1998 Chicago Cubs season

The 1998 Chicago Cubs season was the 127th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 123rd in the National League and the 83rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished second in the National League Central with a record of 90–73.

1998 Chicago Cubs
National League Wild Card Winners
Sammy Sosa hits 66 Home Runs
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record90–73 (.552)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
Owner(s)Tribune Company
General manager(s)Ed Lynch
Manager(s)Jim Riggleman
Local televisionWGN-TV/Superstation WGN/Chicagoland TV
(Chip Caray, Steve Stone)
Local radioWGN
(Pat Hughes, Ron Santo)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
< Previous season     Next season >

The season was a significant one for the team for several reasons. Firstly, it saw the Cubs reach the playoffs for the first time since 1989 by way of a Wild Card berth, which they clinched after winning a one-game playoff against the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs, however, would lose the Division Series in a 3-0 sweep by the Atlanta Braves. The season also saw Sammy Sosa, along with Mark McGwire, surpass the existing single-season home run record of 61. Sosa would hold the home run lead at several points over the course of the season, eventually finishing four homers behind McGwire (66 and 70 respectively). The 1998 season also saw the debut of Kerry Wood, who drew immediate national attention because of a 20-strikeout performance in his fifth career start, a 13-6 record over 26 starts, and more than 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

Offseason

Harry Caray

On February 18, 1998, Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray died. Caray had the benefit of being in the booth during the NL East title run in 1984, when being a Cub fan became more popular to Chicagoans. His trademark call of "Holy Cow!" and his singing of "Take me out to the ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch made Caray a fan favorite both locally and, thanks to WGN's superstation status, on a national level as well.

The Cubs still have a live singer, usually a celebrity, during the 7th inning stretch to honor Caray's memory to this day. Caray is also honored with a statue located at the corner of Sheffield and Addison streets, and during the 1998 season, a patch with Caray's caricature and Brickhouse's trademark "Hey Hey" were worn on the players sleeves to honor the passing of both commentators within a span of a few months. Harry's popularity also led to his grandson Chip Caray joining the broadcast team in winter of 1997, shortly before Harry's death.

Notable transactions
  • November 18, 1997: Brooks Kieschnick was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from the Chicago Cubs as the 64th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.[1]

Regular season
  • May 6, 1998 – Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros tying the major league record and setting a new National League record. Wood accomplished this feat in only his fifth major league start.
  • September 8, 1998 – Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel gave up Mark McGwire's 62nd Home Run of the season. The home run would break the record set by Roger Maris for most home runs in a season.
  • September 13, 1998 – Sammy Sosa hits home runs number 61 and 62 tying McGwire in the home run race in the Cubs 11-10 win over Milwaukee.
  • September 23, 1998 – In a tie with the New York Mets for the lead in the NL Wild Card standings with three games remaining, the Cubs held a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the 9th inning in a crucial game against the Milwaukee Brewers, but the Brewers had the bases loaded with two out. Closer Rod Beck delivered to Geoff Jenkins, and he hit an easy fly ball to left field and Brant Brown. But Brown dropped the ball and it skipped past him. This error allowed three runs to score, including the winning run, and the Brewers pulled off an 8-7 victory.

In the final game of the season, with the Cubs and Giants tied for the Wild Card lead, a Terry Mulholland throwing error cost the Cubs a victory against the Houston Astros, as San Francisco held an early lead in Colorado, and the team's playoff hopes were in jeopardy. However, a Neifi Pérez walk-off home run gave the Rockies a win and forced a one-game playoff at Wrigley Field.

Notable transactions

Season standings
NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 10260 0.630 — 55–26 47–34
Chicago Cubs 9073 0.552 12½ 51–31 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 8379 0.512 19 48–34 35–45
Cincinnati Reds 7785 0.475 25 39–42 38–43
Milwaukee Brewers 7488 0.457 28 38–43 36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 6993 0.426 33 40–40 29–53

Record vs. opponents
1998 National League Records

Sources:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
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

Roster
1998 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Sammy Sosa's 66 home runs
Number Date Pitcher Length
1April 4, 1998Marc Valdes371'
204-11-1998Anthony Telford350'
304-15-1998Dennis Cook430'
404-23-1998Dan Miceli420'
504-24-1998Ismael Valdez430'
604-27-1998Joey Hamilton434'
705-03-1998Cliff Politte370'
805-16-1998Scott Sullivan441'
905-22-1998Greg Maddux440'
1005-25-1998Kevin Millwood410'
1105-25-1998Mike Cather420'
1205-27-1998Darrin Winston460'
1305-27-1998Wayne Gomes400'
1406-01-1998Ryan Dempster430'
1506-01-1998Oscar Henriquez410'
1606-03-1998Liván Hernández370'
1706-05-1998Jim Parque370'
1806-06-1998Carlos Castillo410'
1906-07-1998James Baldwin380'
2006-08-1998LaTroy Hawkins340'
2106-13-1998Mark Portugal410'
2206-15-1998Cal Eldred420'
2306-15-1998Cal Eldred410'
2406-15-1998Cal Eldred415'
2506-17-1998Bronswell Patrick430'
2606-19-1998Carlton Loewer380'
2706-19-1998Carlton Loewer380'
2806-20-1998Matt Beech366'
2906-20-1998Toby Borland500'
3006-21-1998Tyler Green380'
3106-24-1998Seth Greisinger390'
3206-25-1998Brian Moehler400'
3306-30-1998Alan Embree364'
3407-09-1998Jeff Juden432'
3507-10-1998Scott Karl428'
3607-17-1998Kirt Ojala440'
3707-22-1998Miguel Batista365'
3807-26-1998Rick Reed420'
3907-27-1998Willie Blair347'
4007-27-1998Alan Embree438'
4107-28-1998Bob Wolcott390'
4207-31-1998Jamey Wright375'
4308-05-1998Andy Benes374'
4408-08-1998Rich Croushore400'
4508-10-1998Russ Ortiz361'
4608-10-1998Chris Brock480'
4708-16-1998Sean Bergman360'
4808-19-1998Kent Bottenfield368'
4908-21-1998Orel Hershiser430'
5008-23-1998José Lima440'
5108-23-1998José Lima380'
5208-26-1998Brett Tomko438'
5308-28-1998John Thomson414'
5408-30-1998Darryl Kile482'
5508-31-1998Brett Tomko364'
5609-02-1998Jason Bere363'
5709-04-1998Jason Schmidt374'
5809-05-1998Sean Lawrence417'
5909-11-1998Bill Pulsipher464'
6009-12-1998Valerio de los Santos430'
6109-13-1998Bronswell Patrick480'
6209-13-1998Eric Plunk480'
6309-16-1998Brian Boehringer434'
6409-23-1998Rafael Roque344'
6509-23-1998Rod Henderson410'
6609-25-1998José Lima462'

Player stats

Starters by position

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
LFHenry Rodríguez128415104.2513185
RFSammy Sosa159643198.30866158
2B Mickey Morandini 154 582 172 .296 8 53
1B Mark Grace 158 595 184 .309 17 89
3B Jose Hernandez 149 488 124 .254 23 75
SS Jeff Blauser 119 361 79 .219 4 26
CF Lance Johnson 85 304 85 .280 2 21
C Scott Servais 113 325 72 .222 7 36

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
Sandy Martínez458723.26407
Derrick White11101.10012
José Nieves210.00000

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
Steve Trachsel33208.01584.46149
Kerry Wood26166.21363.40233
Geremi González20110.0775.3270
Kevin Tapani 35 219.0 19 9 4.85 139
Mark Clark 33 213.2 9 14 4.84 161

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
Terry Adams637714.3373
Félix Heredia303004.0816

Postseason

Wild Card tie-breaker game
Main article: 1998 National League Wild Card tie-breaker game

One-game playoff to break tie in regular season standings

Chicago Cubs 5, San Francisco Giants 3 (Wrigley Field)

Division Series
Main article: 1998 National League Division Series

NL Division Series (Best of 5)

Atlanta Braves 7, Chicago Cubs 1 (Turner Field)
Atlanta Braves 2, Chicago Cubs 1 (Turner Field)
Atlanta Braves 6, Chicago Cubs 2 (Wrigley Field)

Braves win series 3-0

Awards and honors
  • Sammy Sosa, National League Most Valuable Player
  • Sammy Sosa, Outfield, Roberto Clemente Award
  • Sammy Sosa, Franchise Record, Most Home Runs in One Season
  • Sammy Sosa, National League Record, Fewest Triples in One Season with 600 or more At-Bats (0)[3]
  • Kerry Wood, National League Rookie of the Year

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Cubs Pacific Coast League Terry Kennedy
AA West Tenn Diamond Jaxx Southern League Dave Trembley
A Daytona Cubs Florida State League Steve Roadcap
A Rockford Cubbies Midwest League Rubén Amaro, Sr.
A-Short Season Williamsport Cubs New York–Penn League Bobby Ralston
Rookie AZL Cubs Arizona League Nate Oliver

[4]

References
  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kiescbr01.shtml
  2. Glenallen Hill Statistics – Baseball-Reference.com
  3. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  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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