The 1998 Boston Red Sox season was the 98th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished second in the American League East with a record of 92–70, twenty-two games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the 1998 World Series. The Red Sox qualified for the postseason as the AL wild card but lost to the American League Central champion Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. The Red Sox would start a winning record run, nonplayoff or playoff until 2012.
Offseason November 6, 1997: Jim Leyritz was traded by the Texas Rangers with Damon Buford to the Boston Red Sox for Mark Brandenburg, Bill Haselman, and Aaron Sele.Jim Leyritz Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com November 17, 1997: Bret Saberhagen was signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.Bret Saberhagen Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com November 18, 1997: Pedro Martínez was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later and Carl Pavano. The Boston Red Sox sent Tony Armas (December 18, 1997) to the Montreal Expos to complete the trade.Pedro Martinez Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com November 18, 1997: Jeff Suppan was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft. November 18, 1997: Jim Mecir was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft. November 21, 1997: Mike Benjamin was signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.Mike Benjamin Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com March 19, 1998: Midre Cummings was selected off waivers by the Boston Red Sox from the Cincinnati Reds.Midre Cummings Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
+Red Sox vs. National League East TeamATLFLAMONNYMPHIBoston2–12–13–01–21–3
Notable transactions June 2, 1998: Mark Teixeira was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 9th round of the 1998 amateur draft, but did not sign.Mark Teixeira Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com June 20, 1998: Jim Leyritz was traded by the Boston Red Sox with Ethan Faggett (minors) to the San Diego Padres for Carlos Reyes, Mandy Romero, and Darío Veras. July 30, 1998: Pete Munro and Jay Yennaco were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Mike Stanley. July 31, 1998: Greg Swindell was traded by the Minnesota Twins with Orlando Merced to the Boston Red Sox for John Barnes, Matt Kinney, and Joe Thomas (minors).Greg Swindell Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com August 6, 1998: Pete Schourek was purchased from the Houston Astros.
Opening Day lineup 5 Nomar Garciaparra SS13 John Valentin 3B42 Mo Vaughn 1B18 Reggie Jefferson DH25 Troy O'Leary LF10 Scott Hatteberg C 20 Darren Lewis CF56 Darren Bragg RF52 Donnie Sadler 2B45 Pedro Martínez P
Roster 1998 Boston Red Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers
InfieldersOutfielders Manager
Coaches (First base) (Pitching) (Third base) (Bullpen catcher) (Bench) (Hitting) (Bullpen)
Player stats
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; Slg. = Slugging average; SB = Stolen bases Pos Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. Slg. SB C Scott Hatteberg 112 359 46 99 12 43 .276 .4460 1B Mo Vaughn 154 609 107 205 40 115 .337 .5910 2B Mike Benjamin 124 349 46 95 4 39 .272 .3723 3B John Valentin 153 588 113 145 23 73 .247 .4424 SS Nomar Garciaparra 143 604 111 195 35 122 .323 .58412 LF Troy O'Leary 156 611 95 165 23 83 .270 .4682 CF Darren Lewis 155 585 95 157 8 63 .268 .36229 RF Darren Bragg 129 409 51 114 8 57 .279 .4235 DH Damon Buford 86 216 37 61 10 42 .282 .5235 1998 Boston Red Sox Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in, SB = Stolen bases Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB Jason Varitek 86 221 56 .253 7 33 2 Reggie Jefferson 62 196 60 .306 8 31 0 Mike Stanley 47 156 45 .288 7 32 1 Jim Leyritz 52 129 37 .287 8 24 0 Donnie Sadler 58 124 28 .226 3 15 4 Midre Cummings 67 120 34 .283 5 15 3 Lou Merloni 39 96 27 .281 1 15 1 Mark Lemke 31 91 17 .187 0 7 0 Keith Mitchell 23 33 9 .273 0 6 1 Trot Nixon 13 27 7 .259 0 0 0 Billy Ashley 13 24 7 .292 3 7 0 Mandy Romero 12 13 3 .231 0 1 0 Chris Snopek 8 12 2 .167 0 2 0 Orlando Merced 9 9 0 .000 0 2 0 Keith Johns 2 0 0 ---- 0 0 0
Pitching
Starting pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G GS IP W L ERA SO 33 33 233.2 19 7 2.89 251 36 33 216.0 17 8 4.58 146 31 31 175.0 15 8 3.96 100 Pete Schourek 10 8 44.0 1 3 4.30 36 Brian Rose 8 8 37.2 1 4 6.93 18 Jin-ho Cho 4 4 18.2 0 3 8.20 15 Butch Henry 2 2 9.0 0 0 4.00 6 Robinson Checo 2 2 7.2 0 2 9.39 5
Other pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G GS IP W L SV ERA SO 34 23 123.2 10 7 0 5.02 57 63 10 123.0 3 9 4 4.02 77 47 8 96.0 6 4 0 5.25 59
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G GS IP W L SV ERA SO 73 0 79.1 7 4 46 2.72 78 59 0 66.0 3 2 0 2.59 49 50 0 39.2 4 1 1 4.76 22Rich Garcés30046.01113.3334 Ron Mahay 29 0 26.0 1 1 1 3.46 14 Greg Swindell 29 0 24.0 2 3 0 3.38 18 Carlos Reyes 24 0 38.1 1 1 0 3.52 23 Brian Shouse 7 0 8.0 0 1 0 5.63 5 Darío Veras 7 0 8.0 0 1 0 10.13 2 Brian Barkley 6 0 11.0 0 0 0 9.82 2 David West 6 0 2.0 0 0 0 27.00 4 Carlos Valdez 4 0 3.1 1 0 0 0.00 4
ALDS
Game 1
Team123456789RHEBoston30003203011120Cleveland000002100360W: Pedro Martínez (1–0) L: Jaret Wright (0–1)HR: BOS: Mo Vaughn (2), Nomar Garciaparra; CLE: Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome
Game 2 Team123456789RHEBoston2010020005100Cleveland151001010991W: Dave Burba (1–0) L: Tim Wakefield (0–1) S: Mike Jackson (1)HR: CLE: David Justice
Game 3
Team123456789RHECleveland000011101450Boston000100002360W: Charles Nagy (1–0) L: Bret Saberhagen (0–1); S: Mike Jackson (2) HR: CLE: Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramírez (2); BOS – Nomar Garciaparra
Game 4
Team123456789RHECleveland000000020250Boston000100000160W: Steve Reed (1–0) L: Tom Gordon (0–1) S: Mike Jackson (3) HR: BOS: Nomar Garciaparra
Awards and honors All-Star Game Tom Gordon, reserve P Pedro Martínez, reserve P Mo Vaughn, reserve 1B (did not attend)
Game log Red Sox Win Red Sox Loss Game postponed Clinched Playoff Spot
|- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 1 || April 1 || @ Athletics || 2–0 || Martínez (1–0) || Candiotti (0–1) || Gordon (1) || Network Associates Coliseum || 36,915 || 1–0 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 2 || April 2 || @ Athletics || 6–3 || Wasdin (1–0) || Taylor (0–1) || Gordon (2) || Network Associates Coliseum || 7,313 || 2–0 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 3 || April 3 || @ Mariners || 6–11 || Cloude (1–0) || Lowe (0–1) || — || Kingdome || 27,553 || 2–1 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 4 || April 4 || @ Mariners || 6–12 || Swift (1–0) || Rose (0–1) || — || Kingdome || 43,035 || 2–2 || L2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 5 || April 5 || @ Mariners || 10–5 || Saberhagen (1–0) || Johnson (0–1) || — || Kingdome || 35,143 || 3–2 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 6 || April 6 || @ Angels || 1–2 (11)|| Holtz (1–0) || Gordon (0–1) || — || Edison Field || 21,352 || 3–3 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 7 || April 7 || @ Angels || 1–6 || Hill (2–0) || Wakefield (0–1) || — || Edison Field || 19,926 || 3–4 || L2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 8 || April 8 || @ Angels || 1–2 || McDowell (1–1) || Lowe (0–2) || Percival (2) || Edison Field || 24,450 || 3–5 || L3 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 9 || April 10 || Mariners || 9–7 || Garcés (1–0) || Timlin (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 32,805 || 4–5 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 10 || April 11 || Mariners || 5–0 || Martínez (2–0) || Moyer (1–2) || — || Fenway Park || 32,403 || 5–5 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 11 || April 12 || Mariners || 8–7 || Wasdin (2–0) || Slocumb (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 23,270 || 6–5 || W3 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 12 || April 13 || Athletics || 6–3 || Saberhagen (2–0) || Rogers (1–1) || Gordon (3) || Fenway Park || 18,011 || 7–5 || W4 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 13 || April 14 || Athletics || 8–6 || Gordon (1–1) || Taylor (0–2) || — || Fenway Park || 18,490 || 8–5 || W5 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 14 || April 15 || Athletics || 4–3 || Eckersley (1–0) || Mathews (0–2) || — || Fenway Park || 18,477 || 9–5 || W6 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 15 || April 17 || Indians || 3–2 (10)|| Gordon (2–1) || Assenmacher (1–2) || — || Fenway Park || 26,924 || 10–5 || W7 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 16 || April 18 || Indians || 4–7 || Martin (1–0) || Eckersley (1–1) || Jackson (7) || Fenway Park || 31,735 || 10–6 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 17 || April 19 || Indians || 2–0 || Saberhagen (3–0) || Burba (2–2) || Gordon (4) || Fenway Park || 31,846 || 11–6 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 18 || April 20 || Indians || 6–5 (11)|| Gordon (3–1) || Plunk (1–1) || — || Fenway Park || 33,001 || 12–6 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 19 || April 21 || @ Tigers || 11–4 || Rose (1–1) || Worrell (1–3) || — || Tiger Stadium || 10,022 || 13–6 || W3 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 20 || April 22 || @ Tigers || 8–5 || Corsi (1–0) || Jones (0–1) || Gordon (5) || Tiger Stadium || 10,102 || 14–6 || W4 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 21 || April 24 || @ Indians || 7–5 || Wakefield (1–1) || Burba (2–3) || Gordon (6) || Jacobs Field || 40,570 || 15–6 || W5 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 22 || April 25 || @ Indians || 3–2 || Saberhagen (4–0) || Colón (1–1) || Gordon (7) || Jacobs Field || 40,571 || 16–6 || W6 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bbb" | — || April 26 || Tigers || colspan=8|Postponed (rain). Makeup date July 21. |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 23 || April 27 || Tigers || 6–5 || Eckersley (2–1) || Runyan (0–2) || Gordon (8) || Fenway Park || 18,456 || 17–6 || W7 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 24 || April 28 || Tigers || 5–7 || Florie (2–0) || Shouse (0–1) || Jones (3) || Fenway Park || 20,936 || 17–7 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 25 || April 29 || Angels || 8–4 || Wakefield (2–1) || Watson (1–3) || Gordon (9) || Fenway Park || 21,557 || 18–7 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;" | 26 || April 30 || Angels || 2–7 || Hill (5–1) || Checo (0–1) || — || Fenway Park || 21,526 || 18–8 || L1
|- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb" | 27 || May 1 || Rangers || 5–3 || Wasdin (3–0) || Sele (5–1) || Gordon (10) || Fenway Park || 24,169 || 19–8 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb" | 28 || May 2 || Rangers || 6–7 || Helling (6–0) || Rose (1–2) || Wetteland (7) || Fenway Park || 25,827 || 19–9 || L1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 29 || May 3 || Rangers || 2–1 || Martínez (3–0) || Oliver (1–4) || Gordon (11) || Fenway Park || 28,075 || 20–9 || W1 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#bfb;" | 30 || May 5 || Twins || 4–2 || Wakefield (3–1) || Tewksbury (3–4) || Gordon (12) || Fenway Park || 20,882 || 21–9 || W2 |- style="text-align:center; background-color:#fbb;"