1998 Detroit Tigers season

1998 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionCentral
BallparkTiger Stadium
CityDetroit, Michigan
Record65–97 (.401)
Divisional place5th
OwnersMike Ilitch
General managersRandy Smith
ManagersBuddy Bell, Larry Parrish
TelevisionWKBD
(Ernie Harwell, Al Kaline)
FSN Detroit
(Kirk Gibson, Josh Lewin)
RadioWJR
(Frank Beckmann, Lary Sorensen, Jim Price)
← 1997 Seasons 1999 →

The 1998 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 98th season and the 87th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in fifth place in their first season in the American League Central with a record of 65–97 (.401), 24 games behind the Cleveland Indians. The Tigers were outscored by their opponents 863 to 722. The Tigers drew 1,409,391 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1998, ranking 11th of the 14 teams in the American League.

The Tigers missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season, tying a record set between 1973–83. It was also the team's fifth consecutive losing season. Both streaks would last until 2006.

Offseason

  • November 11, 1997: Melvin Nieves was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Cincinnati Reds for Paul Bako and Donne Wall.[1]
  • November 18, 1997: Travis Fryman was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Gabe Alvarez, Joe Randa, and Matt Drews (minors).[2]
  • December 16, 1997: Billy Ripken was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.[3]
  • December 22, 1997: Joe Oliver was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.[4]
  • March 25, 1998: Doug Bochtler was purchased by the Detroit Tigers from the Oakland Athletics.[5]

Regular season

Season standings

AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 89 73 .549 — 46‍–‍35 43‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox 80 82 .494 9 44‍–‍37 36‍–‍45
Kansas City Royals 72 89 .447 16½ 29‍–‍51 43‍–‍38
Minnesota Twins 70 92 .432 19 35‍–‍46 35‍–‍46
Detroit Tigers 65 97 .401 24 32‍–‍49 33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1998 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
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


Transactions

  • July 16, 1998: Joe Oliver was released by the Detroit Tigers.[4]
  • July 20, 1998: Billy Ripken was released by the Detroit Tigers.[3]

Roster

1998 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

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
Bobby Higginson 157 612 174 .284 25 85
Tony Clark 157 602 175 .291 34 103
Brian L. Hunter 142 595 151 .254 4 36
Damion Easley 153 594 161 .271 27 100
Joe Randa 138 560 117 .254 9 50
Luis Gonzalez 154 547 146 .267 23 71
Deivi Cruz 135 518 118 .260 5 45
Paul Bako 96 305 83 .272 3 30
Gabe Alvarez 58 286 46 .231 5 29
Frank Catalanotto 89 213 60 .282 6 25
Gerónimo Berroa 52 126 30 .238 1 10
Juan Encarnación 40 164 54 .329 7 21
Joe Oliver 50 155 35 .226 4 22
Bip Roberts 34 113 28 .248 0 9
Kimera Bartee 57 98 19 .194 3 15
Billy Ripken 27 74 20 .270 0 5
Andy Tomberlin 32 69 15 .217 2 12
Joe Siddall 29 65 12 .185 1 6
Trey Beamon 28 42 11 .262 0 2
Raul Casanova 16 42 6 .143 1 3
Jeff Manto 16 30 8 .267 1 3
Gabe Kapler 7 25 5 .200 0 0
Jason Wood 10 23 8 .348 1 1
Robert Fick 7 22 8 .364 3 7
Pete Incaviglia 7 14 1 .071 0 0
Pitcher Totals 162 21 3 .143 0 1
Team Totals 162 5664 1494 .264 165 691

Note: Individual pitchers' batting statistics not included

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
Justin Thompson 34 222.0 11 15 4.05 149
Seth Greisinger 33 221.1 14 13 3.90 123
Brian Moehler 21 130.0 6 9 5.12 66
Frank Castillo 27 116.0 3 9 6.83 81
Brian Powell 18 83.2 3 8 6.35 46

Relief and other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Bryce Florie 42 133.0 8 9 0 4.80 97
Doug Bochtler 51 67.1 0 2 0 6.15 45
Todd Jones 65 63.1 1 4 28 4.97 57
Doug Brocail 60 62.2 5 2 0 2.73 55
Tim Worrell 15 61.2 2 6 0 5.98 47
A. J. Sager 31 59.1 4 2 2 6.52 23
Sean Runyan 88 50.1 1 4 1 3.58 39
Dean Crow 32 45.2 2 2 0 3.94 18
Matt Anderson 42 44.0 5 1 0 3.27 44
Greg Keagle 9 31.2 0 5 0 5.59 25
Roberto Durán 18 15.1 0 1 0 5.87 12
Denny Harriger 4 12.0 0 3 0 6.75 3
Scott Sanders 3 9.2 0 2 0 17.69 6
Marino Santana 7 7.1 0 0 0 3.68 10
Will Brunson 8 3.0 0 0 0 0.00 1
Team Pitching Totals 162 1446.1 65 97 32 4.93 947

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Gene Roof
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Dave Anderson
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Mark Meleski
A West Michigan Whitecaps Midwest League Bruce Fields
A-Short Season Jamestown Jammers New York–Penn League Tim Torricelli
Rookie GCL Tigers Gulf Coast League Kevin Bradshaw

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: West Michigan[6]

References

  1. ^ "Melvin Nieves Stats".
  2. ^ "Travis Fryman Stats".
  3. ^ a b "Billy Ripken Stats".
  4. ^ a b "Joe Oliver Stats".
  5. ^ "Doug Bochtler Stats".
  6. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007