1998 American League

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The 1998 season of the American League was the ninety-eighth season of the league.

BR page

Season summary[edit]

Standings[edit]

An asterisk (*) indicates the team won its league's wild card, Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
Central Division
1 Cleveland Indians 162 89 73 0 .549 -.- 850 (5.25) 779 (4.81) 0.272 0.346 0.448 4.45 0.982
2 Chicago White Sox 163 80 82 1 .491 9.0 861 (5.28) 931 (5.71) 0.271 0.337 0.444 5.24 0.977
3 Kansas City Royals 161 72 89 0 .447 16.5 714 (4.43) 899 (5.58) 0.263 0.321 0.399 5.16 0.980
4 Minnesota Twins 162 70 92 0 .432 19.0 734 (4.53) 818 (5.05) 0.266 0.326 0.389 4.76 0.982
5 Detroit Tigers 162 65 97 0 .401 24.0 722 (4.46) 863 (5.33) 0.264 0.319 0.415 4.93 0.982
Eastern Division
1 New York Yankees 162 114 48 0 .704 -.- 965 (5.96) 656 (4.05) 0.288 0.362 0.460 3.82 0.984
2 Boston Red Sox* 162 92 70 0 .568 22.0 876 (5.41) 729 (4.50) 0.280 0.343 0.463 4.19 0.983
3 Toronto Blue Jays 163 88 74 1 .540 26.0 816 (5.01) 768 (4.71) 0.266 0.333 0.448 4.29 0.979
4 Baltimore Orioles 162 79 83 0 .488 35.0 817 (5.04) 785 (4.85) 0.273 0.343 0.447 4.73 0.987
5 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 162 63 99 0 .389 51.0 620 (3.83) 751 (4.64) 0.261 0.319 0.385 4.35 0.985
Western Division
1 Texas Rangers 162 88 74 0 .543 -.- 940 (5.80) 871 (5.38) 0.289 0.356 0.462 5.00 0.980
2 Anaheim Angels 162 85 77 0 .525 3.0 787 (4.86) 783 (4.83) 0.272 0.332 0.415 4.49 0.983
3 Seattle Mariners 161 76 85 0 .472 11.5 859 (5.34) 855 (5.31) 0.276 0.341 0.468 4.95 0.979
4 Oakland Athletics 162 74 88 0 .457 14.0 804 (4.96) 866 (5.35) 0.257 0.334 0.397 4.83 0.977

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 163
At Bats Alex Rodriguez Seattle Mariners 686
Runs Scored Derek Jeter New York Yankees 127
Hits Alex Rodriguez Seattle Mariners 213
Doubles Juan Gonzalez Texas Rangers 50
Triples Jose Offerman Kansas City Royals 13
Home Runs Ken Griffey Seattle Mariners 56
Total Bases Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 399
Runs Batted In Juan Gonzalez Texas Rangers 157
Stolen Bases Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics 66
Caught Stealing Tom Goodwin Texas Rangers 20
Walks Rickey Henderson Oakland Athletics 118
Intentional Base-on-Balls Robin Ventura Chicago White Sox 15
Hit by Pitch Chuck Knoblauch New York Yankees 18
Strikeouts Jose Canseco Toronto Blue Jays 159
Sacrifice Hits Mike Bordick Baltimore Orioles 15
Sacrifice Flies Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 15
Grounded into Double Plays Ron Coomer
Paul O'Neill
Minnesota Twins
New York Yankees
22
Batting Average Bernie Williams New York Yankees 0.339
On-Base Percentage Edgar Martinez Seattle Mariners 0.429
Slugging Percentage Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 0.655
On-Base plus Slugging Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 1.054
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 171

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Roger Clemens
David Cone
Rick Helling
Toronto Blue Jays
New York Yankees
Texas Rangers
20
Losses Tom Candiotti
Juan Guzman
Jaime Navarro
Oakland Athletics
Toronto Blue Jays/Baltimore Orioles
Chicago White Sox
16
Win-Loss Percentage David Wells New York Yankees 0.818
Appearances Sean Runyan Detroit Tigers 88
Games Started Scott Erickson Baltimore Orioles 36
Complete Games Scott Erickson Baltimore Orioles 11
Shutouts David Wells New York Yankees 5
Games Finished Tom Gordon Boston Red Sox 69
Saves Tom Gordon Boston Red Sox 46
Innings Pitched Scott Erickson Baltimore Orioles 251.1
Batters Faced Scott Erickson Baltimore Orioles 1102
Hits Allowed Scott Erickson Baltimore Orioles 284
Home Runs Allowed Tim Belcher Kansas City Royals 37
Base-on-Balls Allowed Tony Saunders Tampa Bay Devil Rays 111
Intentional Base-on-Balls Charles Nagy Cleveland Indians 12
Hit Batsmen Rolando Arrojo Tampa Bay Devil Rays 19
Strikeouts Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays 271
Wild Pitches Jaime Navarro Chicago White Sox 18
Balks Carlos Castillo
Mike Jackson
Jim Parque
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Chicago White Sox
3
Runs Allowed Charles Nagy Cleveland Indians 139
Earned Runs Allowed John Burkett Texas Rangers 123
Earned Run Average Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays 2.65
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
David Wells New York Yankees 1.045

All-Star Game[edit]

The American League won the sixty-ninth midsummer classic at Coors Field in Denver, CO on Tuesday, July 7, 1998 by a score of 13 to 8. The league's manager was Mike Hargrove.

Postseason[edit]

The 1998 American League playoffs featured the champions of the league's three divisions along with a wild card team. The teams competed in a best-of-five Division Series, followed by a best-of-seven League Championship Series. The winner of the League Championship Series represented the league in the World Series.

  Division Series Championship Series
                 
Cent.  Cleveland Indians 3  
WC  Boston Red Sox 1  
    Cent.  Cleveland Indians 2
  East.  New York Yankees 4
East.  New York Yankees 3
West.  Texas Rangers 0  



In the World Series, the American League champion New York Yankees defeated the National League's San Diego Padres, 4 games to 0.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Juan Gonzalez, an outfielder with the Texas Rangers. In the award's voting, he had 357 out of a possible 392 points and 21 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Cy Young Award, given its best pitcher, was Roger Clemens of the Toronto Blue Jays. In the award's voting, he had 140 out of a possible 140 points and 28 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Rookie of the Year Award, given its best rookie player, was Ben Grieve, an outfielder with the Oakland Athletics. In the award's voting, he had 130 out of a possible 140 points and 23 first place votes.

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players won the Gold Glove Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by its managers and coaches, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
P Mike Mussina Baltimore Orioles
C Ivan Rodriguez Texas Rangers
1B Rafael Palmeiro Baltimore Orioles
2B Roberto Alomar Baltimore Orioles
3B Robin Ventura Chicago White Sox
SS Omar Vizquel Cleveland Indians
OF Ken Griffey, Jr. Seattle Mariners
Bernie Williams New York Yankees
Jim Edmonds Anaheim Angels

Silver Sluggers[edit]

The following players won the Silver Slugger Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by its managers and coaches, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
C Ivan Rodriguez Texas Rangers
1B Rafael Palmeiro Baltimore Orioles
2B Damion Easley Detroit Tigers
3B Dean Palmer Kansas City Royals
SS Alex Rodriguez Seattle Mariners
OF Albert Belle Chicago White Sox
Juan Gonzalez Texas Rangers
Ken Griffey, Jr. Seattle Mariners
DH Jose Canseco Toronto Blue Jays

Monthly Awards[edit]

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The fifty-second annual Hall of Fame Game was played on July 27 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In the game, the American League's Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays of the National League by a score of 7 to 1.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Will Leitch: "1998 was amazing, don't let anyone say otherwise: Year defined by a historic HR race and the near-perfect Yankees", mlb.com, May 8, 2020. [1]
  • Brad Null and Dave Kaval: The Summer That Saved Baseball, Cumberland House Publishing, Nashville, TN, 2000. ISBN 978-1581821871