After 2003 ended in such disappointment Cubs fans quickly turned to the hope of 2004. The Cubs would be stacked again after what was believed to be a solid offseason for Jim Hendry. Greg Maddux was brought in as a free agent to complete the starting staff, Hee Seop Choi was traded for Derrek Lee, little known Michael Barrett was picked up to catch, and former ace setup man LaTroy Hawkins was brought in to close games.

Sports Illustrated picked the Cubs to win the World Series (warning number 1) and the team had one of the most stacked starting staffs in history Mark Prior (warning number 2), Kerry Wood (warning number 3), Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux, and Matt Clement were ready to rock the NL. The lineup featured solid veterans at almost every position and two young stars at first and third. Things looked to be setting up perfectly (warning number 4).

Naturally the four warnings should be enough, but most remained optimistic. One Mark Prior achilles injury later and we have our first issue of the season. Prior would miss the first two months of the season before returning and never really was that good all season. Kerry Wood would miss two months with strained triceps, meaning that Glendon Rusch would have to step in.

On the field the Cubs were able to play pretty good baseball despite missing some key pieces. A 13-9 April was solid, though they missed Prior a lot in May when a 14-14 record left a lot to be desired. June brought the return of Prior and improved play with a 15-12 record. A 14-13 July wasn't the greatest, but the July 31st trade deadline gave the Cubs Nomar Garciaparra to play shortstop.

That trade gave the Cubs the following lineup- Patterson, Garciaparra, Alou, Sosa, A-Ram, Derrek Lee, Todd Walker, Paul Bako/Michael Barrett. Once again it was all set up perfectly for the Cubs to make a run despite the fact that St. Louis had run away with the division. The Wild Card was there for the taking and the Cubs spent August and most of September winning games. The Cubs went 32-23 in those two months, and had a 1.5 game lead in the Wild Card with eight games to go.

Then LaTroy Hawkins imploded against the Mets, the Cubs lost six of the last eight and finished three games out of the wild card. LaTroy lashed out at the media and the fans. Kent Merker was fighting the broadcasters, and Moises Alou was being a giant asshole. Then to top it all off Sammy Sosa left the clubhouse early the last game of the season and lied about. It brought to an end the Sammy Sosa-Chicago Cubs relationship, and made many a Cub fan despise the organizations brightest star.

2004 was a season that started with great promise and ended with nearly every player on the team hated. One could argue that of that 25 man roster to finish the season only four players weren't hated by fans. Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez. It was a sad season in Cubs history, which is ironic because the team had the second best record of the decade.

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