1998 St. Louis Cardinals season

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1998 St. Louis Cardinals
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 83–79 (.512)
Divisional place 3rd
Other information
Owner(s) William DeWitt, Jr.
General manager(s) Walt Jocketty
Manager(s) Tony La Russa
Local television Fox Sports Midwest
Joe Buck, (Al Hrabosky, Bob Ramsey)
KPLR
(Bob Carpenter, Bob Ramsey, Rich Goule)
Local radio KMOX
(Jack Buck, Mike Shannon, Joe Buck)
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The St. Louis Cardinals 1998 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 3rd 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

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

Season standings

NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 102 60 0.630 55–26 47–34
Chicago Cubs 90 73 0.552 12½ 51–31 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 83 79 0.512 19 48–34 35–45
Cincinnati Reds 77 85 0.475 25 39–42 38–43
Milwaukee Brewers 74 88 0.457 28 38–43 36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 69 93 0.426 33 40–40 29–53


Record vs. opponents

1998 National League Records

Sources:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
Arizona 1–8 5–7 4–5 6–6 6–2 4–5 4–8 6–3 2–7 4–5 2–7 6–3 3–9 5–7 2–7 5–8
Atlanta 8–1 3–6 7–2 5–3 7–5 4–5 8–1 7–2 6–6 9–3 8–4 7–2 5–4 7–2 6–3 9–7
Chicago 7–5 6–3 6–5 7–2 7–2 4–7 4–5 6–6 7–2 4–5 3–6 8–3 5–4 7–3 4–7 5–8
Cincinnati 5–4 2–7 5–6 4–5 9–0 3–8 5–4 6–5 8–1 3–6 4–5 5–7 1–11 2–7 8–3 7-6
Colorado 6–6 3–5 2–7 5–4 6–3 6–5 6–6 4–7 7–2 3–6 5–4 5–4 5–7 7–5 3–6 4–8
Florida 2–6 5–7 2–7 0–9 3–6 3–6 4–5 0–9 5–7 5–7 6–6 3–6 4–5 0–9 4–5 8–8
Houston 5–4 5–4 7–4 8–3 5–6 6-3 3–6 9–2 7–2 5–4 7–2 9–2 5–4 6–3 5–7 10–4
Los Angeles 8–4 1–8 5–4 4–5 6–6 5–4 6–3 5–4 5–4 3–5 5–4 7–5 5–7 6–6 4–5 8–5
Milwaukee 3–6 2–7 6–6 5–6 7–4 9–0 2–9 4–5 6–3 1–8 4–5 6–5 3–6 5–4 3–8 8–6
Montreal 7–2 6–6 2–7 1–8 2–7 7–5 2–7 4–5 3–6 8–4 5–7 2–7 4–4 3–6 3–6 6–10
New York 5–4 3–9 5–4 6–3 6–3 7–5 4–5 5–3 8–1 4–8 8–4 4–5 4–5 4–5 6–3 9–7
Philadelphia 7-2 4–8 6–3 5–4 4–5 6–6 2–7 4–5 5–4 7–5 4–8 8–1 1–8 2–6 3–6 7–9
Pittsburgh 3–6 2–7 3–8 7–5 4–5 6–3 2–9 5–7 5–6 7–2 5–4 1–8 5–4 2–7 6–5 6–7
San Diego 9–3 4–5 4–5 11–1 7–5 5–4 4–5 7–5 6–3 4–4 5–4 8–1 4–5 8–4 6–3 6–7
San Francisco 7–5 2–7 3–7 7–2 5–7 9–0 3–6 6–6 4–5 6–3 5–4 6–2 7–2 4–8 7–5 8–5
St. Louis 7–2 3–6 7–4 3–8 6–3 5-4 7–5 5–4 8–3 6–3 3–6 6–3 5–6 3–6 5–7 4–9


Notable Transactions

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.[7] In January 1999, Todd McFarlane purchased Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from the 1998 season for a record $3 million.[8]

September 27, Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Montreal 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 1
St. Louis 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 x 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 Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team 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

Pos Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
C Eli Marrero 83 254 28 62 4 20 .244 6
1B Mark McGwire 155 509 130 152 70 147 .299 1
2B Delino DeShields 117 420 74 122 7 44 .290 26
3B Gary Gaetti 91 306 39 81 11 43 .265 1
SS Royce Clayton 90 355 59 83 4 29 .234 19
LF Ron Gant 121 383 60 92 26 67 .240 8
CF Ray Lankford 154 533 94 156 31 105 .293 26
RF Brian Jordan 150 564 100 178 25 91 .316 17

[9]

Other batters

Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
David Bell 4 9 0 2 0 0 .222 0
J. D. Drew 14 36 9 15 5 13 .417 0
Brian Hunter 62 112 11 23 4 13 .205 1
Pat Kelly 53 153 18 33 4 14 .216 5
Tom Lampkin 93 216 25 50 6 28 .231 3
John Mabry 142 377 41 94 9 46 .249 0
Joe McEwing 10 20 5 4 0 1 .200 0
Willie McGee 120 269 27 68 3 34 .253 7
Tom Pagnozzi 51 160 7 35 1 10 .219 0
Plácido Polanco 45 114 10 29 1 11 .254 2
Fernando Tatís 55 202 28 58 8 26 .287 7

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO. = Strikeouts; BB = Bases on Balls

Player G IP W L ERA SO BB
Matt Morris 17 113.7 7 5 2.53 79 42
Kent Mercker 30 161.7 11 11 5.07 72 53
Todd Stottlemyre 23 161.3 9 9 3.51 147 51

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO BB
Mark Petkovsek 48 105.7 7 4 4.77 55 36
Bobby Witt 17 47.3 2 5 4.94 28 20

Relief pitchers

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO BB
Juan Acevedo 50 98.3 8 3 15 2.56 56 29
Kent Bottenfield 44 133.7 4 6 4 4.44 98 57
Jeff Brantley 48 50.7 0 5 14 4.44 48 18
John Frascatore 69 95.7 3 4 0 4.14 49 36

McGwire's 70

Number Date Pitcher Length
1 03-31-1998 Ramón Martínez 364'
2 04-02-1998 Frank Lankford 368'
3 04-03-1998 Mark Langston 364'
4 04-04-1998 Don Wengert 419'
5 04-14-1998 Jeff Suppan 424'
6 04-14-1998 Jeff Suppan 347'
7 04-14-1998 Barry Manuel 462'
8 04-17-1998 Matt Whiteside 419'
9 04-21-1998 Trey Moore 437'
10 04-25-1998 Jerry Spradlin 419'
11 04-30-1998 Marc Pisciotta 371'
12 05-01-1998 Rod Beck 362'
13 05-08-1998 Rick Reed 358'
14 05-12-1998 Paul Wagner 527'
15 05-14-1998 Kevin Millwood 381'
16 05-16-1998 Liván Hernández 545'
17 05-18-1998 Jesus Sanchez 478'
18 05-19-1998 Tyler Green 440'
19 05-19-1998 Tyler Green 471'
20 05-19-1998 Wayne Gomes 451'
21 05-22-1998 Mark Gardner 425'
22 05-23-1998 Rich Rodriguez 366'
23 05-23-1998 John Johnstone 477'
24 05-24-1998 Robb Nen 397'
25 05-25-1998 John Thomson 433'
26 05-29-1998 Dan Miceli 388'
27 05-30-1998 Andy Ashby 423'
28 06-05-1998 Orel Hershiser 409'
29 06-08-1998 Jason Bere 356'
30 06-10-1998 Jim Parque 409'
31 06-12-1998 Andy Benes 438'
32 06-17-1998 José Lima 437'
33 06-18-1998 Shane Reynolds 449'
34 06-24-1998 Jaret Wright 433'
35 06-25-1998 Dave Burba 461'
36 06-27-1998 Mike Trombley 431'
37 06-30-1998 Glendon Rusch 472'
38 07-11-1998 Billy Wagner 485'
39 07-12-1998 Sean Bergman 405'
40 07-12-1998 Scott Elarton 415'
41 07-17-1998 Brian Bohanon 511'
42 07-17-1998 Antonio Osuna 425'
43 07-20-1998 Brian Boehringer 452'
44 07-26-1998 John Thomson 452'
45 07-28-1998 Mike Myers 408'
46 08-08-1998 Mark Clark 374'
47 08-11-1998 Bobby Jones 464'
48 08-19-1998 Matt Karchner 398'
49 08-19-1998 Terry Mulholland 409'
50 08-20-1998 Willie Blair 369'
51 08-20-1998 Rick Reed 393'
52 08-22-1998 Francisco Córdova 477'
53 08-23-1998 Ricardo Rincón 393'
54 08-26-1998 Justin Speier 509'
55 08-30-1998 Dennis Martínez 501'
56 09-01-1998 Liván Hernández 450'
57 09-01-1998 Donn Pall 472'
58 09-02-1998 Brian Edmondson 497'
59 09-02-1998 Rob Stanifer 458'
60 09-05-1998 Dennys Reyes 381'
61 09-07-1998 Mike Morgan 430'
62 09-08-1998 Steve Trachsel 341'
63 09-15-1998 Jason Christiansen 385'
64 09-18-1998 Rafael Roque 423'
65 09-20-1998 Scott Karl 423'
66 09-25-1998 Shayne Bennett 375'
67 09-26-1998 Dustin Hermanson 403'
68 09-26-1998 Kirk Bullinger 435'
69 09-27-1998 Mike Thurman 377'
70 09-27-1998 Carl Pavano 370'

[10]

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Memphis Redbirds Pacific Coast League Gaylen Pitts
AA Arkansas Travelers Texas League Chris Maloney
A Prince William Cannons Carolina League Joe Cunningham, Jr.
A Peoria Chiefs Midwest League Jeff Shireman
Short-Season A New Jersey Cardinals New York–Penn League José Oquendo
Rookie Johnson City Cardinals Appalachian League Steve Turco

[14]

References

  1. Willie McGee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  2. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/botteke01.shtml
  3. Chip Hale Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  4. J.D. Drew Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  5. http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bellda01.shtml
  6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pagnoto01.shtml
  7. Sports Illustrated, Volume 109, No. 2, July 14–21, 2008, p.122, Published by Time Inc.
  8. Spawn.Com >> Info >> Todd Mcfarlane
  9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1990.shtml
  10. 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. http://www.allsports.com/players/mark-mcgwire/
  13. 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