1998 Cleveland Indians season

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.

1998 Cleveland Indians
AL Central Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Jacobs Field (since 1994)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Richard Jacobs
General manager(s)	John Hart
Manager(s)	Mike Hargrove
Local television	WUAB · FSN Ohio
Local radio	WKNR (1220)
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Offseason

• November 12, 1997: Paul Assenmacher was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
• December 1, 1997: Matt Williams was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Travis Fryman, Tom Martin, and cash.
• 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.

Regular season

Season standings

AL 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

1998 American League Records 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

• April 14, 1998: David Bell was selected off waivers by the Cleveland Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals.
• May 6, 1998: Mark Whiten was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
• 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.
• July 2, 1998: Rex Hudler was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
• August 13, 1998: Cecil Fielder signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
• August 31, 1998: David Bell was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Seattle Mariners for Joey Cora.
• September 18, 1998: Cecil Fielder was released by the Cleveland Indians.

Roster

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 54 Johnny Goryl  4 Luis Isaac 32 Charlie Manuel 55 Jeff Newman 28 Mark Wiley 43 Dan Williams

Game log

1998 Game Log: 89–73 (Home: 46–35; Away: 43–38)
March: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Stadium Attendance Record Recap
April: 13–12 (Home: 6–7; Away: 7–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Stadium Attendance Record Recap 3 April 3 @ Angels 6–2 Burba (1–0) McDowell (0–1) Edison International Field of Anaheim 26,420 3–0 W3 4 April 4 @ Angels 11–0 Colón (1–0) Watson (0–1) Edison International Field of Anaheim 34,834 4–0 W4 5 April 5 @ Angels 6–4 Nagy (1–0) Dickson (0–1) Jackson (3) Edison International Field of Anaheim 35,628 5–0 W5 8 April 10 Angels 8–5 (10) Plunk (1–0) Percival (0–1) Jacobs Field 42,707 7–1 W1 9 April 11 Angels 8–5 Nagy (2–0) Dickson (0–2) Jackson (5) Jacobs Field 42,802 8–1 W2 10 April 12 Angels 1–12 Finley (2–0) Wright (1–1) Jacobs Field 42,555 8–2 L1
May: 18–10 (Home: 10–3; Away: 8–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Stadium Attendance Record Recap
June: 14–12 (Home: 7–8; Away: 7–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Stadium Attendance Record Recap
July: 16–12 (Home: 7–6; Away: 9–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Stadium Attendance Record Recap
August: 13–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 5–8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Stadium Attendance Record Recap 111 August 3 @ Angels 4–11 Sparks (5–2) Wright (9–7) Edison International Field of Anaheim 25,339 62–49 L2 112 August 4 @ Angels 4–5 Hasegawa (6–1) Jones (0–1) Percival (30) Edison International Field of Anaheim 29,916 62–50 L3 113 August 5 @ Angels 6–5 Shuey (4–1) Percival (2–5) Assenmacher (1) Edison International Field of Anaheim 43,104 63–50 W1
September: 14–12 (Home: 8–4; Away: 6–8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Stadium Attendance Record Recap 137 September 1 Angels 7–6 Reed (2–2) DeLucia (2–5) Jacobs Field 43,184 76–61 W3 138 September 2 Angels 5–13 Sparks (9–2) Colón (13–8) Jacobs Field 43,200 76–62 L1
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Postponement Bold = Indians team member

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

Other batters

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

Starting pitchers

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

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

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

All-Star Game

Minor league affiliates

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

References

• 1998 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Reference
• 1998 Cleveland Indians at Baseball Almanac