Every 2004 MLB race charted day by day: AL East, AL Central, AL West, AL Wild Card, NL East, NL Central, NL West and NL Wild Card. Final standings, from a season that ran March 30 to October 3, 2004.
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AL East standings, 2004
Team
W
L
Pct
GB
L10
Streak
New York Yankees (NYY)
101
61
.623
-
6-4
W1
Boston Red Sox (BOS)
98
64
.605
3
7-3
L1
Baltimore Orioles (BAL)
78
84
.481
23
6-4
W1
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (TB)
70
91
.435
30.5
6-4
W1
Toronto Blue Jays (TOR)
67
94
.416
33.5
4-6
L1
Final standings.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 21 times.
The New York Yankees trailed by as many as 4.5 games on April 25, 2004.
The New York Yankees took first place for good on May 31, 2004.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won 12 games in a row from June 9, 2004 to June 22, 2004, the longest run of the race.
The Boston Red Sox led by 3 games as late as April 30, 2004.
The New York Yankees led by as many as 10.5 games on August 6, 2004.
The New York Yankees went 23-8 from May 26, 2004 to July 1, 2004, turning a deficit of 1.5 games into a lead of 8.5 games.
The top two ended the day within one game of each other on 45 of the 178 days played.
The New York Yankees spent 140 of the season's 188 charted days in first place.