1998 Chicago Cubs
National League Wild Card Winners
LeagueNational League
DivisionCentral
BallparkWrigley Field
CityChicago
Record90–73 (.552)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersTribune Company
General managersEd Lynch
ManagersJim Riggleman
TelevisionWGN-TV/Superstation WGN/Chicagoland TV
(Chip Caray, Steve Stone)
RadioWGN
(Pat Hughes, Ron Santo)
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
Seasons

The 1998 Chicago Cubs season was the 127th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 123rd in the National League and the 83rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished second in the National League Central with a record of 90–73.

The season was a significant one for the team for several reasons. Firstly, it saw the Cubs reach the playoffs for the first time since 1989 by way of a Wild Card berth, which they clinched after winning a one-game playoff against the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs, however, would lose the NLDS in a 3–0 sweep by the Atlanta Braves. The season also saw Sammy Sosa, along with Mark McGwire, surpass the existing single-season home run record of 61. Sosa would hold the home run lead at several points over the course of the season, eventually finishing four homers behind McGwire (66 and 70 respectively). The 1998 season also saw the debut of Kerry Wood, who drew immediate national attention because of a 20-strikeout performance in his fifth career start, a 13-6 record over 26 starts, and more than 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

Offseason

Harry Caray

On February 18, 1998, Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray died. Caray had the benefit of being in the booth during the NL East title run in 1984, when being a Cub fan became more popular to Chicagoans. His trademark call of "Holy Cow!" and his singing of "Take me out to the ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch made Caray a fan favorite both locally and, thanks to WGN's superstation status, on a national level as well.

The Cubs still have a live singer, usually a celebrity, during the 7th inning stretch to honor Caray's memory to this day. Caray is also honored with a statue located at the corner of Sheffield and Addison streets, and during the 1998 season, a patch with Caray's caricature and Brickhouse's trademark "Hey Hey" were worn on the players sleeves to honor the passing of both commentators within a span of a few months. Harry's popularity also led to his grandson Chip Caray joining the broadcast team in winter of 1997, shortly before Harry's death.

Notable transactions

  • November 18, 1997: Brooks Kieschnick was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from the Chicago Cubs as the 64th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.[1]

Regular season

  • May 6, 1998 – Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros tying the major league record and setting a new National League record. Wood accomplished this feat in only his fifth major league start.
  • September 8, 1998 – Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel gave up Mark McGwire's 62nd home run of the season. The home run would break the record set by Roger Maris for most home runs in a season.
  • September 13, 1998 – Sammy Sosa hits home runs number 61 and 62 tying McGwire in the home run race in the Cubs 11-10 win over Milwaukee.
  • September 23, 1998 – In a tie with the New York Mets for the lead in the NL Wild Card standings with three games remaining, the Cubs held a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the 9th inning in a crucial game against the Milwaukee Brewers, but the Brewers had the bases loaded with two out. Closer Rod Beck delivered to Geoff Jenkins, and he hit an easy fly ball to left fielder Brant Brown. But Brown dropped the ball and it skipped past him. This error allowed three runs to score, including the winning run, and the Brewers pulled off an 8-7 victory.

In the final game of the season, with the Cubs and Giants tied for the Wild Card lead, a Terry Mulholland throwing error cost the Cubs a victory against the Houston Astros, as San Francisco held an early lead in Colorado, and the team's playoff hopes were in jeopardy. However, a Neifi Pérez walk-off home run gave the Rockies a win and forced a one-game playoff at Wrigley Field.

Notable transactions

Season standings

NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 10260 0.630 — 55–26 47–34
Chicago Cubs 9073 0.552 12½ 51–31 39–42
St. Louis Cardinals 8379 0.512 19 48–34 35–45
Cincinnati Reds 7785 0.475 25 39–42 38–43
Milwaukee Brewers 7488 0.457 28 38–43 36–45
Pittsburgh Pirates 6993 0.426 33 40–40 29–53

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 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Sammy Sosa's 66 home runs

Number Date Pitcher Length
1April 4, 1998Marc Valdes371'
204-11-1998Anthony Telford350'
304-15-1998Dennis Cook430'
404-23-1998Dan Miceli420'
504-24-1998Ismael Valdez430'
604-27-1998Joey Hamilton434'
705-03-1998Cliff Politte370'
805-16-1998Scott Sullivan441'
905-22-1998Greg Maddux440'
1005-25-1998Kevin Millwood410'
1105-25-1998Mike Cather420'
1205-27-1998Darrin Winston460'
1305-27-1998Wayne Gomes400'
1406-01-1998Ryan Dempster430'
1506-01-1998Oscar Henriquez410'
1606-03-1998Liván Hernández370'
1706-05-1998Jim Parque370'
1806-06-1998Carlos Castillo410'
1906-07-1998James Baldwin380'
2006-08-1998LaTroy Hawkins340'
2106-13-1998Mark Portugal410'
2206-15-1998Cal Eldred420'
2306-15-1998Cal Eldred410'
2406-15-1998Cal Eldred415'
2506-17-1998Bronswell Patrick430'
2606-19-1998Carlton Loewer380'
2706-19-1998Carlton Loewer380'
2806-20-1998Matt Beech366'
2906-20-1998Toby Borland500'
3006-21-1998Tyler Green380'
3106-24-1998Seth Greisinger390'
3206-25-1998Brian Moehler400'
3306-30-1998Alan Embree364'
3407-09-1998Jeff Juden432'
3507-10-1998Scott Karl428'
3607-17-1998Kirt Ojala440'
3707-22-1998Miguel Batista365'
3807-26-1998Rick Reed420'
3907-27-1998Willie Blair347'
4007-27-1998Alan Embree438'
4107-28-1998Bob Wolcott390'
4207-31-1998Jamey Wright375'
4308-05-1998Andy Benes374'
4408-08-1998Rich Croushore400'
4508-10-1998Russ Ortiz361'
4608-10-1998Chris Brock480'
4708-16-1998Sean Bergman360'
4808-19-1998Kent Bottenfield368'
4908-21-1998Orel Hershiser430'
5008-23-1998José Lima440'
5108-23-1998José Lima380'
5208-26-1998Brett Tomko438'
5308-28-1998John Thomson414'
5408-30-1998Darryl Kile482'
5508-31-1998Brett Tomko364'
5609-02-1998Jason Bere363'
5709-04-1998Jason Schmidt374'
5809-05-1998Sean Lawrence417'
5909-11-1998Bill Pulsipher464'
6009-12-1998Valerio de los Santos430'
6109-13-1998Bronswell Patrick480'
6209-13-1998Eric Plunk480'
6309-16-1998Brian Boehringer434'
6409-23-1998Rafael Roque344'
6509-23-1998Rod Henderson410'
6609-25-1998José Lima462'

Player stats

Batting

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
CScott Servais11332572.222736
1BMark Grace158595184.3091789
2BMickey Morandini154582172.296853
SSJeff Blauser11936179.219426
3BJosé Hernández149488124.2542375
LFHenry Rodríguez128415104.2513185
CFLance Johnson8530485.280221
RFSammy Sosa159643198.30866158

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
Brant Brown124347101.2911448
Manny Alexander10826460.227525
Tyler Houston9525565.255933
Kevin Orie6420437.181221
Glenallen Hill4813146.351823
Gary Gaetti3712841.320827
Matt Mieske779729.299112
Sandy Martínez458723.26407
Pedro Valdés14235.21702
Jason Hardtke18215.23802
Terrell Lowery24153.20001
Orlando Merced12103.30015
Derrick White11101.10012
Jason Maxwell731.33312
José Nieves210.00000

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
Kevin Tapani35219.01994.85139
Mark Clark33213.29144.84161
Steve Trachsel33208.01584.46149
Kerry Wood26166.21363.40233
Geremi González20110.0775.3270
Mike Morgan522.2017.1510

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
Don Wengert2149.2155.0741

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
Rod Beck8134513.0281
Terry Mulholland706532.8972
Terry Adams637714.3373
Marc Pisciotta431204.0931
Bob Patterson331117.5217
Dave Stevens311204.7431
Félix Heredia303004.0816
Matt Karchner293105.1422
Amaury Telemaco141103.9018
Rodney Myers120007.0015
Ben Van Ryn90003.386
Tony Fossas80009.006
Chris Haney50007.204
Kennie Steenstra400010.804
Kurt Miller30000.006
Kevin Foster300016.203
Justin Speier100013.502

Postseason

Wild Card tie-breaker game

One-game playoff to break tie in regular season standings

Chicago Cubs 5, San Francisco Giants 3 (Wrigley Field)

Division Series

NL Division Series (Best of 5)

Atlanta Braves 7, Chicago Cubs 1 (Turner Field)
Atlanta Braves 2, Chicago Cubs 1 (Turner Field)
Atlanta Braves 6, Chicago Cubs 2 (Wrigley Field)

Braves win series 3-0

Awards and honors

  • Sammy Sosa, National League Most Valuable Player
  • Sammy Sosa, Outfield, Roberto Clemente Award
  • Sammy Sosa, Franchise Record, Most Home Runs in One Season
  • Sammy Sosa, National League Record, Fewest Triples in One Season with 600 or more At-Bats (0)[3]
  • Kerry Wood, National League Rookie of the Year

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Iowa Cubs Pacific Coast League Terry Kennedy
AA West Tenn Diamond Jaxx Southern League Dave Trembley
A Daytona Cubs Florida State League Steve Roadcap
A Rockford Cubbies Midwest League Rubén Amaro, Sr.
A-Short Season Williamsport Cubs New York–Penn League Bobby Ralston
Rookie AZL Cubs Arizona League Nate Oliver

[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Brooks Kieschnick Stats".
  2. ↑ Glenallen Hill Statistics – Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  4. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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