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. The Indians would lead the AL Central wire-to-wire in 1998, becoming the first team in franchise history (and as of 2020, the only team in franchise history) to do so.

1998 Cleveland Indians
AL Central Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Richard Jacobs
General manager(s)John Hart
Manager(s)Mike Hargrove
Local televisionWUAB
Jack Corrigan, Mike Hegan
FSN Ohio
John Sanders, Rick Manning
Local radioWKNR (1220 AM)
Tom Hamilton, Dave Nelson, Matt Underwood, Mike Hegan
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Offseason
  • 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

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 8973 0.549 — 46–35 43–38
Chicago White Sox 8082 0.494 9 44–37 36–45
Kansas City Royals 7289 0.447 16½ 29–51 43–38
Minnesota Twins 7092 0.432 19 35–46 35–46
Detroit Tigers 6597 0.401 24 32–49 33–48

Record vs. opponents
1998 American League Records

Sources:
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim —5–66–55–64–78–36–56–56–55–79–36–55–74–710–6
Baltimore 6–5—6–62–95–610–15–67–33–98–36–55–76–55–75–11
Boston 5–66–6—5–68–35–58–35–65–79–27–49–36–55–79–7
Chicago 6–59–26–5—6–66–68–46–64–74–74–75–65–64–6–17–9
Cleveland 7–46–53–86–6—9–38–46–64–73–89–27–34–77–410–6
Detroit 3–81–105–56–63–9—6–68–43–87–43–85–63–85–67–9
Kansas City 5–66–53–84–84–86–6—7–50–107–44–68–33–86–59–7
Minnesota 5–63–76–56–66–64–85–7—4–74–72–97–47–44–77–9
New York 5–69–37–57–47–48–310–07–4—8–38–311–18–36–613–3
Oakland 7–53–82–97–48–34–74–77–43–8—5–75–66–65–68–8
Seattle 3–95–64–77–42–98–36–49–23–87–5—6–55–74–77–9
Tampa Bay 5–67–53–96–53–76–53–84–71–116–55–6—4–75–75–11
Texas 7–55–65–66–57–48–38–34–73–86–67–57–4—7–48–8
Toronto 7–47–57–56–4–14–76–55–67–46–66–57–47–54–7—9–7

Transactions
  • 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
1998 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Game log
1998 Game Log: 89–73 (Home: 46–35; Away: 43–38)
March: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–0)
April: 13–12 (Home: 6–7; Away: 7–5)
May: 18–10 (Home: 10–3; Away: 8–7)
June: 14–12 (Home: 7–8; Away: 7–4)
July: 16–12 (Home: 7–6; Away: 9–6)
August: 13–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 5–8)
September: 14–12 (Home: 8–4; Away: 6–8)
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Indians team member

Player stats

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
CSandy Alomar Jr.1174094596644.235.3520
1BJim Thome123440891293085.293.5841
2BDavid Bell10734037891041.262.4240
3BTravis Fryman146557741602896.287.50410
SSOmar Vizquel15157686166250.288.37237
LFBrian Giles11235056941666.269.46010
CFKenny Lofton1546001011691264.282.41354
RFManny Ramirez15057110816845145.294.5995
DHDavid Justice146540941512188.280.4769

[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

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
  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/assenpa01.shtml
  2. Matt Williams Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/weathda01.shtml
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bellda01.shtml
  5. Mark Whiten Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. C.C. Sabathia Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hudlere01.shtml
  8. Cecil Fielder Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1998.shtml
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