2003 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 2003 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 2003 in baseball.

2003 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	March 30, 2003 – October 25, 2003
Regular Season
Season MVP	AL: Alex Rodriguez (TEX) NL: Barry Bonds (SFG)
League Postseason
AL champions	New York Yankees
AL runners-up	Boston Red Sox
NL champions	Florida Marlins
NL runners-up	Chicago Cubs
World Series
Champions	Florida Marlins
Runners-up	New York Yankees
Finals MVP	Josh Beckett (FLA)

The 2003 Major League Baseball season ended when the Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees in a six-game 2003 World Series. The Detroit Tigers set the American League record for losses in a season, with 119, and the Marlins became the first team to win the championship twice as a wild card.

Managers

American League

Team	Manager	Comments
Anaheim Angels	Mike Scioscia
Baltimore Orioles	Mike Hargrove
Boston Red Sox	Grady Little
Chicago White Sox±	Jerry Manuel	Hosted the All-Star Game
Cleveland Indians	Eric Wedge
Detroit Tigers	Alan Trammell
Kansas City Royals	Tony Peña
Minnesota Twins	Ron Gardenhire
New York Yankees	Joe Torre	Won the AL pennant
Oakland Athletics	Ken Macha
Seattle Mariners	Bob Melvin
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Lou Piniella
Texas Rangers	Buck Showalter
Toronto Blue Jays	Carlos Tosca

National League

Team	Manager	Comments
Arizona Diamondbacks	Bob Brenly
Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox
Chicago Cubs	Dusty Baker
Cincinnati Reds	Bob Boone	Replaced during the season by Dave Miley
Colorado Rockies	Clint Hurdle
Florida Marlins	Jeff Torborg	Replaced during the season by Jack McKeon, won World Series
Houston Astros	Jimy Williams
Los Angeles Dodgers	Jim Tracy
Milwaukee Brewers	Ned Yost
Montreal Expos	Frank Robinson
New York Mets	Art Howe
Philadelphia Phillies	Larry Bowa
Pittsburgh Pirates	Lloyd McClendon
St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa
San Diego Padres	Bruce Bochy
San Francisco Giants	Felipe Alou

±hosted the MLB All Star Game

Major league baseball final standings

American League

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽¹⁾ New York Yankees	101	61	0.623	—	50–32	51–29
⁽⁴⁾ Boston Red Sox	95	67	0.586	6	53–28	42–39
Toronto Blue Jays	86	76	0.531	15	41–40	45–36
Baltimore Orioles	71	91	0.438	30	40–40	31–51
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	63	99	0.389	38	36–45	27–54

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽³⁾ Minnesota Twins	90	72	0.556	—	48–33	42–39
Chicago White Sox	86	76	0.531	4	51–30	35–46
Kansas City Royals	83	79	0.512	7	40–40	43–39
Cleveland Indians	68	94	0.420	22	38–43	30–51
Detroit Tigers	43	119	0.265	47	23–58	20–61

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽²⁾ Oakland Athletics	96	66	0.593	—	57–24	39–42
Seattle Mariners	93	69	0.574	3	50–31	43–38
Anaheim Angels	77	85	0.475	19	45–37	32–48
Texas Rangers	71	91	0.438	25	43–38	28–53

National League

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽¹⁾ Atlanta Braves	101	61	0.623	—	55–26	46–35
⁽⁴⁾ Florida Marlins	91	71	0.562	10	53–28	38–43
Philadelphia Phillies	86	76	0.531	15	49–32	37–44
Montreal Expos	83	79	0.512	18	52–29	31–50
New York Mets	66	95	0.410	34½	34–46	32–49

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽³⁾ Chicago Cubs	88	74	0.543	—	44–37	44–37
Houston Astros	87	75	0.537	1	48–33	39–42
St. Louis Cardinals	85	77	0.525	3	48–33	37–44
Pittsburgh Pirates	75	87	0.463	13	39–42	36–45
Cincinnati Reds	69	93	0.426	19	35–46	34–47
Milwaukee Brewers	68	94	0.420	20	31–50	37–44

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
⁽²⁾ San Francisco Giants	100	61	0.621	—	57–24	43–37
Los Angeles Dodgers	85	77	0.525	15½	46–35	39–42
Arizona Diamondbacks	84	78	0.519	16½	45–36	39–42
Colorado Rockies	74	88	0.457	26½	49–32	25–56
San Diego Padres	64	98	0.395	36½	35–46	29–52

Postseason

League Division Series			League Championship Series			World Series

1	New York Yankees	3
3	Minnesota	1
			1	New York Yankees	4
American League
			4	Boston	3
2	Oakland	2

4	Boston	3
						AL	New York Yankees	2
						NL	Florida	4
1	Atlanta	2
3	Chicago Cubs	3
			3	Chicago Cubs	3
National League
			4	Florida	4
2	San Francisco	1

4	Florida	3

World Series MVP: Josh Beckett
- American League Championship Series MVP: Mariano Rivera
- National League Championship Series MVP: Iván Rodríguez
All-Star Game, July 15 at U.S. Cellular Field: American League, 7–6; Garret Anderson, MVP

Statistical leaders

	American League		National League
Type	Name	Stat	Name	Stat
AVG	Bill Mueller BOS	.326	Albert Pujols STL	.359
HR	Alex Rodriguez TEX	47	Jim Thome PHI	47
RBI	Carlos Delgado TOR	145	Preston Wilson COL	141
Wins	Roy Halladay TOR	22	Russ Ortiz ATL	21
ERA	Pedro Martínez BOS	2.22	Jason Schmidt SF	2.34
SO	Esteban Loaiza CHW	207	Kerry Wood CHC	266
SV	Keith Foulke OAK	43	Éric Gagné LA	55
SB	Carl Crawford TB	55	Juan Pierre FLA	65

Events

April 2 – The Detroit Tigers become the first team to have four pitchers make their Major League debut in the same game. Jeremy Bonderman, Wilfredo Ledezma, Chris Spurling and Matt Roney all played in the 8-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.^[1]
May 23 – During the Atlanta Braves 15-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, Braves players Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit consecutive home runs to start the game.^[2]
June 23 – Barry Bonds steals his 500th career base, becoming the only member of baseball's 500 home run/500 stolen base club

References

↑ "Charlton's Baseball Chronology". BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
↑ Mackin, Bob (2004). The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records. Canada: Greystone Books. p. 240. ISBN 9781553650386.

Links to related articles

2003 Major League Baseball postseason

World Series

American League Championship Series National League Championship Series

American League Division Series National League Division Series

American League teams	Boston Red Sox Minnesota Twins New York Yankees Oakland Athletics

National League teams	Atlanta Braves Chicago Cubs Florida Marlins San Francisco Giants

Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Special

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2003 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston New York Tampa Bay Toronto

AL Central	Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Minnesota

AL West	Anaheim Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Atlanta Florida New York Philadelphia Montréal

NL Central	Chicago Cincinnati Houston Milwaukee Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Arizona Colorado Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Major League Baseball seasons

Pre-modern era

Beginnings	1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881

Competition	1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891

NL monopoly	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900

Modern era

Deadball era	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920

Liveball era	1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941

World War II	1942 1943 1944 1945

Postwar	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960

First expansion	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968

Birth of division play	1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993

Wildcard begins	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Wildcard expansion	2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017