1998 Chicago White Sox season

The 1998 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 99th season. They finished with a record of 80–82, good enough for second place in the American League Central, 9 games behind the first place Cleveland Indians.

1998 Chicago White Sox
League	American League
Division	Central
Ballpark	Comiskey Park
City	Chicago
Owners	Jerry Reinsdorf
General managers	Ron Schueler
Managers	Jerry Manuel
Television	WGN-TV Fox Sports Chicago (Ken Harrelson, Tom Paciorek)
Radio	WMVP (John Rooney, Ed Farmer) WIND (AM) (Hector Molina)
← 1997 Seasons 1999 →

Offseason

• December 10, 1997: Charlie O'Brien was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[1]
• January 27, 1998: Howard Battle was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[2]

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

• Ray Durham, 2B
• Mike Cameron, CF
• Frank Thomas, DH
• Albert Belle, LF
• Robin Ventura, 3B
• Magglio Ordóñez, RF
• Greg Norton, 1B
• Charlie O'Brien, C
• Mike Caruso, SS
• Jaime Navarro, P

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL Central

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cleveland Indians	89	73	.549	—	46‍–‍35	43‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox	80	82	.494	9	44‍–‍37	36‍–‍45
Kansas City Royals	72	89	.447	16½	29‍–‍51	43‍–‍38
Minnesota Twins	70	92	.432	19	35‍–‍46	35‍–‍46
Detroit Tigers	65	97	.401	24	32‍–‍49	33‍–‍48

Record vs. opponents

1998 American League record Source: MLB Standings Grid – 1998 v t e
Team	ANA	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TB	TEX	TOR	NL
Anaheim	—	5–6	6–5	5–6	4–7	8–3	6–5	6–5	6–5	5–7	9–3	6–5	5–7	4–7	10–6
Baltimore	6–5	—	6–6	2–9	5–6	10–1	5–6	7–3	3–9	8–3	6–5	5–7	6–5	5–7	5–11
Boston	5–6	6–6	—	5–6	8–3	5–5	8–3	5–6	5–7	9–2	7–4	9–3	6–5	5–7	9–7
Chicago	6–5	9–2	6–5	—	6–6	6–6	8–4	6–6	4–7	4–7	4–7	5–6	5–6	4–6–1	7–9
Cleveland	7–4	6–5	3–8	6–6	—	9–3	8–4	6–6	4–7	3–8	9–2	7–3	4–7	7–4	10–6
Detroit	3–8	1–10	5–5	6–6	3–9	—	6–6	8–4	3–8	7–4	3–8	5–6	3–8	5–6	7–9
Kansas City	5–6	6–5	3–8	4–8	4–8	6–6	—	7–5	0–10	7–4	4–6	8–3	3–8	6–5	9–7
Minnesota	5–6	3–7	6–5	6–6	6–6	4–8	5–7	—	4–7	4–7	2–9	7–4	7–4	4–7	7–9
New York	5–6	9–3	7–5	7–4	7–4	8–3	10–0	7–4	—	8–3	8–3	11–1	8–3	6–6	13–3
Oakland	7–5	3–8	2–9	7–4	8–3	4–7	4–7	7–4	3–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–6	5–6	8–8
Seattle	3–9	5–6	4–7	7–4	2–9	8–3	6–4	9–2	3–8	7–5	—	6–5	5–7	4–7	7–9
Tampa Bay	5–6	7–5	3–9	6–5	3–7	6–5	3–8	4–7	1–11	6–5	5–6	—	4–7	5–7	5–11
Texas	7–5	5–6	5–6	6–5	7–4	8–3	8–3	4–7	3–8	6–6	7–5	7–4	—	7–4	8–8
Toronto	7–4	7–5	7–5	6–4–1	4–7	6–5	5–6	7–4	6–6	6–5	7–4	7–5	4–7	—	9–7

Notable transactions

• May 27, 1998: Jim Abbott signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.^[3]
• June 2, 1998: Aaron Rowand was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 1st round (35th pick) of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1998.^[4]
• June 2, 1998: Mark Buehrle was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 38th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed May 21, 1999.^[5]
• June 7, 1998: Howard Battle was released by the Chicago White Sox.^[2]
• July 16, 1998: Jason Bere was released by the Chicago White Sox.^[6]
• July 30, 1998: Charlie O'Brien was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Anaheim Angels for Brian Tokarse (minors) and Jason Stockstill (minors).^[1]

Roster

1998 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 25 Jim Abbott 37 James Baldwin 46 Jason Bere 44 Chad Bradford 50 Larry Casian 43 Carlos Castillo 49 Tony Castillo 36 Scott Eyre 32 Tom Fordham 29 Keith Foulke 66 Mike Heathcott 62 Bob Howry 47 Matt Karchner 38 Jaime Navarro 40 Jim Parque 52 Todd Rizzo 41 Bill Simas 33 Mike Sirotka 59 John Snyder 56 Bryan Ward		Catchers 57 Mark Johnson 15 Chad Kreuter 55 Robert Machado 22 Charlie O'Brien Infielders 12,17 Mike Caruso 12 Wil Cordero  5 Ray Durham 31 Greg Norton 10 Chris Snopek 35 Frank Thomas 23 Robin Ventura 28 Craig Wilson		Outfielders 45 Jeff Abbott  8 Albert Belle 24 Mike Cameron 54,26 Lou Frazier 30 Magglio Ordóñez 44 Rubén Sierra 27 Brian Simmons		Manager  7 Jerry Manuel Coaches 52 Ron Jackson 18 Wallace Johnson 53 Art Kusnyer 20 Bryan Little 21 Joe Nossek 25 Mike Pazik 58 Mark Salas

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Jeff Abbott, OF	89	244	33	68	14	1	12	41	9	28	.279	3
James Baldwin, P	37	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Albert Belle, LF	163	609	113	200	48	2	49	152	81	84	.328	6
Mike Cameron, CF	141	396	53	83	16	5	8	43	37	101	.210	27
Mike Caruso, SS	133	523	81	160	17	6	5	55	14	38	.306	22
Carlos Castillo, P	54	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Wil Cordero, 1B, OF	96	341	58	91	18	2	13	49	22	66	.267	2
Ray Durham, 2B	158	635	126	181	35	8	19	67	73	105	.285	36
Scott Eyre, P	33	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	0
Tom Fordham, P	29	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Lou Frazier, CF	7	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	.000	4
Mark Johnson, C	7	23	2	2	0	2	0	1	1	8	.087	0
Chad Kreuter, C	93	245	26	62	9	1	2	33	32	45	.253	1
Robert Machado, C	34	111	14	23	6	0	3	15	7	22	.207	0
Jaime Navarro, P	37	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Greg Norton, 1B, 3B	105	299	38	71	17	2	9	36	26	77	.237	3
Charlie O'Brien, C	57	164	12	43	9	0	4	18	9	31	.262	0
Magglio Ordóñez, RF	145	535	70	151	25	2	14	65	28	53	.282	9
Jim Parque, P	21	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Rubén Sierra, OF, DH	27	74	7	16	4	1	4	11	3	11	.216	2
Brian Simmons, OF	5	19	4	7	0	0	2	6	0	2	.368	0
Mike Sirotka, P	33	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	0
Chris Snopek, SS, 2B	53	125	17	26	2	0	1	4	14	24	.208	3
Frank Thomas, DH, 1B	160	585	109	155	35	2	29	109	110	93	.265	7
Robin Ventura, 3B	161	590	84	155	31	4	21	91	79	111	.263	1
Craig Wilson, SS, 2B, 3B	13	47	14	22	5	0	3	10	3	6	.468	1
Team Totals	163	5585	861	1516	291	38	198	806	551	916	.271	127

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
Jim Abbott	5	0	4.55	5	5	0	31.2	35	16	16	2	12	14
James Baldwin	13	6	5.32	37	24	0	159.0	176	103	94	18	62	108
Jason Bere	3	7	6.45	18	15	0	83.2	98	71	60	14	58	53
Chad Bradford	2	1	3.32	29	0	1	30.2	27	16	11	0	7	11
Larry Casian	0	0	11.25	4	0	0	4.0	8	5	5	0	1	6
Carlos Castillo	6	4	5.11	54	2	0	100.1	94	61	57	17	36	64
Tony Castillo	1	2	8.00	25	0	0	27.0	38	25	24	7	11	14
Scott Eyre	3	8	5.38	33	17	0	107.0	114	78	64	24	64	73
Tom Fordham	1	2	6.75	29	5	0	48.0	51	36	36	7	42	23
Keith Foulke	3	2	4.13	54	0	1	65.1	51	31	30	9	23	57
Mike Heathcott	0	0	3.00	1	0	0	3.0	2	1	1	0	1	3
Bob Howry	0	3	3.15	44	0	9	54.1	37	20	19	7	21	51
Matt Karchner	2	4	5.15	32	0	11	36.2	33	21	21	2	25	30
Jaime Navarro	8	16	6.36	37	27	1	172.2	223	135	122	30	78	71
Jim Parque	7	5	5.10	21	21	0	113.0	135	72	64	14	49	77
Todd Rizzo	0	0	13.50	9	0	0	6.2	12	12	10	0	6	3
Bill Simas	4	3	3.57	60	0	18	70.2	54	29	28	12	26	56
Mike Sirotka	14	15	5.06	33	33	0	211.2	255	137	119	30	47	128
John Snyder	7	2	4.80	15	14	0	86.1	96	49	46	14	24	52
Bryan Ward	1	2	3.33	28	0	1	27.0	30	13	10	4	7	17
Team Totals	80	82	5.22	163	163	42	1438.2	1569	931	835	211	600	911

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Calgary Cannons	Pacific Coast League	Tom Spencer
AA	Birmingham Barons	Southern League	Dave Huppert
A	Winston-Salem Warthogs	Carolina League	Chris Cron
A	Hickory Crawdads	South Atlantic League	Mark Haley
Rookie	Bristol White Sox	Appalachian League	Nick Capra
Rookie	AZL White Sox	Arizona League	Tony Peña

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Bristol^[7]

External links

• 1998 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference