1998 Oakland Athletics season

The 1998 Oakland Athletics season was the 98th season for the Oakland Athletics franchise, all as members of the American League, and their 31st season in Oakland. The Athletics finished the season with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. The campaign was the first of the Billy Beane era. While the Athletics finished a distant fourth in the American League West, they improved upon the prior year's dismal output of 65–97.

1998 Oakland Athletics
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Network Associates Coliseum
City	Oakland, California
Record	74–88 (.457)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Stephen Schott Ken Hofmann
General managers	Billy Beane
Managers	Art Howe
Television	KRON-TV Fox Sports Bay Area (Ray Fosse, Greg Papa, Ken Wilson)
Radio	KNEW (Bill King, Ken Korach, Ray Fosse)
← 1997 Seasons 1999 →

The strong play of Jason Giambi, Matt Stairs and Kenny Rogers highlighted an otherwise forgettable campaign. Rogers' performance was particularly impressive; in arguably the finest season of his career, he won 16 games and posted a 3.17 earned run average (both were the best full-season marks by an Athletics starter since 1992). Additionally, the 1998 season marked Rickey Henderson's fourth (and final) stint with the Athletics. Henderson, at the age of 39, stole a total 66 bases; this total led the league in that category. Lastly, rookie Ben Grieve collected a Rookie of the Year (ROY) award for his solid debut season. The award was the Athletics' first since Walt Weiss received one in 1988.

The Athletics posted a winning record in 1999. The organization, under Beane, would not post another losing season until 2007.

Offseason

• October 29, 1997: Dane Johnson was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the Toronto Blue Jays.^[1]
• November 7, 1997: The Athletics traded a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for Kenny Rogers and cash. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Scott Brosius to the Yankees on November 18.^[2]
• November 18, 1997: Tony Batista was drafted from the Athletics by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the 27th pick in the 1997 MLB expansion draft.^[3]
• November 26, 1997: David Newhan and Don Wengert were traded by the Athletics to the San Diego Padres for Jorge Velandia and Doug Bochtler.^[4]
• November 22, 1997: Damon Berryhill was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[5]
• December 4, 1997: Mark Acre was purchased from the Athletics by the Yakult Swallows.^[6]
• December 5, 1997: Jack Voigt was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[7]
• December 16, 1997: Mike Blowers was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[8]
• December 22, 1997: Izzy Molina was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[9]
• January 22, 1998: Rickey Henderson was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[10]
• March 9, 1998: Kevin Mitchell was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.^[11]
• March 17, 1998: Ernie Young was purchased from the Athletics by the Kansas City Royals.^[12]
• March 25, 1998: Doug Bochtler was purchased from the Athletics by the Detroit Tigers.^[13]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Rafael Bournigal
• Tom Candiotti
• Jason Giambi
• Ben Grieve
• Rickey Henderson
• A. J. Hinch
• Dave Magadan
• Jason McDonald
• Scott Spiezio
• Matt Stairs^[14]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	88	74	.543	—	48‍–‍33	40‍–‍41
Anaheim Angels	85	77	.525	3	42‍–‍39	43‍–‍38
Seattle Mariners	76	85	.472	11½	42‍–‍39	34‍–‍46
Oakland Athletics	74	88	.457	14	39‍–‍42	35‍–‍46

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

• June 2, 1998: 1998 Major League Baseball draft
  • Mark Mulder was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (2nd pick). Player signed October 9, 1998.^[15]
  • Eric Byrnes was drafted by the Athletics in the 8th round. Player signed June 12, 1998.^[16]
• June 26, 1998: Aaron Small was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[17]
• August 7, 1998: Kevin Mitchell was released by the Athletics.^[11]
• August 9, 1998: Jack Voigt was acquired from the Athletics by the Texas Rangers in a conditional deal.^[7]

Roster

1998 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 49 Tom Candiotti 56 Steve Connelly 41 Jim Dougherty 36 Mike Fetters 29 Buddy Groom 51 Jimmy Haynes 31 Gil Heredia 28 Mark Holzemer 33 T.J. Mathews 32 Mike Mohler 44 Mike Oquist 48 Ariel Prieto 37 Kenny Rogers 30 Aaron Small 59 Blake Stein 22 Billy Taylor 50 Dave Telgheder 52 Jay Witasick 36 Tim Worrell		Catchers 23 A. J. Hinch  5 Mike Macfarlane 13 Izzy Molina Infielders  7 Kurt Abbott 10 Mark Bellhorn  6 Mike Blowers 26 Rafael Bournigal 30 Eric Chavez 16 Jason Giambi 17 Dave Magadan  3 Bip Roberts 21 Scott Spiezio  8 Ed Sprague Jr.  4 Miguel Tejada 45 Jorge Velandia 28 Jack Voigt 39 Jason Wood		Outfielders 53 Ryan Christenson 14 Ben Grieve 24 Rickey Henderson 20 Brian Lesher  2 Jason McDonald 31,7 Kevin Mitchell 54 Mike Neill 12 Matt Stairs Other batters  5 Shane Mack		Manager 18 Art Howe Coaches  3 Bob Cluck (pitching)  9 Duffy Dyer (bench) 35 Brad Fischer (bullpen) 47 Gary Jones (first base) 15 Denny Walling (hitting) 38 Ron Washington (third base)

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	A. J. Hinch	120	337	34	78	9	35	.231	.341	3
1B	Jason Giambi	153	562	92	166	27	110	.295	.489	2
2B	Scott Spiezio	114	406	54	105	9	50	.259	.377	1
3B	Mike Blowers	129	409	56	97	11	71	.237	.386	1
SS	Miguel Tejada	105	365	53	85	11	45	.233	.384	5
LF	Rickey Henderson	152	542	101	128	14	57	.236	.347	66
CF	Ryan Christenson	117	370	56	95	5	50	.257	.368	5
RF	Ben Grieve	155	583	94	168	18	89	.288	.458	2
DH	Matt Stairs	149	523	88	154	26	106	.294	.511	8

^[18]

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
Rafael Bournigal	85	209	47	.225	1	19
Mike Macfarlane	78	207	52	.251	7	34
Bip Roberts	61	182	51	.280	1	15
Jason McDonald	70	175	44	.251	1	16
Kevin Mitchell	51	127	29	.228	2	21
Kurt Abbott	35	123	33	.268	2	9
Dave Magadan	35	109	35	.321	1	13
Ed Sprague Jr.	27	87	13	.149	3	7
Jack Voigt	57	72	10	.139	1	10
Eric Chavez	16	45	14	.311	0	6
Mike Neill	6	15	4	.267	0	0
Mark Bellhorn	11	12	1	.083	0	1
Brian Lesher	7	7	1	.143	0	1
Jorge Velandia	8	4	1	.250	0	0
Izzy Molina	6	2	1	.500	0	0
Shane Mack	3	2	0	.000	0	0
Jason Wood	3	1	0	.000	0	0

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
Kenny Rogers	34	238.2	16	8	3.17	138
Tom Candiotti	33	201.0	11	16	4.84	98
Jimmy Haynes	33	194.1	11	9	5.09	134
Mike Oquist	31	175.0	7	11	6.22	112
Blake Stein	24	117.1	5	9	6.37	89
Gil Heredia	8	42.2	3	3	2.74	27
Ariel Prieto	2	8.1	0	1	11.88	8

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
Jay Witasick	7	27.0	1	3	6.33	29
Dave Telgheder	8	20.0	0	1	3.60	5

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
Billy Taylor	70	4	9	33	3.58	58
Buddy Groom	75	3	1	0	4.24	36
T.J. Mathews	66	7	4	1	4.58	53
Mike Mohler	57	3	3	0	5.16	42
Mike Fetters	48	1	6	5	3.99	34
Tim Worrell	25	0	1	0	4.00	33
Aaron Small	24	1	1	0	7.25	19
Mark Holzemer	13	1	0	0	5.59	3
Jim Doughtery	9	0	2	0	8.25	3
Steve Connelly	3	0	0	0	1.93	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Edmonton Trappers	Pacific Coast League	Mike Quade
AA	Huntsville Stars	Southern League	Jeffrey Leonard
A	Modesto A's	California League	Juan Navarrette
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Tony DeFrancesco
A-Short Season	Southern Oregon Timberjacks	Northwest League	Greg Sparks
Rookie	AZL Athletics	Arizona League	John Kuehl