1998 Minnesota Twins season

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1998  Minnesota Twins
League American League
Division Central
Ballpark Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
City Minneapolis
Record70–92 (.432)
Divisional place4th
Owners Carl Pohlad
General managers Terry Ryan
Managers Tom Kelly
Television KMSP-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Ryan Lefebvre)
Radio 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Ryan Lefebvre)
←  1997 Seasons 1999  →

The 1998 Minnesota Twins season was the 38th season for the Minnesota Twins franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their 17th season at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the 98th overall in the American League.

Contents

The team finished with a 70–92 record, with subpar batting and pitching. The season was not without its bright spots, as individual players had solid seasons and Hall of Fame designated hitter Paul Molitor announced his retirement at the end of the season. Tom Kelly's team had plenty of lowlights, most notably David Wells' perfect game against the team on May 17 at Yankee Stadium.

Regular season

Offense

In 1998, Twins fans witnessed the emergence of Matt Lawton and Todd Walker as major league hitters. The team believed Walker would be able to fill the void left after the trade of Chuck Knoblauch, who had been traded to the New York Yankees on February 6. Fans also saw the merciful end to the Twins' Scott Stahoviak era. Otis Nixon had a surprising year for a 39-year-old, hitting .297 and stealing 37 bases (leading the team). Molitor's hitting continued its gradual decline from his stellar 1996 campaign, with his average down to .281 and RBIs down to 69. These numbers were still competent and he was able to retire while playing solid baseball.

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
HR Matt Lawton 21
RBI Matt Lawton 77
BA Todd Walker .316
Runs Matt Lawton 91

Pitching

Bob Tewksbury was the opening day starter for the Twins, the last opening day starter not named Brad Radke until 2006. Tewksbury, Radke, LaTroy Hawkins, and rookie Eric Milton (acquired in the Knoblauch trade) were in the rotation for most of the year. Mike Morgan and Frank Rodriguez also started 17 and 11 games, respectively. While Morgan had an impressive year for a forty-year-old journeyman before being traded in August, Rodriguez's season was a major disappointment. In his last year for the Twins, Rodriguez went 4-6 with an ERA of 6.56. This could not have been what the team had in mind when it acquired him for Rick Aguilera in 1995.

Subsequent to that trade, the Twins reacquired Aguilera, and he served as the teams' closer in 1998, earning a respectable 38 saves. Also in the bullpen, Eddie Guardado, Mike Trombley, Héctor Carrasco, and Greg Swindell had competent seasons.

Team Leaders
Statistic PlayerQuantity
ERA Brad Radke 4.30
Wins Brad Radke 12
Saves Rick Aguilera 38
Strikeouts Brad Radke 146

Defense

In his penultimate year as a major league catcher, Minnesota native Terry Steinbach, then 36, had a mediocre season, with Javier Valentín as his backup. David Ortiz was projected as the starting first baseman, but was hampered by injuries. Orlando Merced, Molitor, and Stahoviak saw time at the position in Ortiz's absence. Walker played second, while Ron Coomer saw a majority of the time at third. Pat Meares was the starting shortstop, but was unceremoniously dumped by the team following the season. The outfield consisted of a declining Marty Cordova, Nixon, and Lawton.

Season standings

AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 8973.549—46‍–‍3543‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox 8082.494944‍–‍3736‍–‍45
Kansas City Royals 7289.44716½29‍–‍5143‍–‍38
Minnesota Twins 7092.4321935‍–‍4635‍–‍46
Detroit Tigers 6597.4012432‍–‍4933‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1998 American League record
Source: MLB Standings Grid – 1998
TeamANABALBOSCWSCLEDETKCMINNYYOAKSEATBTEXTORNL
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

Roster

1998 Minnesota Twins
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Notable transactions

Miscellaneous

Player stats

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; Slg. = Slugging average; SB = Stolen bases

PosPlayerGABRHHRRBIAvg.Slg.SB
C Terry Steinbach 124422451021454.242.4100
1B David Ortiz 862784777946.277.4461
2B Todd Walker 143528851671262.316.47319
3B Ron Coomer 137529541461572.276.4062
SS Pat Meares 14954356141970.260.3687
LF Marty Cordova 119438521111069.253.3773
CF Otis Nixon 11044871133120.297.34437
RF Matt Lawton 152557911552177.278.47816
DH Paul Molitor 12650275141469.281.3829

[3]

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Brent Gates 10733383.249342
Alex Ochoa 9424964.257225
Orlando Merced 6320459.289533
Denny Hocking 11019840.202315
Javier Valentín 5516232.198318
Chris Latham 349415.16015
Jon Shave 194010.25015
Corey Koskie 11294.13812
Doug Mientkiewicz 8255.20002
Scott Stahoviak 9192.10511
Torii Hunter 6174.23502
A. J. Pierzynski 7103.30001

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Brad Radke 32213.212144.30146
LaTroy Hawkins 33190.17145.25105
Eric Milton 32172.18145.64107
Bob Tewksbury 26148.17134.7960
Mike Morgan 1898.0423.4950

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dan Serafini 2875.0746.4846
Frank Rodriguez 2070.0466.5662
Benj Sampson 517.1101.5650

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Rick Aguilera 6849384.2457
Eddie Guardado 793104.5253
Mike Trombley 776513.6389
Héctor Carrasco 634214.3846
Greg Swindell 523323.6645
Dan Naulty 190204.9415
Todd Ritchie 150005.6321
Travis Miller 140203.8623
Travis Baptist 130105.6711

Other post-season awards

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Salt Lake Buzz Pacific Coast League Phil Roof
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League John Russell
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Mike Boulanger
A Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League Jose Marzan
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Jon Mathews
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Steve Liddle

[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Doug Linton Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. ↑ Greg Swindell Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ↑ "1998 Seattle Mariners Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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