After their team won the NL title in 1903, Braves fans were hungry for a repeat and they received it in 1904. The combination of hitters Billy Lush and Fred Tenney plus the pitching of Chief Bender and Bill Dineen led Boston to the title as they were a half-game behind Brooklyn with Philadelphia only 1 game behind the Superbas in third. Boston was able to overtake Brooklyn and gain a 3.5 game lead before holding on and finishing in front by three games. The Phillies collapsed and were eliminated from the race with about a week to go. Brooklyn finished in second thanks to the bats of Tom Leahy, who finished second in average with .329, and Steve Brodie, who finished second in home runs with 6. The Phillies were led at the plate by Jack Doyle, who led the NL in runs batted in with 92.
The cheers of Braves fans turned sour as Boston's President refused to play the title winner from the American League, stating that last year's results in the World Series was a fluke and the league was inferior and not good enough to play the National League's title winner for a championship.
Code:
National League W L PCT GB
Boston 90 64 .584 --
Brooklyn 87 67 .565 3
Philadelphia 83 71 .539 7
Pittsburgh 81 73 .526 9
New York 74 80 .481 16
Chicago 72 82 .468 18
St.Louis 68 86 .442 22
Cincinnati 61 93 .396 29
Batting AVG AVG
J.Donahue, PIT .339
T.Leahy, BRO .329
B.Lush, BSN .301
Homeruns HR
P.Dougherty, SLN 7
S.Brodie, BRO 6
B.Hamilton, PIT 6
Runs Batted In RBI
J.Doyle, PHI 92
J.Stahl, CIN 73
F.Tenney, BSN 73
Runs Scored RS
B.Lush, BSN 89
J.Kelley, BRO 87
R.Thomas, PHI 86
Stolen Bases SB
F.Chance, CHN 58
B.Hamilton, PIT 58
H.Wagner, SLN 46
Earned Run Average ERA
C.Bender, BSN 1.88
F.Morrissey, BRO 1.96
E.Walsh, SLN 2.02
Wins W
I.Young, PIT 26
C.Bender, BSN 24
B.Dineen, BSN 24
Saves SV
B.Pounds, CHN 3
J.Cronin, PHI 2
F.Kitson, BSN 2
Strikeouts SO
C.Mathewson, NY1 216
C.Bender, BSN 207
B.Dineen, BSN 187