1998 Texas Rangers season

1998 Texas Rangers
1998 AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Western Division (since 1972)
Location
The Ballpark in Arlington (since 1994)
Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
Other information
Owner(s)	Tom Hicks
General manager(s)	Doug Melvin
Manager(s)	Johnny Oates
Local television	KXTX-TV KXAS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Tom Grieve, Bill Jones)
Local radio	KRLD (Eric Nadel, Vince Cotroneo) KMRT (Luis Mayoral, Josue Perez)
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The 1998 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing 1st in the American League west with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. It would be the team's second post-season appearance, but the team would be swept 3-0 by the New York Yankees.

Offseason

• November 6, 1997: Jim Leyritz and Damon Buford were traded by the Rangers to the Boston Red Sox for Mark Brandenburg, Bill Haselman, and Aaron Sele.^[1]
• November 20, 1997: Scott Sheldon was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[2]
• December 7, 1997: Scott Bailes was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[3]
• December 8, 1997: Kevin Elster was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[4]
• December 9, 1997: Roberto Kelly was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[5]
• December 15, 1997: Scott Podsednik was drafted by the Rangers from the Florida Marlins in the 1997 rule 5 draft.^[6]
• December 23, 1997: Scott Cooper was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[7]
• March 14, 1998: Kevin Brown was traded by the Rangers to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tim Crabtree.^[8]

Regular season

During the season, Rick Helling would be the last pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Rangers in the decade.^[9]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	88	74	0.543	—	48–33	40–41
Anaheim Angels	85	77	0.525	3	42–39	43–38
Seattle Mariners	76	85	0.472	11½	42–39	34–46
Oakland Athletics	74	88	0.457	14	39–42	35–46

Record vs. opponents

1998 American League Records 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

Notable transactions

• July 17, 1998: Todd Van Poppel and Warren Morris were traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Esteban Loaiza.^[10]
• July 31, 1998: Kevin Elster was released by the Texas Rangers.^[4]
• August 26, 1998: Greg Cadaret was selected off waivers by the Rangers from the Anaheim Angels.^[11]

Roster

1998 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 58 Scott Bailes 33 John Burkett 36 Greg Cadaret 23 Tim Crabtree 49 Tony Fossas 53 Eric Gunderson 32 Rick Helling 31 Xavier Hernandez 50 Jonathan Johnson 43 Al Levine 28 Esteban Loaiza 28 Darren Oliver 56 Danny Patterson 59 Roger Pavlik 40 Matt Perisho 60 Julio Santana 30 Aaron Sele 44 Todd Stottlemyre 51 Todd Van Poppel 35 John Wetteland 36 Bobby Witt		Catchers 37 Bill Haselman  7 Iván Rodríguez Infielders 10 Luis Alicea  1 Domingo Cedeño 22 Will Clark 11,18 Royce Clayton 18 Kevin Elster  3 Mark McLemore  4 Scott Sheldon 9,11 Lee Stevens  4 Fernando Tatís 27 Todd Zeile		Outfielders 18 Milt Cuyler 19 Juan González 24 Tom Goodwin 29 Rusty Greer 39 Roberto Kelly 21 Warren Newson 16 Mike Simms Other batters 14 Rob Sasser 18 Chris Tremie		Manager 26 Johnny Oates Coaches 17 Dick Bosman (Pitching) 20 Bucky Dent (Bench) 25 Larry Hardy (Bullpen)  8 Rudy Jaramillo (Hitting) 12 Ed Napoleon (First Base)  5 Jerry Narron (Third Base)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; R = Runs; 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	Iván Rodríguez	145	579	88	186	21	91	.321	.513	9
1B	Will Clark	149	554	98	169	23	102	.305	.507	1
2B	Mark McLemore	126	461	79	114	5	53	.247	.317	12
3B	Fernando Tatís	95	330	41	89	3	32	.247	.442	6
SS	Kevin Elster	84	297	33	69	8	37	.232	.354	0
LF	Rusty Greer	155	598	107	183	16	108	.306	.405	2
CF	Tom Goodwin	154	520	102	151	2	33	.290	.338	38
RF	Juan Gonzalez	154	606	110	193	45	157	.318	.630	2
DH	Lee Stevens	120	344	52	91	20	59	.265	.512	0

^[12]

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
Simms, MikeMike Simms	86	186	55	.296	16	46

Pitching

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

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
Hernandez, XavierXavier Hernandez	46	6	6	1	3.57	41

New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

Game 1

September 29 at Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0
W: David Wells (1-0)   L: Todd Stottlemyre (0-1)  S: Mariano Rivera (1)

Game 2

September 30 at Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
New York	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
W: Andy Pettitte (1-0)   L: Rick Helling (0-1)    S: Mariano Rivera (2)
HR: NYY – Shane Spencer, Scott Brosius

Game 3

October 2 at The Ballpark in Arlington (Texas Rangers)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4	9	1
Texas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
W: David Cone (1-0)   L: Aaron Sele (0-1)
HR: NYY – Shane Spencer, Paul O'Neill

Awards and honors

• Juan González, AL MVP
• Juan González, Silver Slugger Award
• Iván Rodríguez, C, Gold Glove
• Iván Rodríguez, Silver Slugger Award

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma RedHawks	Pacific Coast League	Greg Biagini
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Bobby Jones
A	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	Jim Byrd
A	Savannah Sand Gnats	South Atlantic League	Paul Carey
Rookie	Pulaski Rangers	Appalachian League	Bruce Crabbe
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Darryl Kennedy

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa, GCL Rangers

References

1. Jim Leyritz page at Baseball Reference
2. Scott Sheldon page at Baseball Reference
3. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bailesc01.shtml
4. http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/elsteke01.shtml
5. Roberto Kelly page at Baseball Reference
6. Scott Podsednik page at Baseball Reference
7. Scott Cooper page at Baseball Reference
8. Tim Crabtree page at Baseball Reference
9. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
10. Todd Van Poppel page at Baseball Reference
11. Greg Cadaret page at Baseball Reference
12. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1998.shtml

• 1998 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
• 1998 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.