The Beginning of the Return

Name: LA Dodgers

Card Company: Topps

Year: 2004

Coach: Jim Tracy

Ok, instead of just covering one player this week I’ve decided that I’m going to cover a whole team instead. And no, it’s not just because I feel like it, it’s because I’m actually one of the weird people that hang onto team photo cards. So, as you can probably already decipher by the card we are going to be talking about the 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers. However, what you probably don’t know is that during this season the Dodgers went through an ownership changer, new GM and a late season rally to win the division? If you did good for you, if not then please sit back and enjoy.

The season before saw the Dodgers finish 2nd in the NL west with an 85-77 record, behind the 100-win Giants, and missing out on the playoffs in the process. The Dodgers hadn’t won the division since 1995 and hadn’t won a postseason game since 1988, and this season just continued the mediocrity. But things were about to change, and in 2004 the Dodgers were sold to Frank McCourt who immediately dismissed the GM and vowed to bring back the glory days of the Dodgers. He would start doing this by being very aggressive in the offseason when it came to trades. Below are all the trades the Dodgers made in the 2003-2004 offseason.

12/13/03: Acquired Jeff Weaver, Yhency Brazobán and Brandon Weeden from the New York Yankees for Kevin Brown and cash

3/29/04: Acquired Jason Grabowski from the Oakland Athletics for cash

3/30/04: Acquired Jayson Werth from the Toronto Blue Jays for Jason Frasor

4/1/04: Acquired Cody Ross from the Detroit Tigers for Steve Colyer and cash

4/3/04: Acquired Aaron Looper and Ryan Ketchner from the Seattle Mariners for Jolbert Cabrera

4/3/04: Acquired Antonio Perez from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Jason Romano

4/4/04: Acquired Milton Bradley from the Cleveland Indians for Franklin Gutierrez and Andrew Brown

And these trades still weren’t enough for McCourt, who decided that at the trade deadline in July that he still needed to make more trades.

7/30/04: Acquired Brad Penny, Hee-Seop Choi and Bill Murphy from the Florida Marlins for Guillermo Mota, Paul Lo Duca and Juan Encarnación

7/31/04: Acquired Brent Mayne and Steve Finley from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Bill Murphy, Koyie Hill and Reggie Abercrombie

7/31/04: Acquired Henri Stanley from the Boston Red Sox for Dave Roberts

And finally, the Dodgers would have every piece they needed to bring back the glory days of old. And you know what, it worked. The 2004 season saw the Dodgers return back to relevance as stars like Adrian Beltre, Cesar Izturis and Eric Gagne would all have great seasons and help carry the Dodgers. The real breakout star that year though was Adrian Beltre, who exploded in the 04’ season for 48 HR and 121 RBI’s to go along with his .334 BA, he finished 2nd in MVP voting and took home his first ever silver slugger.

The starting pitching staff however was nothing spectacular and would prove to be the team’s weakness. The starting rotation would finish the year with 4.53 ERA good enough for 14th in the league that year. However, with the lack of a true ace the Dodgers would be relying on unproven playoff performers in the postseason. Never and I mean ever should Odalis Perez be your number one option in your rotation. The bullpen on the other hand would end up being the strength of this pitching staff. Featuring 2003 Cy Young winner Eric Gagne, the Dodgers pen would finish with the 2nd best bullpen ERA in league while Gagne would end up saving 45 games.

The Dodgers would be locked in a shootout with the arch-rival Giants for the entire year and in the end, it would all be decided in the years final series in LA. The Giants were down 3 games in the standings to the Dodgers going into that series and needed a sweep. And in game one of the series the Giants would win 4-2 meaning that all they needed to do was win the last two games. Game two would start out very well for the Giants as starter Brett Tomko held the Dodgers scoreless for 7.1 innings, and in the 9th inning the Giants held a 3-0 lead. But the Dodgers would rally for 3-runs in the 9th and with one out loaded and the bases loaded Steve Finley stepped to the plate and blasted a walk-off grand slam putting the Dodgers in the playoffs.

This however would be the highlight of the Dodgers season as they would fall in 5 games to the eventual NL Champ St. Louis Cardinals. All in all, it wasn’t a bad season for the Dodgers and it looked like the Dodgers would be poised to take the NL Crown in 2005. However, in 2005 the Dodgers would lose 91 games which lead to another GM change. As we all know today the Dodgers are doing just fine and don’t need our sympathies, but they are still chasing that elusive World Series title.

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