1998 Cleveland Indians season

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The 1998 Cleveland Indians season was the franchise's 98th season. The Indians hoped to improve upon their American League pennant-winning season of 1997, but succumbed to the New York Yankees in the ALCS in six games.

Offseason[edit]

November 12, 1997: Paul Assenmacher was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.[1]

December 1, 1997: Matt Williams was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Travis Fryman, Tom Martin, and cash.[2]

December 8, 1997: Kenny Lofton signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.

December 8, 1997: Marquis Grissom was traded by the Cleveland Indians with Jeff Juden to the Milwaukee Brewers for Mike Fetters, Ben McDonald, and Ron Villone.

December 8, 1997: Dwight Gooden signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.

December 20, 1997: Dave Weathers was selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds from the Cleveland Indians.[3]

Regular season[edit]

Season standings[edit]

vteAL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road

Cleveland Indians 89 73 0.549 — 46–35 43–38

Chicago White Sox 80 82 0.494 9 44–37 36–45

Kansas City Royals 72 89 0.447 16½ 29–51 43–38

Minnesota Twins 70 92 0.432 19 35–46 35–46

Detroit Tigers 65 97 0.401 24 32–49 33–48

Record vs. opponents[edit]

1998 American League Recordsvte

Sources:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 

Anaheim — 5–6 6–5 5–6 4–7 8–3 6–5 6–5 6–5 5–7 9–3 6–5 5–7 4–7 10–6

Baltimore 6–5 — 6–6 2–9 5–6 10–1 5–6 7–3 3–9 8–3 6–5 5–7 6–5 5–7 5–11

Boston 5–6 6–6 — 5–6 8–3 5–5 8–3 5–6 5–7 9–2 7–4 9–3 6–5 5–7 9–7

Chicago 6–5 9–2 6–5 — 6–6 6–6 8–4 6–6 4–7 4–7 4–7 5–6 5–6 4–6–1 7–9

Cleveland 7–4 6–5 3–8 6–6 — 9–3 8–4 6–6 4–7 3–8 9–2 7–3 4–7 7–4 10–6

Detroit 3–8 1–10 5–5 6–6 3–9 — 6–6 8–4 3–8 7–4 3–8 5–6 3–8 5–6 7–9

Kansas City 5–6 6–5 3–8 4–8 4–8 6–6 — 7–5 0–10 7–4 4–6 8–3 3–8 6–5 9–7

Minnesota 5–6 3–7 6–5 6–6 6–6 4–8 5–7 — 4–7 4–7 2–9 7–4 7–4 4–7 7–9

New York 5–6 9–3 7–5 7–4 7–4 8–3 10–0 7–4 — 8–3 8–3 11–1 8–3 6–6 13–3

Oakland 7–5 3–8 2–9 7–4 8–3 4–7 4–7 7–4 3–8 — 5–7 5–6 6–6 5–6 8–8

Seattle 3–9 5–6 4–7 7–4 2–9 8–3 6–4 9–2 3–8 7–5 — 6–5 5–7 4–7 7–9

Tampa Bay 5–6 7–5 3–9 6–5 3–7 6–5 3–8 4–7 1–11 6–5 5–6 — 4–7 5–7 5–11

Texas 7–5 5–6 5–6 6–5 7–4 8–3 8–3 4–7 3–8 6–6 7–5 7–4 — 7–4 8–8

Toronto 7–4 7–5 7–5 6–4–1 4–7 6–5 5–6 7–4 6–6 6–5 7–4 7–5 4–7 — 9–7

Transactions[edit]

April 14, 1998: David Bell was selected off waivers by the Cleveland Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals.[4]

May 6, 1998: Mark Whiten was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.[5]

June 2, 1998: C.C. Sabathia was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round (20th pick) of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 29, 1998.[6]

July 2, 1998: Rex Hudler was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.[7]

August 13, 1998: Cecil Fielder signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.[8]

August 31, 1998: David Bell was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Seattle Mariners for Joey Cora.[4]

September 18, 1998: Cecil Fielder was released by the Cleveland Indians.[8]

Roster[edit]

1998 Cleveland Indians

Roster

Pitchers

45 Paul Assenmacher

34 Dave Burba

40 Bartolo Colón

16 Dwight Gooden

42 Mike Jackson

46 Jason Jacome

43 Doug Jones

20 Steve Karsay

30 Rick Krivda

36 Tom Martin

49 José Mesa

51 Alvin Morman

41 Charles Nagy

37 Chad Ogea

38 Eric Plunk

62 Jim Poole

59 Jason Rakers

39 Steve Reed

53 Paul Shuey

47 Ron Villone

33 Tim Worrell

27 Jaret Wright

Catchers

15 Sandy Alomar, Jr.

10 Pat Borders

 2 Einar Díaz

Infielders

 6 David Bell

11 Jeff Branson

66 Russell Branyan

 6 Jolbert Cabrera

28 Joey Cora

 9 Shawon Dunston

33 Cecil Fielder

17 Travis Fryman

 9 Torey Lovullo

12,26 Jeff Manto

44 Richie Sexson

25 Jim Thome

13 Omar Vizquel

35 Enrique Wilson

Outfielders

29 Gerónimo Berroa

22 Brian Giles

23 David Justice

 7 Kenny Lofton

61 Alex Ramírez

24 Manny Ramírez

12 Mark Whiten

Other batters

51 Jacob Cruz

33 Matt Luke

Manager

30 Mike Hargrove

Coaches

 1 Al Bumbry (First base)

54 Johnny Goryl (Bench)

 4 Luis Isaac (Bullpen)

32 Charlie Manuel (Hitting)

55 Jeff Newman (Third base)

28 Mark Wiley (Pitching)

43 Dan Williams (Bullpen catcher)

Game log[edit]

1998 Game Log: 89–73 (Home: 46–35; Away: 43–38)

March: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–0)[show]

April: 13–12 (Home: 6–7; Away: 7–5)[show]

May: 18–10 (Home: 10–3; Away: 8–7)[show]

June: 14–12 (Home: 7–8; Away: 7–4)[show]

July: 16–12 (Home: 7–6; Away: 9–6)[show]

August: 13–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 5–8)[show]

September: 14–12 (Home: 8–4; Away: 6–8)[show]

Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Postponement

Bold = Indians team member

Player stats[edit]

Batting[edit]

Starters by position[edit]

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; R = Runs; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; Slg. = Slugging average; SB = Stolen bases

Pos. Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. Slg. SB

C Sandy Alomar Jr. 117 409 45 96 6 44 .235 .352 0

1B Jim Thome 123 440 89 129 30 85 .293 .584 1

2B David Bell 107 340 37 89 10 41 .262 .424 0

3B Travis Fryman 146 557 74 160 28 96 .287 .504 10

SS Omar Vizqual 151 576 86 166 2 50 .288 .372 37

LF Brian Giles 112 350 56 94 16 66 .269 .460 10

CF Kenny Lofton 154 600 101 169 12 64 .282 .413 54

RF Manny Rameriez 150 571 108 168 45 145 .294 .599 5

DH David Justice 146 540 94 151 21 88 .280 .476 9

[9]

Other batters[edit]

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI

Pitching[edit]

Starting pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO

Award winners[edit]

All-Star Game

Minor league affiliates[edit]

Classification level Team League Season article

AAA Buffalo Bisons International League 1998 Buffalo Bisons season

AA Akron Aeros Eastern League 1998 Akron Aeros season

Advanced A Kinston Indians Carolina League

A Columbus RedStixx South Atlantic League

A-Short Season Watertown Indians New York–Penn League

Rookie Burlington Indians Appalachian League