Headline events of the year Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Vaughn all hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break (the first time four players had done so in the same season) and engage in a historic chase for Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 home runs. While Griffey (56) and Vaughn (50) would fall short of the record, both Sosa (66) and McGwire (70) shattered Maris's record in an exciting late-season chase that culminated in a final week that saw record-setting performances by McGwire, Sosa, Tom Gordon, Dennis Eckersley, Trevor Hoffman and Jason Kendall. The New York Yankees won a major league record 125 games (114 regular season games and 11 postseason games).
Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over San Diego Padres (4-0); Scott Brosius, MVP
American League Championship Series MVP: David Wells American League Division Series National League Championship Series MVP: Sterling Hitchcock National League Division Series All-Star Game, July 7 at Coors Field: American League, 13–8; Roberto Alomar, MVP
Other champions Baseball World Cup: Cuba Caribbean World Series: Águilas Cibaeñas (Dominican Republic) College World Series: USC Cuban National Series: Pinar del Río over Santiago de Cuba Japan Series: Yokohama BayStars over Seibu Lions (4-2) Korean Series: Hyundai Unicorns over LG Twins Big League World Series: Thousand Oaks, California Junior League World Series: Mission Viejo, California Little League World Series: Toms River, New Jersey Senior League World Series: Diamond Bar, California Taiwan Series: Wei Chuan Dragons over Sinon Bulls
Awards and honors Baseball Hall of Fame George Davis Larry Doby Lee MacPhail Bullet Rogan Don Sutton Most Valuable Player Juan González, Texas Rangers, OF (AL) Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, OF (NL) Cy Young Award Roger Clemens, Toronto Blue Jays (AL) Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves (NL) Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve, Oakland Athletics, OF (AL) Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs, P (NL) Manager of the Year Award Joe Torre, New York Yankees (AL) Larry Dierker, Houston Astros (NL) Gold Glove Award Rafael Palmeiro (1B) (AL) Roberto Alomar (2B) (AL) Robin Ventura (3B) (AL) Omar Vizquel (SS) (AL) Jim Edmonds (OF) (AL) Ken Griffey Jr. (OF) (AL) Bernie Williams (OF) (AL) Iván Rodríguez (C) (AL) Mike Mussina (P) (AL) J. T. Snow (1B) (NL) Bret Boone (2B) (NL) Scott Rolen (3B) (NL) Rey Ordóñez (SS) (NL) Barry Bonds (OF) (NL) Andruw Jones (OF) (NL) Larry Walker (OF) (NL) Charles Johnson (C) (NL) Greg Maddux (P) (NL)
MLB statistical leaders American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat AVG Bernie Williams NYY .339 Larry Walker COL .363 HR Ken Griffey Jr. SEA 56 Mark McGwire STL 70 RBI Juan González TEX 157 Sammy Sosa CHC 158 Wins Roger Clemens TORDavid Cone NYYRick Helling TEX 20 Tom Glavine ATL 20 ERA Roger Clemens TOR 2.65 Greg Maddux ATL 2.22
Major League Baseball final standings
American League Rank Club Wins Losses Win % GB East Division 1st New York Yankees 114 48 .704 -- 2nd Boston Red Sox * 92 70 .568 22.0 3rd Toronto Blue Jays 88 74 .543 26.0 4th Baltimore Orioles 79 83 .488 35.0 5th Tampa Bay Devil Rays 63 99 .389 51.0 Central Division 1st Cleveland Indians 89 73 .549 -- 2nd Chicago White Sox 80 82 .494 9.0 3rd Kansas City Royals 72 89 .447 16.5 4th Minnesota Twins 70 92 .432 19.0 5th Detroit Tigers 65 97 .401 24.0 West Division 1st Texas Rangers 88 74 .543 -- 2nd Anaheim Angels 85 77 .525 3.0 3rd Seattle Mariners 76 85 .472 11.5 4th Oakland Athletics 74 88 .457 14.0
National League Rank Club Wins Losses Win % GB East Division 1st Atlanta Braves 106 56 .654 -- 2nd New York Mets 88 74 .543 18.0 3rd Philadelphia Phillies 75 87 .463 31.0 4th Montreal Expos 65 97 .401 41.0 5th Florida Marlins 54 108 .333 52.0 Central Division 1st Houston Astros 102 60 .630 -- 2nd Chicago Cubs * 90 73 .552 12.5 3rd St. Louis Cardinals 83 79 .512 19.0 4th Cincinnati Reds 77 85 .475 25.0 5th Milwaukee Brewers 74 88 .457 28.0 6th Pittsburgh Pirates 69 93 .426 33.0 West Division 1st San Diego Padres 98 64 .605 -- 2nd San Francisco Giants 89 74 .546 9.5 3rd Los Angeles Dodgers 83 79 .512 15.0 4th Colorado Rockies 77 85 .475 21.0 5th Arizona Diamondbacks 65 97 .401 33.0
The asterisk denotes the club that won the wild card for its respective league. The Chicago Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-3 in a one-game playoff to determine the NL wild card.
Events January January 5 – Don Sutton, a 324-game winner, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his fifth try. Sutton, who missed election by nine votes in 1997, is named on 81.6% of the ballots. January 8 – The New York Yankees sign Darryl Strawberry as a free agent.
February February 2 – New York Yankees general manager Bob Watson announces his resignation. He is replaced by 30-year-old Brian Cashman. February 6 – The Minnesota Twins trade Chuck Knoblauch to the New York Yankees in exchange for Cristian Guzman, Brian Buchanan, Eric Milton, Danny Mota and cash considerations. February 18 – The New York Mets sign Nelson Cruz as an amateur free agent.
March March 3 – Larry Doby, Lee MacPhail, George Davis and Bullet Joe Rogan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. March 23 – The New York Yankees sign Orlando Hernandez as an amateur free agent. March 31 : The Tampa Bay Devil Rays lose to the Detroit Tigers 11–6, in their first game ever. Pitcher Wilson Álvarez takes the loss for Tampa while third baseman Wade Boggs hit the first home run in team history and drives in three runs. The Arizona Diamondbacks drop a 9–2 decision to the Colorado Rockies in their first game ever. Andy Benes is tagged with the loss. Rookies Travis Lee and Karim García hit home runs, while Vinny Castilla drives in five runs for Colorado. The New York Mets beat their division rival Philadelphia Phillies, 1–0, in the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in Major League Baseball since , when the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 1–0 in 15 innings. Mets backup catcher Alberto Castillo delivered a full-count, two-out, pinch-hit single to right with the bases loaded off Philadelphia closer Ricky Bottalico to finish the game. In their National League debut, the Milwaukee Brewers fall 2–1 at Turner Field in Atlanta to the team that preceded them in Milwaukee, the Atlanta Braves. The Atlanta victory came in walk-off fashion following an errant throw to second base by catcher Mike Matheny, which allowed Gerald Williams to score from third base. Bob Wickman took the loss in relief. The Brewers had played for 29 years in the American League, debuting in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots before moving to Milwaukee in 1970 and becoming the Brewers.
April April 1 – The expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays win their first game in franchise history, beating the Tigers 11–8. Fred McGriff has four RBI on three hits. April 2 : By hitting a home run in Colorado's 6–4 win over Arizona at Bank One Ballpark, Rockies outfielder Ellis Burks sets a major league record by having homered in 33 different stadiums. The Milwaukee Brewers win for the first time as a National League team with an 8–6 win over the Atlanta Braves in 11 innings at Turner Field in Atlanta. Jeromy Burnitz homers twice, including a tie-breaking grand slam off Atlanta reliever Brian Edmondson in the 11th inning. Mike Myers picked up the win in relief. April 5 – The Arizona Diamondbacks win their first game in franchise history 3–2, over the San Francisco Giants. Andy Benes gets the win for the 1-5 Diamondbacks. April 7 – In the first National League game in Milwaukee since September 22, 1965, the Brewers defeat the Montreal Expos 6–4 at County Stadium. Starter Scott Karl gets the win, Doug Jones gets the save, and Jeromy Burnitz and José Valentín both contribute with home runs. April 10 – The Los Angeles Dodgers' Mike Piazza becomes the fifth NL player in history to hit grand slams in consecutive games by homering in a 7–2 win over the Houston Astros. Piazza also homered with the bags full, while driving in six runs, in the prior night's 7–2 win over Arizona. He would hit another on April 24 to tie the major-league record for slams in a month. April 11 – Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martínez hurled a two-hit complete game shutout in his debut at Fenway Park, guiding the Boston Red Sox to a 5–0 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners. Martínez stroke out 12 batters and walked only two, while Jim Leyritz led the Red Sox offense with a three-run home run in the third inning off Jamie Moyer. During the game, Dominican Republic flags showed up in the ballpark while chants of 'Pe-dro!, 'Pe-dro! were heard loud and clear in the stands. Besides, fans mounted the 'K' placards to mark Pedro's strikeouts. Afterwards, everyone in the largely Latino Jamaica Plain section of Boston started watching the Red Sox and going to the games.Lashnits, Tom (2006). Pedro Martínez. Chelsea House Publications. Boston Red Sox 5, Seattle Mariners 0. Game Played on Saturday, April 11, 1998 (D) at Fenway Park. Retrosheet Box Score. April 13 – The Seattle Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. slugs two home runs in a 6–5 loss to the Cleveland Indians. In doing so, he becomes the second–youngest player in big league history to reach 300 homers for his career, at 28 years and 143 days. Jimmie Foxx, at 27 years 328 days, was younger.
May May 3 – The Seattle Mariners' Dan Wilson becomes just the seventh catcher in major league history to hit an inside-the-park grand slam, as Seattle defeats Detroit 10–6. It's a first for the Mariners and the first in the AL since Mike Greenwell did it on September 1, . May 6 – In one of the finest pitching efforts ever, Chicago Cubs rookie right-hander Kerry Wood fans 20 Houston Astros in a 2–0, one-hit victory to tie the major league mark for strikeouts in a 9-inning game. The 20-year-old ties the record held by Roger Clemens, who performed the feat twice. He also eclipses Bill Gullickson's single-game rookie record of 18 strikeouts in . The only Houston baserunners come from an infield single to Ricky Gutiérrez in the 3rd inning and a hit batter. Wood also becomes the second pitcher in baseball history to record a single-game strikeout total equal to his age (in , 17-year-old Bob Feller struck out 17 batters). Wood strikes out the first five batters of the game, and seven in a row between the 7th and 9th innings, tying Jamie Moyer's Cubs record for most consecutive strikeouts. May 11 – In a 4–2 win over Arizona, Kerry Wood strikes out 13 Diamondbacks in seven innings. By doing so, Wood sets a major league record with 33 strikeouts over two consecutive games. May 13 – The Atlanta Braves set an NL record by homering in their 25th straight game, a 10–2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. This ties the major league mark held by the 1941 Yankees and the 1994 Tigers. The streak will be stopped by the Cardinals the next day. May 15 – In one of the biggest trades in recent years, the Dodgers send All-Star catcher Mike Piazza and third baseman Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins in exchange for outfielders Gary Sheffield and Jim Eisenreich, catcher Charles Johnson, third baseman Bobby Bonilla, and pitcher Manuel Barrios. On May 22, the Mets will acquire Piazza from the Marlins in exchange for outfielder Preston Wilson, pitcher Ed Yarnall and a minor league player. May 17 – Yankees pitcher David Wells hurls the 15th perfect game in modern major league history with a 4–0 win over the Minnesota Twins. Wells fans 11 batters in his masterpiece. Bernie Williams strokes three hits for New York, including a home run. May 18 – The Oakland Athletics' Mike Blowers hits for the cycle and drives home four runs in the A's 14–0 win over the White Sox. Blowers becomes only the 2nd player in franchise history to accomplish the feat.