1998_Kansas_City_Royals_season
1998 Kansas City Royals season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1998 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League Central with a record of 72 wins and 89 losses.
| 1998 Kansas City Royals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | Central | |||
| Ballpark | Kauffman Stadium | |||
| City | Kansas City, Missouri | |||
| Owners | David Glass | |||
| General managers | Herk Robinson | |||
| Managers | Tony Muser | |||
| Television | KMBC-TV KCWB Fox Sports Rocky Mountain (Paul Splittorff, Bob Davis) | |||
| Radio | WKBZ (Denny Matthews, Fred White) | |||
| ||||
- November 18, 1997: Yamil Benitez was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Kansas City Royals as the 19th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.[1]
- January 20, 1998: Terry Pendleton was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.[2]
- January 20, 1998: Lee Smith signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.[3]
- March 17, 1998: Ernie Young was purchased by the Kansas City Royals from the Oakland Athletics.[4]
Before the 1998 regular season began, two new teams—the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays—were added by Major League Baseball. This resulted in the American League and National League having fifteen teams. However, in order for MLB officials to continue primarily intraleague play, both leagues would need to carry a number of teams that was divisible by two, so the decision was made to move one club from the AL Central to the NL Central.
This realignment was widely considered to have great financial benefit to the club moving. However, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Commissioner (then club owner) Bud Selig decided another team should have the first chance to switch leagues. The choice was offered to the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately decided to stay in the American League and bypassing the opportunity to build a full-time rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals.[5] The choice then fell to the Brewers, who, on November 6, 1997, elected to move to the National League. Had the Brewers elected not to move to the National League, the Minnesota Twins would have been offered the opportunity to switch leagues.[6]
Season standings
| AL Central | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 73 | 0.549 | — | 46–35 | 43–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 80 | 82 | 0.494 | 9 | 44–37 | 36–45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 72 | 89 | 0.447 | 16½ | 29–51 | 43–38 |
| Minnesota Twins | 70 | 92 | 0.432 | 19 | 35–46 | 35–46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 65 | 97 | 0.401 | 24 | 32–49 | 33–48 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Roster
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
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | Slg. | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Mike Sweeney | 92 | 282 | 32 | 73 | 8 | 35 | .259 | .408 | 2 |
| 1B | Jeff King | 131 | 486 | 83 | 128 | 24 | 93 | .263 | .451 | 10 |
| 2B | José Offerman | 158 | 607 | 102 | 191 | 7 | 66 | .315 | .438 | 45 |
| 3B | Dean Palmer | 152 | 572 | 84 | 159 | 34 | 119 | .278 | .510 | 8 |
| SS | Mendy López | 74 | 206 | 18 | 50 | 1 | 15 | .243 | .325 | 5 |
| LF | Jeff Conine | 93 | 309 | 30 | 79 | 8 | 43 | .256 | .417 | 3 |
| CF | Johnny Damon | 161 | 642 | 104 | 178 | 18 | 66 | .277 | .439 | 26 |
| RF | Larry Sutton | 111 | 310 | 29 | 76 | 5 | 42 | .245 | .352 | 3 |
| DH | Terry Pendleton | 79 | 237 | 17 | 61 | 3 | 29 | .257 | .338 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hal Morris | 127 | 472 | 146 | .309 | 1 | 40 |
| Larry Sutton | 111 | 310 | 76 | .245 | 5 | 42 |
| Sal Fasano | 74 | 216 | 49 | .227 | 8 | 31 |
| Shane Mack | 66 | 207 | 58 | .280 | 6 | 29 |
| Shane Halter | 86 | 204 | 45 | .221 | 2 | 13 |
| Luis Rivera | 42 | 89 | 22 | .247 | 0 | 7 |
| Félix Martínez | 34 | 85 | 11 | .129 | 0 | 5 |
| Jermaine Allensworth | 30 | 73 | 15 | .205 | 0 | 3 |
| Jeremy Giambi | 18 | 58 | 13 | .224 | 2 | 8 |
| Carlos Beltrán | 14 | 58 | 16 | .276 | 0 | 7 |
| Ernie Young | 25 | 53 | 10 | .189 | 1 | 3 |
| Scott Leius | 17 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 0 | 4 |
| Tim Spehr | 11 | 25 | 6 | .240 | 1 | 2 |
| Carlos Febles | 11 | 25 | 10 | .400 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris Hatcher | 8 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Macfarlane | 3 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Turner | 4 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Vitiello | 3 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Héctor Ortiz | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jed Hansen | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dee Brown | 5 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Belcher | 34 | 234.0 | 14 | 14 | 4.27 | 130 |
| Pat Rapp | 32 | 188.1 | 12 | 13 | 5.30 | 132 |
| José Rosado | 38 | 174.2 | 8 | 11 | 4.69 | 135 |
| Glendon Rusch | 29 | 154.2 | 6 | 15 | 5.88 | 94 |
| Brian Barber | 8 | 42.0 | 2 | 4 | 6.00 | 24 |
| Kevin Appier | 3 | 15.0 | 1 | 2 | 7.80 | 9 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hipólito Pichardo | 27 | 112.1 | 7 | 8 | 5.13 | 55 |
| Chris Haney | 33 | 97.1 | 6 | 6 | 7.03 | 51 |
| Jamie Walker | 6 | 17.1 | 0 | 1 | 9.87 | 15 |
| Jeff Suppan | 4 | 12.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.71 | 12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Montgomery | 56 | 2 | 5 | 36 | 4.98 | 54 |
| Scott Service | 73 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3.48 | 95 |
| Matt Whisenant | 70 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4.90 | 45 |
| Jim Pittsley | 39 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.59 | 44 |
| Brian Bevil | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6.30 | 47 |
| Ricky Bones | 32 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.04 | 38 |
| Bart Evans | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 7 |
| Allen McDill | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.50 | 3 |
| Danny Rios | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.14 | 6 |
| Tim Byrdak | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 1 |
| José Santiago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
| Shane Halter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
- Terry Pendleton Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- Lee Smith Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- "Brewers switch leagues, join Reds in NL Central". The Kentucky Post (Associated Press). E. W. Scripps Company. November 6, 1997. Archived from the original on May 5, 2005.
- Pappas, Doug, "News Briefs: Fall 1997" Archived July 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Outside the Lines, Fall 1997.
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
- 1998 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
- 1998 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac