Pitching remained strong from Pedro Martínez, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield. Offense was too much for the 2004 Red Sox led by Ortiz, Ramirez, Damon and Jason Varitek. But management shook up the team at the MLB trading deadline on July 31, when they traded the team's popular yet often injured shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra, to the Chicago Cubs, receiving Orlando Cabrera of the Montreal Expos and Doug Mientkiewicz of the Minnesota Twins in return. In a separate transaction, the Red Sox also traded minor leaguer Henri Stanley to the Los Angeles Dodgers for center fielder Dave Roberts. Many Sox fans initially blasted the trade as bringing the team inadequate compensation for Garciaparra. However, the club would turn things around soon after, winning 22 out of 25 games and qualifying for the playoffs as the AL Wild Card. Players and fans affectionately referred to the players as "The Idiots", a term coined by Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar during the playoff push to describe the team's eclectic roster and devil-may-care attitude toward their supposed curse.
