The 2004 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 2004 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 5, and ended on Saturday, October 9, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. They were:
- (1) New York Yankees (Eastern Division champion, 101–61) vs. (3) Minnesota Twins (Central Division champion, 92–70): Yankees win series, 3–1.
- (2) Anaheim Angels (Western Division champion, 92–70) vs. (4) Boston Red Sox (Wild Card, 98–64): Red Sox win series, 3–0.
The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage. The Angels received home field advantage rather than the Twins due to their winning the season series 6–4 against Minnesota. Although the team with the best record was normally intended to play the wild card team, the Yankees played the Twins, rather than the wild card Red Sox, because the Yankees and Red Sox are in the same division.
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox went on to meet in the AL Championship Series (ALCS). The Red Sox became the American League champion, and defeated the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series for their first World Championship since 1918.
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“The heritage of the American Revolution is forgotten, and the American government, for better and for worse, has entered into the heritage of Europe as though it were its patrimony—unaware, alas, of the fact that Europe’s declining power was preceded and accompanied by political bankruptcy, the bankruptcy of the nation-state and its concept of sovereignty.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
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—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)
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—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
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—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)