The 1998 Kansas City Royals season was the 30th season for the franchise, and their 26th at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals finished third in the American League Central with a record of 72 wins and 89 losses and missed the postseason for the 13th consecutive season.
Offseason November 18, 1997: Yamil Benitez was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Kansas City Royals as the 19th pick in the 1997 expansion draft. January 20, 1998: Terry Pendleton was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.Terry Pendleton Statistics Baseball-Reference.com January 20, 1998: Lee Smith signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.Lee Smith Statistics Baseball-Reference.com March 17, 1998: Ernie Young was purchased by the Kansas City Royals from the Oakland Athletics.
Regular season Before the 1998 regular season began, two new teams—the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays—were added by Major League Baseball. This resulted in the American League and National League having fifteen teams. However, in order for MLB officials to continue primarily intraleague play, both leagues would need to carry a number of teams that was divisible by two, so the decision was made to move one club from the AL Central to the NL Central.
This realignment was widely considered to have great financial benefit to the club moving. However, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Commissioner (then club owner) Bud Selig decided another team should have the first chance to switch leagues. The choice was offered to the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately decided to stay in the American League and bypassing the opportunity to build a full-time rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals. The choice then fell to the Brewers, who, on November 6, 1997, elected to move to the National League. Had the Brewers elected not to move to the National League, the Minnesota Twins would have been offered the opportunity to switch leagues.Pappas, Doug, "News Briefs: Fall 1997" , Outside the Lines, Fall 1997.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Roster
1998 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches (third base)
(bench)
Player stats
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 Mike Sweeney 92 282 32 73 8 35 .259 .4082 1B Jeff King 131 486 83 128 24 93 .263 .45110 2B José Offerman 158 607 102 191 7 66 .315 .43845 3B Dean Palmer 152 572 84 159 34 119 .278 .5108 SS Mendy López 74 206 18 50 1 15 .243 .3255 LF Jeff Conine 93 309 30 79 8 43 .256 .4173 CF Johnny Damon 161 642 104 178 18 66 .277 .43926 RF Larry Sutton 111 310 29 76 5 42 .245 .3523 DH Terry Pendleton 79 237 17 61 3 29 .257 .3381
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 Hal Morris 127 472 146 .309 1 40 Larry Sutton 111 310 76 .245 5 42 Sal Fasano 74 216 49 .227 8 31 Shane Mack 66 207 58 .280 6 29 Shane Halter 86 204 45 .221 2 13 Luis Rivera 42 89 22 .247 0 7 Félix Martínez 34 85 11 .129 0 5 Jermaine Allensworth 30 73 15 .205 0 3 Jeremy Giambi 18 58 13 .224 2 8 Carlos Beltrán 14 58 16 .276 0 7 Ernie Young 25 53 10 .189 1 3 Scott Leius 17 46 8 .174 0 4 Tim Spehr 11 25 6 .240 1 2 Carlos Febles 11 25 10 .400 0 2 Chris Hatcher 8 15 1 .067 0 1 Mike Macfarlane 3 11 1 .091 0 0 Chris Turner 4 9 0 .000 0 0 Joe Vitiello 3 7 1 .143 0 0 Héctor Ortiz 4 4 0 .000 0 0 Jed Hansen 4 3 0 .000 0 0 Dee Brown 5 3 0 .000 0 0
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 Tim Belcher 34 234.0 14 14 4.27 130 Pat Rapp 32 188.1 12 13 5.30 132 José Rosado 38 174.2 8 11 4.69 135 Glendon Rusch 29 154.2 6 15 5.88 94 Brian Barber 8 42.0 2 4 6.00 24 Kevin Appier 3 15.0 1 2 7.80 9
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 Hipólito Pichardo 27 112.1 7 8 5.13 55 Chris Haney 33 97.1 6 6 7.03 51 Jamie Walker 6 17.1 0 1 9.87 15 Jeff Suppan 4 12.2 0 0 0.71 12
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 Jeff Montgomery 56 2 5 36 4.98 54 Scott Service 73 6 4 4 3.48 95 Matt Whisenant 70 2 1 2 4.90 45 Jim Pittsley 39 1 1 0 6.59 44 Brian Bevil 39 3 1 0 6.30 47 Ricky Bones 32 2 2 1 3.04 38 Bart Evans 8 0 0 0 3.00 7 Allen McDill 7 0 0 0 10.50 3 Danny Rios 5 0 1 0 6.14 6 Tim Byrdak 3 0 0 0 5.40 1 José Santiago 2 0 0 0 9.00 2 Shane Halter 1 0 0 0 0.00 0
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
1998 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1998 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac