| 1998 Baltimore Orioles | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Results | |
| Record | 79–83 (.488) |
| Divisional place | 4th |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | Peter Angelos |
| General manager(s) | Pat Gillick |
| Manager(s) | Ray Miller |
| Local television | WJZ-TV/WNUV Home Team Sports (Jim Palmer, Michael Reghi) |
| Local radio | WBAL (AM) (Fred Manfra, Jim Hunter) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1998 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing 4th in the American League East with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses.
Offseason[edit]
- December 11, 1997: Doug Drabek was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[1]
- December 12, 1997: Joe Carter was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[2]
Regular season[edit]
- From July 2 to August 15, Eric Davis hits in 30 consecutive games during which time he hits .400 (52-130) with 10 home runs and 35 runs batted in.[3]
 Eddie Murray 1B Retired 1998 |
- The 1998 Baltimore Orioles season marks the last time a team other than the New York Yankees had the highest payroll in baseball.
Season standings[edit]
| AL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 114 | 48 | 0.704 | — | 62–19 | 52–29 |
| Boston Red Sox | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | 22 | 51–30 | 41–40 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 26 | 51–30 | 37–44 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 35 | 42–39 | 37–44 |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 63 | 99 | 0.389 | 51 | 33–48 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents[edit]
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1998 American League Records
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Notable transactions[edit]
- June 2, 1998: Cliff Lee was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 20th round of the 1998 amateur draft, but did not sign.[4]
- June 16, 1998: Rich Becker was selected off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles from the New York Mets.[5]
- July 23, 1998: Joe Carter was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the San Francisco Giants for Darin Blood (minors).[2]
All good things must come to an end[edit]
In June, Cal Ripken, Jr. began to contemplate ending his still-active, record-breaking streak of consecutive games played. However, the Orioles were still in contention for a wild-card spot in the playoffs at that point, so he continued playing. By mid-September, after the team fell out of wild-card contention, Ripken decided that, since the games that began his streak (May 30, 1982), tied Lou Gehrig's old record of 2,130 games (September 5, 1995) and surpassed it (September 6, 1995) all took place in his Baltimore hometown, it would be most appropriate to bring his incredible run to a close at home also. Thus, on September 20, after playing 2,632 games without a break, Cal Ripken, Jr. asked to be taken out of the starting lineup for the Orioles' last home game of the season against the New York Yankees. Everybody was stunned when rookie Ryan Minor took third base instead of Ripken for the start of the game. The game's first batter, New York's Chuck Knoblauch, grounded out to shortstop for the first out, officially ending Ripken's streak and prompting both teams and the fans to give "The Iron Man" a thunderous ovation for his monumental achievement.
Roster[edit]
Player stats[edit]
Batting[edit]
Starters by position[edit]
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Chris Hoiles | 97 | 267 | 70 | .262 | 15 | 56 |
| 1B | Rafael Palmeiro | 162 | 619 | 183 | .296 | 43 | 121 |
| 2B | Roberto Alomar | 147 | 588 | 166 | .282 | 14 | 56 |
| 3B | Cal Ripken | 161 | 601 | 163 | .271 | 14 | 61 |
| SS | Mike Bordick | 151 | 465 | 121 | .260 | 13 | 51 |
| LF | BJ Surhoff | 162 | 573 | 160 | .279 | 22 | 92 |
| CF | Brady Anderson | 133 | 479 | 113 | .236 | 18 | 51 |
| RF | Eric Davis | 131 | 452 | 148 | .327 | 28 | 89 |
| DH | Harold Baines | 104 | 293 | 88 | .300 | 9 | 57 |
Other batters[edit]
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenny Webster | 108 | 309 | 88 | .285 | 10 | 46 |
| Joe Carter | 85 | 283 | 70 | .247 | 11 | 34 |
| Rich Becker | 79 | 113 | 23 | .204 | 3 | 11 |
| Jeff Reboulet | 79 | 126 | 31 | .246 | 1 | 8 |
| Jeffrey Hammonds | 63 | 171 | 46 | .269 | 6 | 28 |
| Willie Greene | 24 | 40 | 6 | .150 | 1 | 5 |
| Lyle Mouton | 18 | 39 | 12 | .308 | 2 | 7 |
| Charlie Greene | 13 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 0 |
| Ozzie Guillen | 12 | 16 | 1 | .063 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Clyburn | 11 | 25 | 7 | .280 | 1 | 3 |
| Gene Kingsale | 11 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| P.J. Forbes | 9 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 2 |
| Ryan Minor | 9 | 14 | 6 | .429 | 0 | 1 |
| Calvin Pickering | 9 | 21 | 5 | .238 | 2 | 3 |
| Jesus Tavarez | 8 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 1 | 1 |
| Hairston, JerryJerry Hairston | 6 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Willis Otanez | 3 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching[edit]
Starting pitchers[edit]
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Erickson | 36 | 251.1 | 16 | 13 | 4.01 | 186 |
| Mike Mussina | 29 | 206.1 | 13 | 10 | 3.49 | 175 |
| Juan Guzman | 33 | 211 | 10 | 16 | 4.35 | 168 |
| Sidney Ponson | 31 | 135 | 8 | 9 | 5.27 | 85 |
| Doug Drabek | 23 | 108.2 | 6 | 11 | 7.29 | 55 |
| Scott Kamieniecki | 12 | 54.2 | 2 | 6 | 6.75 | 25 |
Other pitchers[edit]
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|
Relief pitchers[edit]
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|
Farm system[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/drabedo01.shtml
- ^ a b http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cartejo01.shtml
- ^ "Title Unknown". Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
- ^ Cliff Lee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/beckeri01.shtml
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007
- 1998 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
- 1998 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com
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