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1998 St. Louis Cardinals season

Major League Baseball season

Major League Baseball season

FieldValue
nameSt. Louis Cardinals
season1998
imageSt Louis Cardinals Cap Insignia.svg
leagueNational League
divisionCentral
ballparkBusch Memorial Stadium
citySt. Louis, Missouri
record83–79 (.512)
divisional_place3rd
ownersWilliam DeWitt, Jr.
general_managersWalt Jocketty
managersTony La Russa
televisionFox Sports Midwest
Joe Buck, (Al Hrabosky, Bob Ramsey)
KPLR
(Bob Carpenter, Bob Ramsey, Rich Gould)
radioKMOX
(Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Joe Buck)

Joe Buck, (Al Hrabosky, Bob Ramsey) KPLR (Bob Carpenter, Bob Ramsey, Rich Gould) (Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Joe Buck)

The 1998 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 117th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 107th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 83–79 during the season and finished third in the National League Central division, 18 games behind the Houston Astros. First baseman Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record this season by hitting 70 home runs, battling with the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa, who finished runner-up in the National League with 66.

Offseason

  • December 5: Signed free agent outfielder Willie McGee.
  • January 8: Signed free agent pitcher Kent Bottenfield.
  • March 30: Traded Craig Shipley to the Anaheim Angels for Chip Hale.

Regular season

  • On May 8, McGwire hit career home run number 400 in his 4,726th at bat, faster than any other player in history who reached 400 home runs.
  • Facing Liván Hernández on May 16, McGwire hit his longest home run of the season, estimated at 545 feet.
  • McGwire hit home run number 50 of the season on August 20, becoming the first Major League ballplayer in history with three consecutive 50-plus home run seasons.
  • McGwire broke Roger Maris' 37-year-old record of 61 home runs on September 8 with a low line drive over Busch Stadium's left field fence. Known for hitting many long home runs, it was ironically the shortest home run McGwire hit that season.

Opening Day lineup

  • Royce Clayton, SS
  • Delino DeShields, 2B
  • Mark McGwire, 1B
  • Ray Lankford, OF
  • Brian Jordan, OF
  • Ron Gant, OF
  • Gary Gaetti, 3B
  • Tom Lampkin, C
  • Todd Stottlemyre, P

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

  • June 2: Drafted J. D. Drew in the 1st round with the 5th pick of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed July 3, 1998.
  • April 14: The Cleveland Indians selected David Bell off waivers.
  • July 31: Traded Todd Stottlemyre and Royce Clayton to the Texas Rangers for Darren Oliver, Fernando Tatís and a player to be named later. The Rangers sent Mark Little on August 9 to the Cardinals to complete the trade.
  • August 16: Released catcher Tom Pagnozzi.

Scorecard for McGwire's 70th

Entering the game on September 27 against the Montreal Expos, McGwire had 68 home runs. In the third inning, McGwire hit a home run off of Mike Thurman, and in the seventh, he got number 70 off of Carl Pavano. The ball was caught by Philip Ozersky. In January 1999, Todd McFarlane purchased Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from the 1998 season for a record $3 million.

September 27, Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Team123456789RHE
Montreal002100000**3****9****1**
**St. Louis**11100030x**6****9****2**
**W**: Frascatore (3-4) **L**: Pavano (6-9) **SV**: Acevedo (15) **HRs**: Cabrera (3), Tatis (8), McGwire 2 (69, 70)
**Attendance**: 46,110 **Time**:2:33 U-HP–Rich Rieker, 1B–Joe West, 2B–Kerwin Danley, 3B–Brian Gorman

Aftermath of the 1998 home run chase

A section of Interstate 70 running through downtown St. Louis was renamed "The Mark McGwire Highway." His record stood until Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001. In years following, revelations of the anabolic steroids scandals have possibly tainted these records, but at the time it was great theater and was largely responsible for drawing many fans back to the game after the 1994 players' strike, which had angered and alienated many of them.

Roster

1998 St. Louis Cardinals
**Roster**
**Pitchers**

Player stats

= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league 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
CEli Marrero832542862420.2446
1BMark McGwire15550913015270147.2991
2BDelino DeShields11742074122744.29026
3BGary Gaetti9130639811143.2651
SSRoyce Clayton903555983429.23419
LFRon Gant12138360922667.2408
CFRay Lankford1545339415631105.29326
RFBrian Jordan1505641001782591.31617

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
David Bell490200.2220
J. D. Drew1436915513.4170
Shawn Gilbert420100.5001
David Howard461021525212.2450
Brian Hunter621121123413.2051
Pat Kelly531531833414.2165
Tom Lampkin932162550628.2313
Mark Little7120100.0831
John Mabry1423774194946.2490
Joe McEwing10205401.2000
Willie McGee1202692768334.2537
Luis Ordaz5715393108.2032
Tom Pagnozzi51160735110.2190
Plácido Polanco451141029111.2542
Fernando Tatís552022858826.2877

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO. = Strikeouts; BB = Bases on balls

PlayerGIPWLERASOBB
Kent Mercker30161.211115.077253
Todd Stottlemyre23161.1993.5114751
Matt Morris17113.2752.537942
Donovan Osborne1483.2544.096022
Darren Oliver1057.0444.262923
Cliff Politte837.0236.322218
José Jiménez421.1302.95128

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASOBB
Kent Bottenfield44133.2464.449857
Mark Petkovsek48105.2744.775536
Manny Aybar2081.1665.985742
Bobby Witt1747.1254.942820
Brady Raggio47.01115.4333
Sean Lowe45.10315.1925

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLSVERASOBB
Juan Acevedo5098.183152.565629
John Frascatore6995.23404.144936
Lance Painter6547.14013.993928
Jeff Brantley4850.205144.444818
Rich Croushore4154.10384.974729
Curtis King3651.02023.532820
Mike Busby2646.05204.503315
Bryan Eversgerd86.00009.0042
Braden Looper43.10105.4041
Gary Gaetti11.00000.0000

McGwire's 70

NumberDatePitcherLength
103-31-1998Ramón Martínez364'
204-02-1998Frank Lankford368'
304-03-1998Mark Langston364'
404-04-1998Don Wengert419'
504-14-1998Jeff Suppan424'
604-14-1998Jeff Suppan347'
704-14-1998Barry Manuel462'
804-17-1998Matt Whiteside419'
904-21-1998Trey Moore437'
1004-25-1998Jerry Spradlin419'
1104-30-1998Marc Pisciotta371'
1205-01-1998Rod Beck362'
1305-08-1998Rick Reed358'
1405-12-1998Paul Wagner527'
1505-14-1998Kevin Millwood381'
1605-16-1998Liván Hernández545'
1705-18-1998Jesús Sánchez478'
1805-19-1998Tyler Green440'
1905-19-1998Tyler Green471'
2005-19-1998Wayne Gomes451'
2105-22-1998Mark Gardner425'
2205-23-1998Rich Rodriguez366'
2305-23-1998John Johnstone477'
2405-24-1998Robb Nen397'
2505-25-1998John Thomson433'
2605-29-1998Dan Miceli388'
2705-30-1998Andy Ashby423'
2806-05-1998Orel Hershiser409'
2906-08-1998Jason Bere356'
3006-10-1998Jim Parque409'
3106-12-1998Andy Benes438'
3206-17-1998José Lima437'
3306-18-1998Shane Reynolds449'
3406-24-1998Jaret Wright433'
3506-25-1998Dave Burba461'
3606-27-1998Mike Trombley431'
3706-30-1998Glendon Rusch472'
3807-11-1998Billy Wagner485'
3907-12-1998Sean Bergman405'
4007-12-1998Scott Elarton415'
4107-17-1998Brian Bohanon511'
4207-17-1998Antonio Osuna425'
4307-20-1998Brian Boehringer452'
4407-26-1998John Thomson452'
4507-28-1998Mike Myers408'
4608-08-1998Mark Clark374'
4708-11-1998Bobby Jones464'
4808-19-1998Matt Karchner398'
4908-19-1998Terry Mulholland409'
5008-20-1998Willie Blair369'
5108-20-1998Rick Reed393'
5208-22-1998Francisco Córdova477'
5308-23-1998Ricardo Rincón393'
5408-26-1998Justin Speier509'
5508-30-1998Dennis Martínez501'
5609-01-1998Liván Hernández450'
5709-01-1998Donn Pall472'
5809-02-1998Brian Edmondson497'
5909-02-1998Rob Stanifer458'
6009-05-1998Dennys Reyes381'
6109-07-1998Mike Morgan430'
6209-08-1998Steve Trachsel341'
6309-15-1998Jason Christiansen385'
6409-18-1998Rafael Roque423'
6509-20-1998Scott Karl423'
6609-25-1998Shayne Bennett375'
6709-26-1998Dustin Hermanson403'
6809-26-1998Kirk Bullinger435'
6909-27-1998Mike Thurman377'
7009-27-1998Carl Pavano370'

Awards and honors

  • Mark McGwire, Franchise Record, Most Home Runs in One Season (70)
  • Mark McGwire, Major League Baseball Home Run Champion
  • Mark McGwire, Major League record, Most home runs through July 31 (45)
  • Mark McGwire, First player to hit 50 home runs in three straight seasons: 1996–1998
  • Mark McGwire, Associated Press Athlete of the Year
  • Mark McGwire, First Base, Silver Slugger Award
  • Mark McGwire, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year

All-Star Game

  • Mark McGwire, first base, starter

Farm system

References

References

  1. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcgeewi01.shtml Willie McGee Statistics] Baseball-Reference.com
  2. "Kent Bottenfield Stats".
  3. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/halech01.shtml Chip Hale Statistics] Baseball-Reference.com
  4. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/drewj.01.shtml J. D. Drew Statistics] Baseball-Reference.com
  5. "David Bell Stats".
  6. "Tom Pagnozzi Stats".
  7. Sports Illustrated, Volume 109, No. 2, July 14–21, 2008, p.122, Published by Time Inc.
  8. [http://www.spawn.com/info/todd/bio.long.aspx Spawn.Com >> Info >> Todd Mcfarlane] {{webarchive. link. (2012-09-21)
  9. "1990 St. Louis Cardinals Statistics".
  10. [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats1.shtml Mark McGwire's Seventy Home Run Season by Baseball Almanac]
  11. ''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures'', 2008 Edition, p.260, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, {{ISBN. 978-0-451-22363-0
  12. "Mark McGwire Career Biography and Statistics {{!}} AllSports.com".
  13. [http://www.nndb.com/honors/906/000166408/ Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)]
  14. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
Info: Wikipedia Source

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