to return to the ALCS for the seventh time in the past nine years.
Johan Santana pitched seven innings of shutout baseball as he outdueled New York’s Mike Mussina in a 2–0 Twins victory in Game 1. Game 2 was an offensive shootout that went into extra innings - the Twins took the lead in the top of the twelfth thanks to a solo home run from Torii Hunter, but in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees tied the game, and then won thanks to a sacrifice fly from Hideki Matsui that scored Derek Jeter, evening the series headed to Minneapolis. Game 3 was all Yankees, as they erased an early deficit to win 8–4 and take the series lead. In Game 4, the Twins led 5–2 in the top of the eighth, until Rubén Sierra hit a three-run home run to force extra innings. In the top of the eleventh, Alex Rodriguez scored off a wild pitch from Kyle Lohse which put the Yankees in the lead for good. Mariano Rivera retired the Twins 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eleventh to close out the series.
The Twins would not win another postseason game until 2023, in which they swept the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card round.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Angels and Red Sox, the last time was in the 1986 ALCS, which the Red Sox won in seven games after being down 3–1 in the series. The Red Sox again defeated the Angels, this time in a sweep, to return to the ALCS for the second year in a row.
This series was not close - Curt Schilling pitched six solid innings as the Red Sox blew out the Angels in Game 1 on the road. Pedro Martínez pitched seven solid innings as the Red Sox again blew out the Angels to take a 2–0 series lead headed home. Game 3 was a close offensive shootout that went into extra innings, which was won by the Red Sox as David Ortiz completed the sweep for the Red Sox with a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the tenth.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Dodgers and Cardinals. They previously met in the 1985 NLCS, which the Cardinals won in six games. The Cardinals defeated the Dodgers in four games to return to the NLCS for the third time in five years.
Albert Pujols, Larry Walker, Jim Edmonds, and Mike Matheny all homered for the Cardinals as they blew out the Dodgers in Game 1. The Cardinals blew out the Dodgers again in Game 2 to take a 2–0 series lead headed to Los Angeles. In Game 3, José Lima pitched a five-hit complete game shutout for the Dodgers as they won 4–0 to get on the board in the series. Game 4 was tied early, until a three-run home run by Pujols in the top of the fourth put the Cardinals ahead for good, closing out the series.
Both teams would meet again in the NLDS in 2009, the 2013 NLCS, the NLDS again in 2014, and the Wild Card Game in 2021, with the Dodgers taking the first and last series, and the Cardinals winning the two in between.
In the fourth postseason meeting between these two teams, the Astros finally defeated the Braves in a tight five-game series to return to the NLCS for the first time since 1986.
Brad Ausmus, Lance Berkman, Carlos Beltrán, and Jason Lane all homered for the Astros as they blew out the Braves in Game 1 on the road. In Game 2, the Astros held a 2–1 going into the bottom of the eighth, until the Braves forced extra innings with an Adam LaRoche RBI double. Rafael Furcal won the game for the Braves in the bottom of the eleventh with a walk-off two-run home run to even the series headed to Houston. Game 3 was an offensive shootout that was won by the Astros as their bullpen stopped a late rally by the Braves to regain the series lead. In Game 4, the Astros lead 5–2 early, but the Braves rallied to win thanks to Furcal scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth to send the series back to Atlanta for a decisive fifth game. However, it wasn’t enough as the Astros blew out the Braves by nine runs in front of their home fans to advance. This was the first playoff series ever won by the Astros.
Both teams would meet again in the NLDS the next year, with the Astros prevailing again in four games. They would also meet again in the 2021 World Series, which the Braves won in six games.
This was the third postseason meeting of the Yankees–Red Sox rivalry. In one of the most shocking results in North American sports history, the Red Sox became the first team in MLB history to overcome a three games to none series deficit to win a playoff series, defeating the Yankees in seven games to return to the World Series for the first time since 1986 (in the process denying a rematch of the 1964 World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals).
Game 1 was an offensive shootout between both teams, which was won by the Yankees. In Game 2, Jon Lieber outdueled Pedro Martínez in a pitchers duel as the Yankees narrowly won to take a 2–0 series lead headed to Fenway Park. The Yankees went up 3–0 in the series after a 19–8 bludgeoning of the Red Sox in Game 3. After the game, Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe wrote, "They are down, 3–0, after last night's 19–8 rout, and, in this sport, that is an official death sentence. Soon it will be over, and we will spend another dreary winter lamenting this and lamenting that."[33] However, thanks to walk-off heroics from David Ortiz, the Red Sox narrowly won Games 4 and 5, in twelve and fourteen innings respectively, to force the series back to the Bronx. Game 6 became known as the “Bloody Sock Game”, as Red Sox starter Curt Schilling pitched with a torn tendon sheath in his right ankle that was sutured in place by the Red Sox team doctors. The Red Sox jumped out to a 4–0 lead in the top of the fourth thanks to a three-run home run by Mark Bellhorn, and despite the Yankees cutting their lead to two in the bottom of the eighth, Schilling and Keith Foulke kept the Yankees’ offense at bay to win 4–2 to force a seventh game, becoming the first team in MLB history to force a Game 7 after being down 3–0 in the series. The Red Sox blew out the Yankees in Game 7 in part thanks to home runs from Ortiz, Bellhorn, and Johnny Damon, clinching the pennant and completing an improbable comeback.
This was the first ALCS loss for the Yankees since 1980. The 2004 ALCS marked a turning point for both the Yankees and Red Sox. The Yankees entered a slump after the series loss, winning one more World Series in 2009, then they would fail to win the pennant during the next decade, and would lose to the Red Sox two more times in the postseason, in 2018 and 2021. The opposite was true for the Red Sox, as the team trended upwards, winning the World Series, and winning three more championships, in 2007, 2013, and 2018.
The Red Sox would win their next AL pennant in 2007, where they defeated the Cleveland Indians in seven games after trailing three games to one in the series. The Red Sox would also win the pennant in 2013 and 2018 over the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros respectively. The Yankees would return to the ALCS in 2009, and defeat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in six games en route to their most recent World Series championship.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Cardinals and Astros. In a series where neither team won an away game, the Cardinals defeated the Astros in seven games to return to the World Series for the first time since 1987.
The Cardinals took Game 1 in a high-scoring affair, 10–7, and won Game 2 by a 6–4 score thanks to back-to-back solo home runs from Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen. The Astros won convincingly in Game 3 by a 5–2 score to avoid a sweep thanks to a stellar pitching performance from Roger Clemens, and then took Game 4 by one run thanks to a solo home run by Carlos Beltrán in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the series at two. The Astros then won Game 5 in a 3–0 shutout thanks to a walk-off three-run home run from Jeff Kent, and were now one win away from their first World Series appearance in franchise history. However, back in St. Louis, the Cardinals won Game 6 after a twelve-inning duel thanks to a walk-off two-run home run from Jim Edmonds to force a seventh game. Then in Game 7, the Cardinals overcame a late Astros lead to win 5–2 and secure the pennant.
Both teams would meet again in the NLCS the next year, which the Astros won in six games. The Cardinals would win their next NL pennant in 2006, against the New York Mets in seven games.
This was the third World Series meeting between the Cardinals and Red Sox. It was also the ninth meeting between teams from Boston and St. Louis for a major professional sports championship. This previously happened in two World Series (1946, 1967), four NBA Finals (1957, 1958, 1960, 1961), Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, and the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals. The previous meetings in 1946 and 1967 were both won by the Cardinals. However, history would not repeat itself, as the Red Sox upset the 105-win Cardinals in a sweep to win their first title since 1918, ending the Curse of the Bambino. This was the third consecutive World Series won by a Wild Card team.
Game 1 was an offensive shootout between both teams that was won by the Red Sox, which saw David Ortiz hit a three-run home run in his first World Series at-bat. Curt Schilling pitched six solid innings as the Red Sox won Game 2 by a 6–2 score to go up 2–0 in the series headed to St. Louis. Pedro Martínez pitched seven innings of shutout baseball in Game 3 as the Red Sox won 4–1 to take a commanding three games to none series lead. Derek Lowe also pitched seven shutout innings in Game 4 as the Red Sox shut out the Cardinals to end their long championship drought. Game 4 was the last World Series game ever played at Busch Memorial Stadium. The Cardinals became the eighth 100+ win team to be swept in the postseason.
Along with the New England Patriots winning Super Bowl XXXVIII, the Boston metropolitan area had both World Series and Super Bowl champions in the same season or calendar year. The Cardinals and Red Sox would meet in the World Series again, in 2013, which the Red Sox won in six games. The Red Sox also made and won two more World Series - in 2007, and 2018 against the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers respectively. The Cardinals would return to the World Series in 2006, in which they defeated the Detroit Tigers in five games, and in 2011 where they defeated the Texas Rangers in seven games.
Broadcasting
This was the second of four years that Division Series games aired across ESPN, ESPN2, and Fox. Fox then aired both League Championship Series and the World Series.
