2004 Yankees

The 2004 New York Yankees won 101 games for the third straight year, added the best player in baseball to a lineup that already terrified pitchers, and still ended up as the answer to the worst trivia question in franchise history. I've tried to make peace with this season. I can't. You win 101 games, you acquire Alex Rodriguez, you go up 3-0 in the ALCS -- and somehow you're the team people remember for LOSING. That's 2004 in a nutshell.

But before October destroyed everything, this team was freakin' loaded. Let's give the regular season the credit it earned before the postseason took it all away.

The Biggest Offseason Move in a Generation

The Yankees swiped A-Rod from the Texas Rangers on February 16 after the Red Sox botched their own trade for him. (Boston couldn't work out the contract details. The Yankees said "cool, we'll take him.") The deal sent Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later -- Joaquin Arias -- to Texas. Rodriguez agreed to move from shortstop to third base because Derek Jeter was the captain, and you don't move the captain. The A-Rod trade was the most aggressive counterpunch the franchise had thrown at Boston since... well, since signing Jose Contreras a year earlier.

A Lineup That Didn't Quit

Rodriguez hit .286 with 36 homers, 106 RBI, and 28 stolen bases in his first year in pinstripes. Gary Sheffield tied him at 36 homers. Posada slugged 21 dingers and drove in 81. Matsui and Bernie both chipped in 20-plus homers. Even Tony Clark and Ruben Sierra got in on the action with 20-plus apiece. Eight guys with legitimate power in the same lineup. Pitchers didn't get a breather from the first inning to the ninth.

Jeter's Brutal Start

The Captain started the season like he'd forgotten how to hit. Jeter batted .168 through April, including a horrifying 1-for-36 stretch that had people openly wondering what was wrong. (Nothing was wrong. He's Derek Jeter. He figured it out.) He recovered over the summer and finished with respectable numbers, but those first few weeks were tough to watch.

The Night Nobody Wants to Remember

On August 31, Cleveland walked into the Stadium and beat the Yankees 22-0. Twenty-two to nothing. The worst loss in franchise history at the time and the largest shutout margin in modern baseball. Omar Vizquel went 6-for-6. Over 51,000 fans watched what turned into a public humiliation. Jake Westbrook threw seven scoreless innings for the Tribe and the Yankees just... didn't show up. A 101-win team getting blanked by 22 runs is the kind of thing that makes you question reality.

The Yankees shook it off and won the division by three games over Boston. That's what good teams do. They lose 22-0 on a Tuesday and win the next series.

Dispatching Minnesota (Again)

The ALDS against the Twins was routine business. The Yankees took the series 3-1, handled their business against a Minnesota team that just didn't have the firepower to compete, and moved on to face Boston in the ALCS. Same as 2003. The postseason bracket was set. Yankees-Red Sox, Part Two. What could go wrong?

The Collapse

Everything. Everything went wrong. The 2004 ALCS started beautifully -- the Yankees won the first three games, including a 19-8 annihilation in Game 3 that felt like a series-ending knockout. No team in MLB history had ever come back from 3-0 in a best-of-seven. The Yankees were four outs away from a sweep in Game 4 when Dave Roberts stole second base off Mariano Rivera and scored the tying run. Boston won in extras. Then they won Game 5 in extras. Then they won Game 6. Then they won Game 7, 10-3, at the Stadium while we sat there watching the whole thing fall apart in real time.

Mo blew saves in Games 4 and 5. The guy who'd been automatic for a decade suddenly wasn't. The Red Sox completed the only 3-0 comeback in baseball history and went on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series, breaking the Curse of the Bambino. And the Yankees went home with 101 wins and nothing to show for it.

The Aftermath

Three consecutive 100-win seasons -- 2002, 2003, 2004 -- and zero championships. That's 303 regular-season wins. Zero rings. Rodriguez went on to win MVP in 2005 and 2007. The Yanks didn't get back to the Fall Classic until 2009. And the 2004 ALCS still sits there in the franchise timeline like a scar that won't fade.

I still can't watch the Dave Roberts replay. I probably never will.

Key Moments

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the Yankees win the 2004 World Series?

No. The Yankees didn't reach the World Series. They lost the ALCS to the Boston Red Sox 4 games to 3 after leading 3-0 -- the first and only 3-0 comeback in MLB best-of-seven history. The Red Sox went on to sweep the Cardinals for their first championship in 86 years.

What was the Yankees' record in 2004?

The 2004 Yankees went 101-61, finishing first in the AL East by 3 games over the Red Sox. It was the third consecutive 100-win season (2002-2004), the first such streak in franchise history. They beat Minnesota 3-1 in the ALDS before the ALCS collapse.

When did Alex Rodriguez join the Yankees?

February 16, 2004. The Yankees acquired him from the Texas Rangers for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias (PTBNL). Rodriguez moved from shortstop to third base to accommodate Derek Jeter and hit .286 with 36 homers in his first Bronx season.

What was the worst loss in Yankees history?

On August 31, 2004, the Cleveland Indians beat the Yankees 22-0 at Yankee Stadium. It was the largest loss in franchise history at the time and the largest shutout margin in modern baseball. Omar Vizquel went 6-for-6 for Cleveland.