1998 Major League Baseball season

The 1998 Major League Baseball season ended with the New York Yankees sweeping the San Diego Padres in the World Series, after they had won a then AL record 114 regular season games. The Yankees finished with 125 wins for the season (regular season and playoffs combined), which remains the MLB record.

1998 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 31 – October 21, 1998
Number of games162
Number of teams30
Draft
Top draft pickPat Burrell
Picked byPhiladelphia Phillies
Regular Season
Season MVPAL: Juan González (TEX)
NL: Sammy Sosa (CHC)
League Postseason
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upCleveland Indians
NL championsSan Diego Padres
  NL runners-upAtlanta Braves
World Series
ChampionsNew York Yankees
  Runners-upSan Diego Padres
World Series MVPScott Brosius (NYY)

The 1998 season was marked by MLB’s expansion to 30 teams (16 in the NL, 14 in the AL), with two new teams–the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the American League–added. To keep the leagues with even numbers of teams[1] while allowing both leagues to have a new team, the Milwaukee Brewers were moved from the American League Central Division to the National League Central Division. The Detroit Tigers were shifted from the American League East to the American League Central, while the Devil Rays were added to the American League East. The Diamondbacks were added to the National League West, making the NL have more teams than the AL for the first time (this arrangement would last until the end of the 2012 season, when the Houston Astros moved from the National to the American League for 2013, giving each league 15 teams).

The biggest story of the season was the historic chase of the single-season home run record held at the time by Roger Maris. Initially, the St. Louis Cardinals' Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey, Jr. of the Seattle Mariners started the season on a pace to both break Maris' record. In June, the chase was joined by the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa, who broke the decades-old record of Rudy York for most home runs in a calendar month with 20 that month. Eventually, Griffey fell off the record pace, but still ended with 56 homers. Both McGwire and Sosa broke the record in September, with McGwire ultimately finishing with 70 homers to Sosa's 66. McGwire's record would last only three years, with Barry Bonds hitting 73 in 2001. The 1998 season was also the first in MLB history with four players hitting 50 or more homers, with Greg Vaughn of the San Diego Padres hitting 50. In a postscript to the record chase, both McGwire and Sosa have since been widely accused of having used performance-enhancing drugs during that period, and McGwire would admit in 2010 that he had used steroids during the record-setting season.[2]

The defending World Series champions Florida Marlins finished last in the NL East Division at 54-108, making it the first, and only, time that a team went from winning the World Series one year to finishing with 100 or more losses and last in their division the following year.

Standings

Postseason

This was the first season in which teams were seeded by their respective win-loss record within their respective leagues.

  • Division Champions were seeded 1–3.
  • Wild Cards were automatically seeded 4 (regardless of having a better record than a Division Champion).
  • The team with the higher seed in the first two rounds had home-field advantage, with the wild card never having home-field until the World Series at the earliest.
  • The Division Series pitted the No. 1 seeded Division Champion against the No. 4 seeded Wild Card, while the No. 2 seeded faced the No. 3 seeded Division Champion.
    • If the No. 1 seeded Division Champion and the Wild Card were in the same division, the No. 1 seeded Division Champion would instead face the No. 3 seeded Division Champion while the No. 2 seeded Division Champion would face the No. 4 seeded Wild Card.
  • Home-field advantage in the World Series was still based off yearly rotation at this time (until that changed in 2003).

Bracket

  Division Series
(ALDS, NLDS)
League Championship Series
(NLCS, ALCS)
World Series
                           
  1 NY Yankees 3  
3 Texas 0  
  1 NY Yankees 4  
American League
  2 Cleveland 2  
2 Cleveland 3
  4 Boston 1  
    AL1 NY Yankees 4
  NL3 San Diego 0
  1 Atlanta 3  
4 Chicago Cubs 0  
  1 Atlanta 2
National League
  3 San Diego 4  
2 Houston 1
  3 San Diego 3  

Awards and honors

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award National League American League
Rookie of the Year Kerry Wood (CHC) Ben Grieve (OAK)
Cy Young Award Tom Glavine (ATL) Roger Clemens (TOR)
Manager of the Year Larry Dierker (HOU) Joe Torre (NYY)
Most Valuable Player Sammy Sosa (CHC) Juan González (TEX)
Gold Glove Awards
Position National League American League
Pitcher Greg Maddux (ATL) Mike Mussina (BAL)
Catcher Charles Johnson (FLA) Iván Rodríguez (TEX)
First Baseman J. T. Snow (SF) Rafael Palmeiro (TEX)
Second Baseman Bret Boone (CIN) Roberto Alomar (CLE)
Third Baseman Scott Rolen (PHI) Robin Ventura (CWS)
Shortstop Rey Ordonez (NYM) Omar Vizquel (CLE)
Outfielders Barry Bonds (SFG) Bernie Williams (NYY)
Larry Walker (COL) Jim Edmonds (LAA)
Andruw Jones (ATL) Ken Griffey Jr. (SEA)
Silver Slugger Awards
Pitcher/Designated Hitter
Catcher
First Baseman
Second Baseman
Third Baseman
Shortstop
Outfielders

MLB statistical leaders

Statistic American League National League
AVGBernie Williams NYY.339Larry Walker COL.363
HRKen Griffey, Jr. SEA56Mark McGwire STL70
RBIJuan González TEX157Sammy Sosa CHC158
WinsRoger Clemens1 TOR
David Cone NYY
Rick Helling TEX
20Tom Glavine ATL20
ERARoger Clemens1 TOR2.65Greg Maddux ATL2.22
SORoger Clemens1 TOR271Curt Schilling PHI300
SVTom Gordon BOS46Trevor Hoffman SD53
SBRickey Henderson OAK66Tony Womack PIT58

1 American League Triple Crown pitching winner

Managers

American League

TeamManagerNotes
Anaheim Angels Terry Collins
Baltimore Orioles Ray Miller
Boston Red Sox Jimy Williams
Chicago White Sox Jerry Manuel
Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove
Detroit Tigers Buddy Bell, Larry Parrish Bell (52–85, .380), Parrish (13–12, .520)
Kansas City Royals Tony Muser
Minnesota Twins Tom Kelly
New York Yankees Joe Torre Won the World Series
Oakland Athletics Art Howe
Seattle Mariners Lou Piniella
Tampa Bay Devil Rays Larry Rothschild Expansion team
Texas Rangers Johnny Oates
Toronto Blue Jays Tim Johnson

National League

TeamManagerNotes
Arizona Diamondbacks Buck Showalter Expansion team
Atlanta Braves Bobby Cox
Chicago Cubs Jim Riggleman
Cincinnati Reds Jack McKeon
Colorado Rockies Don Baylor
Florida Marlins Jim Leyland
Houston Astros Larry Dierker
Los Angeles Dodgers Bill Russell, Glenn Hoffman Russell (36–38, .486), Hoffman (47–41, .534)
Milwaukee Brewers Phil Garner
Montreal Expos Felipe Alou
New York Mets Bobby Valentine
Philadelphia Phillies Terry Francona
Pittsburgh Pirates Gene Lamont
St. Louis Cardinals Tony La Russa
San Diego Padres Bruce Bochy Won National League pennant
San Francisco Giants Dusty Baker

Home field attendance & payroll

Team Name Wins Home attendance Per Game Est. Payroll
Colorado Rockies[3] 77 -7.2% 3,792,683 -2.5% 46,823 $50,484,648 15.9%
Baltimore Orioles[4] 79 -19.4% 3,684,650 -0.7% 45,490 $72,525,634 23.9%
Arizona Diamondbacks[5] 65 3,610,290 44,571 $32,347,000
Cleveland Indians[6] 89 3.5% 3,467,299 1.8% 42,806 $61,718,166 8.7%
Atlanta Braves[7] 106 5.0% 3,360,860 -3.0% 41,492 $61,186,000 17.0%
St. Louis Cardinals[8] 83 13.7% 3,195,691 21.3% 38,972 $54,672,521 20.3%
Los Angeles Dodgers[9] 83 -5.7% 3,089,222 -6.9% 38,139 $48,820,000 7.6%
New York Yankees[10] 114 18.8% 2,955,193 14.5% 36,484 $66,806,867 7.3%
Texas Rangers[11] 88 14.3% 2,927,399 -0.6% 36,141 $56,752,095 6.2%
Seattle Mariners[12] 76 -15.6% 2,651,511 -16.9% 32,735 $54,802,036 31.9%
Chicago Cubs[13] 90 32.4% 2,623,194 19.8% 31,990 $50,838,000 20.6%
San Diego Padres[14] 98 28.9% 2,555,874 22.3% 31,554 $46,861,500 25.4%
Anaheim Angels[15] 85 1.2% 2,519,280 42.5% 31,102 $41,791,000 34.2%
Tampa Bay Devil Rays[16] 63 2,506,293 30,942 $27,280,000
Houston Astros[17] 102 21.4% 2,458,451 20.1% 30,351 $42,374,000 21.8%
Toronto Blue Jays[18] 88 15.8% 2,454,303 -5.2% 30,300 $51,376,000 9.1%
Boston Red Sox[19] 92 17.9% 2,314,704 4.0% 28,577 $56,927,000 30.7%
New York Mets[20] 88 0.0% 2,287,948 29.5% 28,246 $52,247,999 31.3%
San Francisco Giants[21] 89 -1.1% 1,925,364 13.9% 23,770 $42,738,334 20.1%
Milwaukee Brewers[22] 74 -5.1% 1,811,593 25.5% 22,365 $34,139,904 44.3%
Cincinnati Reds[23] 77 1.3% 1,793,649 0.4% 22,144 $23,005,000 -53.8%
Florida Marlins[24] 54 -41.3% 1,730,384 -26.8% 21,363 $41,864,667 -14.0%
Philadelphia Phillies[25] 75 10.3% 1,715,722 15.1% 21,182 $36,297,500 -1.0%
Pittsburgh Pirates[26] 69 -12.7% 1,560,950 -5.8% 19,271 $15,065,000 39.9%
Kansas City Royals[27] 72 7.5% 1,494,875 -1.5% 18,686 $38,097,500 9.4%
Detroit Tigers[28] 65 -17.7% 1,409,391 3.2% 17,400 $24,265,000 40.5%
Chicago White Sox[29] 80 0.0% 1,391,146 -25.4% 16,965 $39,850,000 -31.0%
Oakland Athletics[30] 74 13.8% 1,232,343 -2.5% 15,214 $21,473,000 -10.6%
Minnesota Twins[31] 70 2.9% 1,165,976 -17.4% 14,395 $28,097,500 -17.5%
Montreal Expos[32] 65 -16.7% 914,909 -38.9% 11,295 $10,641,500 -44.8%

Events

January–March

April–June

  • April 1 – The expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays win their first game in franchise history, beating the Tigers 11–8. Fred McGriff has four RBI on three hits.
  • April 2 – By hitting a home run in Colorado's 6–4 win over Arizona at Bank One Ballpark, Rockies outfielder Ellis Burks sets a major league record by having homered in 33 different stadiums.
  • April 5 – The Arizona Diamondbacks win their first game in franchise history 3–2, over the San Francisco Giants. Andy Benes gets the win for the 1–5 D'backs.
  • April 10 – The Los Angeles Dodgers' Mike Piazza becomes the fifth NL player in history to hit grand slams in consecutive games by homering in a 7–2 win over the Houston Astros. Piazza also homered with the bags full, while driving in six runs, in last night's 7–2 win over Arizona. He'll hit another on April 24 to tie the major-league record for slams in a month.
  • April 13 – The Seattle Mariners' Ken Griffey, Jr. slugs two home runs in a 6–5 loss to the Cleveland Indians. In doing so, he becomes the second–youngest player in big league history to reach 300 homers for his career, at 28 years and 143 days. Jimmie Foxx, at 27 years 328 days, was younger.
  • May 3 – The Seattle Mariners' Dan Wilson becomes just the seventh catcher in major league history to hit an inside-the-park grand slam, as Seattle defeats Detroit 10–6. It's a first for the Mariners and the first in the AL since Mike Greenwell did it on September 1, 1990.
  • May 6 – In one of the finest pitching efforts ever, Chicago Cubs rookie right-hander Kerry Wood fans 20 Houston Astros in a 2–0, one-hit victory to tie the major league mark for strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The 20-year-old ties the record held by Roger Clemens, who performed the feat twice. The only Houston baserunners come from an infield single to Ricky Gutiérrez in the 3rd inning and a hit batter. Wood also becomes the second pitcher in baseball history to record a single-game strikeout total equal to his age (in 1936, 17-year-old Bob Feller struck out 17 batters). Wood strikes out the first five batters of the game, and seven in a row between the 7th and 9th innings, tying Jamie Moyer's Cubs record for most consecutive strikeouts.
  • May 11 – In a 4–2 win over Arizona, Kerry Wood strikes out 13 Diamondbacks in seven innings. By doing so, Wood sets a major league record with 33 strikeouts over two consecutive games.
  • May 13 – The Atlanta Braves set an NL record by homering in their 25th straight game, a 10–2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. This ties the major league mark held by the 1941 Yankees and the 1994 Tigers. The streak will be stopped by the Cardinals the next day.
  • May 15 – In one of the biggest trades in recent years, the Dodgers send All-Star catcher Mike Piazza and third baseman Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins in exchange for outfielders Gary Sheffield and Jim Eisenreich, catcher Charles Johnson, third baseman Bobby Bonilla, and pitcher Manuel Barrios. On May 22, the Mets will acquire Piazza from the Marlins in exchange for outfielder Preston Wilson, pitcher Ed Yarnall and a minor league player.
  • May 17 – Yankees pitcher David Wells hurls the 15th perfect game in modern major league history with a 4–0 win over the Minnesota Twins. Wells fans 11 batters in his masterpiece. Bernie Williams strokes three hits for New York, including a home run.
  • May 18 – The Oakland Athletics' Mike Blowers hits for the cycle and drives home four runs in the A's 14–0 win over the White Sox. Blowers become only the second player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.
  • May 19 – The Cardinals' Mark McGwire hits three home runs in a game for the second time this season, leading St. Louis to a 10–8 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. He is only the 12th player in history to have a pair of 3–HR games in the same season. McGwire drives in six of the Cardinal runs as he reaches the 20 home run mark faster than other player in history.
  • May 25 – Cleveland's David Bell becomes the third player in major league history to play against a team managed by his father. Bell's two–run double brings home the go–ahead run in the Indians 7–4 win over Buddy Bell's Detroit Tigers. Bump Wills and Moisés Alou are the only other players to appear in games against their fathers (Maury Wills and Felipe Alou).
  • May 28 – With Arizona leading the Giants, 8–6, in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded, manager Buck Showalter orders reliever Gregg Olson to intentionally walk Barry Bonds to bring home the Giants' 7th run. It is only the fourth bases–loaded intentional walk in major league history, and the first since Bill "Swish" Nicholson on July 23, 1944.
  • June 6 – Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan has his uniform number 8 retired by the Cincinnati Reds in a ceremony at Cinergy Field.

July–September

October–December

  • October 3 – The Chicago Cubs are defeated by the Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series.
  • October 21 – The New York Yankees win the World Series, sweeping the San Diego Padres in four straight games. Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius is named the Series MVP. The Yankees end the season with a major league record 125 combined regular season and postseason wins.
  • Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves wins his second National League Cy Young Award in an extremely close vote over two San Diego Padres pitchers: Trevor Hoffman and Kevin Brown. Glavine, who receives 11 first-place votes to Hoffman's 13 (Brown receives the remaining 8), becomes the first National League pitcher since the league instituted its four-vote system in 1970 to win the award despite receiving fewer first-place votes than another player. Glavine tallied 99 points (Hoffman – 88, Brown – 76), with 5 points being awarded for each first place vote, 3 for each second-place vote, 2 for third, and 1 for fourth. Another oddity is the fact that Hoffman, Brown, and Rod Beck (who did not receive a single point in the Cy Young Award voting) finished higher than Glavine in the MVP voting, despite Glavine's Braves finishing with the best record in the National League.[34]
  • November 9 – It is revealed that Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the progressive, ultimately fatal neurological condition better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
  • November 30 – The Arizona Diamondbacks sign free agent Randy Johnson to a four-year contract worth approximately $50 million.[35]
  • December 12 – The Dodgers set the salary bar higher by signing free agent Kevin Brown to a seven-year, $105 million contract, the largest in the majors.

See also

References

  1. With an odd number of teams (15), only seven games would be able to be scheduled in each league on any given day during the intra-league portion of the regular season. Thus, one team in each league would have had to be idle on any given day. This would have made it difficult for scheduling, in terms of travel days and the need to end the regular season before October. See Major League Baseball#League organization. If each league had wished to remain at fifteen teams, the schedule would have had to include one inter-league game during each day of intra-league play. Instead, with each league now having an even number of teams, interleague games occur only in certain parts of the regular season.
  2. "McGwire apologizes to La Russa, Selig". ESPN.com. January 11, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  3. "Colorado Rockies Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  4. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  5. "Arizona Diamondbacks Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. "Seattle Mariners Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. "San Diego Padres Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. "Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. "Tampa Bay Rays Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. "Toronto Blue Jays Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. "New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. "Milwaukee Brewers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  23. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  24. "Florida Marlins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  25. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  26. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  27. "Kansas City Royals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  28. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  29. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  30. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  31. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  32. "Washington Nationals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  33. "Riggleman reflects on Kerry Wood's 1998 season". suntimes.com. June 18, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  34. "1998 Awards Voting - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  35. "Randy Johnson Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
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