1998 New York Mets season

The 1998 New York Mets season was the 37th regular season for the Mets. Like the previous season, they finished the season with a record of 88–74. Despite placing 2nd in the National League East, the Mets fell one game short of playoff contention following a catastrophic collapse during the final week of the season. They were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

1998 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record88–74 (.543)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
OwnersNelson Doubleday Jr., Fred Wilpon
General managersSteve Phillips
ManagersBobby Valentine
Local televisionWWOR-TV/Fox Sports New York
(Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Howie Rose, Gary Thorne)
Local radioWFAN
(Bob Murphy, Gary Cohen, Ed Coleman)
WADO (spanish)
(Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa)
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Offseason

Regular season

Despite their collapse toward the end of the season, the 1998 season was notable for the Mets due in large part to the acquisition of All-Star catcher Mike Piazza. The Mets were in need of a catcher due to an injury suffered by their own star catcher Todd Hundley, and took advantage of both Piazza's disagreement over a new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the ongoing salary dumping by the defending World Series champion Florida Marlins; unable to negotiate a deal, the Dodgers traded Piazza to the Marlins, who turned around several days later and dealt Piazza to the Mets for outfield prospect Preston Wilson, among others. Piazza contributed a .348 average with 23 home runs and 76 RBI during his time with the Mets and once again was voted to the National League All-Star team. Hundley, meanwhile, attempted to make a move to left field when he rejoined the team, but it did not work. His tenure with the Mets ended when he was traded to the Dodgers after the season.

John Olerud was again the hitting star for the Mets. He recorded a .354 average, the second best in all of baseball behind Larry Walker, and once again led the team with 93 RBI, to go with his 22 home runs. On the pitching side, another Marlins castoff made his presence felt as Al Leiter had his career best marks as a starter. Leiter won a career high seventeen games and added a 2.47 ERA. Rick Reed continued his career renaissance by adding sixteen wins of his own.

Opening Day starters

The Mets played an unforgettable opening day game at Shea Stadium on March 31 against their division rival Philadelphia Phillies. Both of them were involved in the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in MLB since 1926 when the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 1–0 in 15 innings.[5][6][7] The Mets won the game 1–0 in 14 innings when backup catcher Alberto Castillo delivered a full-count, two-out, pinch-hit single to right with the bases loaded off Philadelphia closer Ricky Bottalico.[6] This was the first regular season baseball game played in New York in March.[8]

Notable transactions
  • May 10, 1998: Steve Decker was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.[9]
  • May 22, 1998: Mike Piazza was traded by the Florida Marlins to the New York Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz (minors).
  • June 16, 1998: Rich Becker was selected off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles from the New York Mets.[10]
  • July 3, 1998: Josías Manzanillo was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets.[11]
  • July 31, 1998: Tony Phillips was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Mets for Leo Estrella.[12]
  • July 31, 1998: Bill Pulsipher was traded by the New York Mets to the Milwaukee Brewers for Mike Kinkade.[13]

Season standings
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 10656 0.654 — 56–25 50–31
New York Mets 8874 0.543 18 47–34 41–40
Philadelphia Phillies 7587 0.463 31 40–41 35–46
Montreal Expos 6597 0.401 41 39–42 26–55
Florida Marlins 54108 0.333 52 31–50 23–58

Record vs. opponents
1998 National League record

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 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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
CMike Piazza109394137.3482376
1BJohn Olerud160557197.3542293
2BCarlos Baerga147511136.266753
SSRey Ordóñez153505124.246142
3BEdgardo Alfonso144557155.2781778
LFBernard Gilkey8226460.227428
CFBrian McRae159552146.2642179
RFButch Huskey11336993.2521359

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
Luis López11726667.252222
Tony Phillips5218842.223314
Lenny Harris7516839.232617
Matt Franco10316144.273113
Todd Hundley5312420.161312
Rich Becker4910019.190310
Alberto Castillo388317.20527
Todd Pratt416919.275218
Jermaine Allensworth345411.20424
Tim Spehr21517.13703
Jim Tatum35509.180213
Jorge Fábregas20326.18815
Wayne Kirby26316.19400
Jay Payton15227.21800
Preston Wilson8206.30002
Craig Paquette7195.26300
Rick Wilkins5152.13301
Benny Agbayani11152.13300
Todd Haney330.00000
Shawn Gilbert330.00000
Mike Kinkade320.00000
Ralph Milliard1010.00000

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
Rick Reed31212.116113.48153
Bobby Jones30195.1994.05115
Al Leiter28193.01762.47174
Masato Yoshii29171.2683.93117
Hideo Nomo1789.2454.8294
Armando Reynoso1168.1733.8240
Dave Mlicki1057.0145.6839

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
Brian Bohanon2554.1243.1539
Willie Blair1128.2113.1421

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
John Franco6108383.6259
Dennis Cook738412.3879
Turk Wendell665142.9358
Greg McMichael525314.0244
Mel Rojas505226.0541
John Hudek281404.0028
Bill Pulsipher150006.9113
Jeff Tam151106.238
Rigo Beltrán70003.385
Brad Clontz20009.002

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Norfolk Tides International League Rick Dempsey
AA Binghamton Mets Eastern League John Gibbons
A St. Lucie Mets Florida State League Howie Freiling
A Capital City Bombers South Atlantic League Doug Davis
A-Short Season Pittsfield Mets New York–Penn League Roger LaFrançois
Rookie Kingsport Mets Appalachian League Tim Foli
Rookie GCL Mets Gulf Coast League John Stephenson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Lucie, Capital City[14]

References
  1. John Olerud Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  2. "Ultimate Mets Database - Dennis Cook".
  3. "Ultimate Mets Database - al Leiter".
  4. "1998 New York Mets Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  5. Salisbury, Jim (April 1, 1998). "For Openers, Zilch Phils Fall in 14th Without a Run". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E1.
  6. Diamos, Jason (April 1, 1998). "A Midsummer Classic in March as Mets Nip Phillies". New York Times. p. C1.
  7. Pedulla, Tom (April 1, 1998). "Mets edge Phillies 1-0 in 14 innings". USA Today. p. 5C.
  8. Vecsey, George (April 1, 1998). "Mets Take An Opener For the Ages". New York Times. p. C1.
  9. Steve Decker Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  10. "Rich Becker Stats".
  11. "Josias Manzanillo Stats".
  12. Tony Phillips Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  13. Bill Pulsipher Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  14. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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