<Table> <Tr> <Td> ← 2003 </Td> <Td> World Series </Td> <Td> 2005 → </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> ← 2003 </Td> <Td> World Series </Td> <Td> 2005 → </Td> </Tr> <P> The 2004 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2004 season . The 100th edition of the World Series, it was a best - of - seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals; the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in four games . The series was played from October 23 to 27, 2004, at Fenway Park and Busch Memorial Stadium, broadcast on Fox, and watched by an average of just under 25.5 million viewers . The Red Sox's World Series championship was their first since 1918 . </P> <P> The Cardinals earned their berth into the playoffs by winning the NL Central division title, and had the best win--loss record in the NL . The Red Sox won the AL wild card to earn theirs . The Cardinals reached the World Series by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best - of - five NL Division Series and the Houston Astros in the best - of - seven NL Championship Series . The Red Sox defeated the Anaheim Angels in the AL Division Series . After trailing three games to none to the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series, the Red Sox came back to win the series, advancing to their first World Series since 1986 . The Cardinals made their first appearance in the World Series since 1987 . With the New England Patriots winning Super Bowl XXXVIII, the World Series victory made Boston the first city to have Super Bowl and World Series championship teams in the same year (2004) since Pittsburgh in 1979 . The Red Sox became the third straight wild card team to win the World Series; the Anaheim Angels won in 2002 and the Florida Marlins won in 2003 . </P>

Who did the red sox play in 2004 world series