1998 in baseball


Headline events of the year

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball final standings

January

  • January 5 – Don Sutton, a 324-game winner, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his fifth try. Sutton, who missed election by nine votes in 1997, is named on 81.6% of the ballots.
  • January 8 – The New York Yankees sign Darryl Strawberry as a free agent.

    February

  • February 2 – New York Yankees general manager Bob Watson announces his resignation. He is replaced by 30-year-old Brian Cashman.
  • February 6 – The Minnesota Twins trade Chuck Knoblauch to the New York Yankees in exchange for Cristian Guzman, Brian Buchanan, Eric Milton, Danny Mota and cash considerations.
  • February 18 – The New York Mets sign Nelson Cruz as an amateur free agent.

    March

  • March 3 – Larry Doby, Lee MacPhail, George Davis and Bullet Joe Rogan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
  • March 23 – The New York Yankees sign Orlando Hernandez as an amateur free agent.
  • March 31 :
  • *The Tampa Bay Devil Rays lose to the Detroit Tigers 11–6, in their first game ever. Pitcher Wilson Álvarez takes the loss for Tampa while third baseman Wade Boggs hit the first home run in team history and drives in three runs.
  • *The Arizona Diamondbacks drop a 9–2 decision to the Colorado Rockies in their first game ever. Andy Benes is tagged with the loss. Rookies Travis Lee and Karim García hit home runs, while Vinny Castilla drives in five runs for Colorado.
  • *The New York Mets beat their division rival Philadelphia Phillies, 1–0, in the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in Major League Baseball since, when the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 1–0 in 15 innings. Mets backup catcher Alberto Castillo delivered a full-count, two-out, pinch-hit single to right with the bases loaded off Philadelphia closer Ricky Bottalico to finish the game.
  • *In their National League debut, the Milwaukee Brewers fall 2–1 at Turner Field in Atlanta to the team that preceded them in Milwaukee, the Atlanta Braves. The Atlanta victory came in walk-off fashion following an errant throw to second base by catcher Mike Matheny, which allowed Gerald Williams to score from third base. Bob Wickman took the loss in relief. The Brewers had played for 29 years in the American League, debuting in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots before moving to Milwaukee in 1970 and becoming the Brewers.

    April

  • 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.
  • *The Milwaukee Brewers win for the first time as a National League team with an 8–6 win over the Atlanta Braves in 11 innings at Turner Field in Atlanta. Jeromy Burnitz homers twice, including a tie-breaking grand slam off Atlanta reliever Brian Edmondson in the 11th inning. Mike Myers picked up the win in relief.
  • 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 Diamondbacks.
  • April 7 – In the first National League game in Milwaukee since September 22, 1965, the Brewers defeat the Montreal Expos 6–4 at County Stadium. Starter Scott Karl gets the win, Doug Jones gets the save, and Jeromy Burnitz and José Valentín both contribute with home runs.
  • 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 the prior night's 7–2 win over Arizona. He would hit another on April 24 to tie the major-league record for slams in a month.
  • April 11 – Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez hurled a two-hit complete game shutout in his debut at Fenway Park, guiding the Boston Red Sox to a 5–0 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners. Martínez stroke out 12 batters and walked only two, while Jim Leyritz led the Red Sox offense with a three-run home run in the third inning off Jamie Moyer. During the game, Dominican Republic flags showed up in the ballpark while chants of 'Pe-dro!, 'Pe-dro! were heard loud and clear in the stands. Besides, fans mounted the 'K' placards to mark Pedro's strikeouts. Afterwards, everyone in the largely Latino Jamaica Plain section of Boston started watching the Red Sox and going to the games.
  • 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

  • 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,.
  • 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 9-inning game. The 20-year-old ties the record held by Roger Clemens, who performed the feat twice. He also eclipses Bill Gullickson's single-game rookie record of 18 strikeouts in. 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. 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 becomes only the 2nd player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.
  • May 19 – The Cardinals' Mark McGwire hits three home runs in a game for the 2nd 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 any other player in history.
  • May 20 – The Triple-A Indianapolis Indians perform a feat possibly never before duplicated in professional baseball. In the 5th inning of a game against the Pawtucket Red Sox, Indianapolis players hit for a "Homer Cycle". Pete Rose Jr. opens the inning with a solo home run, Jason Williams connects for a 3–run shot, Glenn Murray slugs a grand slam, and Guillermo Garcia finishes the scoring with a 2–run blast. The Indians win the game 11–4.
  • 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 2–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.
  • 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 4th bases–loaded intentional walk in major league history, and the first since Bill "Swish" Nicholson on July 23,.