1998 Florida Marlins season

Last updated

1998  Florida Marlins
League National League
Division East
Ballpark Pro Player Stadium
City Miami Gardens, Florida
Record54–108 (.333)
Divisional place5th
Owners Wayne Huizenga
General managers Dave Dombrowski
Managers Jim Leyland
Television Sports Channel Florida
WBFS-TV
(Joe Angel, Dave O'Brien, Tommy Hutton, Jay Randolph)
Radio WQAM
(Joe Angel, Dave O'Brien, Jon Sciambi)
WQBA (Spanish)
(Felo Ramírez, Manolo Alvarez)
←  1997 Seasons 1999  →

The Florida Marlins' 1998 season was the sixth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in the National League. It would begin with the team attempting to defend their World Series Champion title, having won the title in 1997. Their manager was Jim Leyland. They played home games at Pro Player Stadium, and finished with a record of 54–108, the worst record in all of baseball. The team is notable for having arguably the biggest fire sale in sports history, auctioning off nearly all of their most notable players. The 1998 Marlins were the first defending World Series champions to finish last in their division and the first to lose 100 games. To make matters worse, the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who also finished last in their own division (the AL East), were nine games better than the Marlins, at 63–99.

Contents

The Marlins won on opening day against the Chicago Cubs, but it would be the only time they were over .500 all season. They promptly lost 11 straight, the most consecutive losses by a reigning champion. By the end of May, they were 17–38, 21 games under .500, and their season was all but over. The Marlins would finish 0–9 against three teams: Cincinnati, San Francisco, and Milwaukee. The 1998 Marlins are the most recent team to finish winless against three separate opponents.

Offseason

Regular season

Opening Day starters

15 Cliff Floyd LF
16 Edgar Renteria SS
3 Ryan Jackson 1B
10 Gary Sheffield RF
7 Mark Kotsay CF
23 Charles Johnson C
30 Craig Counsell 2B
2 Josh Booty 3B
61 Livan Hernandez P

Season standings

NL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 106560.654—56–2550–31
New York Mets 88740.5431847–3441–40
Philadelphia Phillies 75870.4633140–4135–46
Montreal Expos 65970.4014139–4226–55
Florida Marlins 541080.3335231–5023–58

Record vs. opponents

1998 National League record

Sources:
TeamARIATLCHCCINCOLFLAHOULADMILMONNYMPHIPITSDSFSTLAL
Arizona —1–85–74–56–66–24–54–86–32–74–52–76–33–95–72–75–8
Atlanta 8–1—3–67–25–37–54–58–17–26–69–38–47–25–47–26–39–7
Chicago 7–56–3—6–57–27–24–74–56–67–24–53–68–35–47–34–75–8
Cincinnati 5–42–75–6—4–59–03–85–46–58–13–64–55–71–112–78–37-6
Colorado 6–63–52–75–4—6–36–56–64–77–23–65–45–45–77–53–64–8
Florida 2–65–72–70–93–6—3–64–50–95–75–76–63–64–50–94–58–8
Houston 5–45–47–48–35–66-3—3–69–27–25–47–29–25–46–35–710–4
Los Angeles 8–41–85–44–56–65–46–3—5–45–43–55–47–55–76–64–58–5
Milwaukee 3–62–76–65–67–49–02–94–5—6–31–84–56–53–65–43–88–6
Montreal 7–26–62–71–82–77–52–74–53–6—8–45–72–74–43–63–66–10
New York 5–43–95–46–36–37–54–55–38–14–8—8–44–54–54–56–39–7
Philadelphia 7-24–86–35–44–56–62–74–55–47–54–8—8–11–82–63–67–9
Pittsburgh 3–62–73–87–54–56–32–95–75–67–25–41–8—5–42–76–56–7
San Diego 9–34–54–511–17–55–44–57–56–34–45–48–14–5—8–46–36–7
San Francisco 7–52–73–77–25–79–03–66–64–56–35–46–27–24–8—7–58–5
St. Louis 7–23–67–43–86–35-47–55–48–36–33–66–35–63–65–7—4–9

Notable transactions

The Mike Piazza trades

Citrus Series

The first interleague game between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took place at Tropicana Field. The rivalry would be known as the Citrus Series. The Marlins won the game in twelve innings by a score of 3–2 and would go on to win the season series 3 games to 1. [7]

Roster

1998 Florida Marlins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

PosPlayerGABRHHRRBIAvg.SB
C Gregg Zaun 1062981956529.1885
1B Derrek Lee 141454621061774.2335
2B Craig Counsell 1073354384440.2513
3B Todd Zeile 662343768639.2912
SS Édgar Rentería 13351779146331.28241
LF Cliff Floyd 153588851662290.28227
CF Todd Dunwoody 11643453109528.2515
RF Mark Kotsay 154578721611168.27910

[8]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

PlayerGABRHHRRBIAvg.SB
Dave Berg 811821857221.3133
Bobby Bonilla 28971127415.2780
Josh Booty 7190303.1580
John Cangelosi 1041711943110.2512
Luis Castillo 441532131110.2033
Brian Daubach 10150303.2000
Jim Eisenreich 306491617.2502
Alex Gonzalez 2586111337.1510
Ryan Jackson 1112602665531.2501
Charles Johnson 311131325723.2210
Randy Knorr 1549410211.2040
Kevin Millar 221100.5000
Kevin Orie 481752346617.2631
Mike Piazza 5181505.2780
Mike Redmond 371181039212.3310
John Roskos 10101100.1000
Gary Sheffield 401362137628.2724
John Wehner 5388102005.2271
Preston Wilson 14314211.0650

[8]

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Liván Hernández 33234.110124.72162
Brian Meadows 31174.111135.2188
Jesús Sánchez 35173.0794.47137
Andy Larkin 1774.2389.6443
Rafael Medina 1267.1266.0149
Joe Fontenot 842.2076.3324
Chris Hammond 313.2026.598

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves

PlayerGIPWLERASOSV
Antonio Alfonseca 5870.2464.08468
Vic Darensbourg 5971.0073.68741
Brian Edmondson 4359.1433.79320
Oscar Henriquez 1520.0008.55190
Felix Heredia 4141.0035.49382
Matt Mantei 4254.2342.96639
Donn Pall 2333.1015.13260
Jay Powell 3336.1444.21243
Justin Speier 1819.1038.38150
Rob Stanifer 3848.0245.63301
Manuel Barrios 22.2003.3810
Gabe Gonzalez 31.0009.0000

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves

PlayerGIPWLERASOSV
Kirt Ojala 41125.0274.25750
Ryan Dempster 1454.2157.08350
Eric Ludwick 1332.2147.44270

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Charlotte Knights International League Fredi González
AA Portland Sea Dogs Eastern League Lynn Jones
A Brevard County Manatees Florida State League Rick Renteria
A Kane County Cougars Midwest League Juan Bustabad
A-Short Season Utica Blue Sox New York–Penn League Ken Joyce
Rookie GCL Marlins Gulf Coast League Jon Deeble

[9]

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References

  1. ↑ Devon White Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ↑ Scott Podsednik Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ↑ "Derrek Lee Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Kevin Millar Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  5. ↑ Jacob Brumfield Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. ↑ Bobby Bonilla Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  7. ↑ "Box Score of Game played on Monday, June 22, 1998 at Tropicana Field".
  8. 1 2 "1998 Florida Marlins Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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