1998 Texas Rangers season

The 1998 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing first in the American League West with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. It was the team's second post-season appearance, the first having been in 1996, but the team was eliminated in a three-game sweep by the New York Yankees in the Division Series.

1998 Texas Rangers
American League West champions
League	American League
Division	Western Division
Ballpark	The Ballpark in Arlington
City	Arlington, Texas
Record	88–74 (.543)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Tom Hicks
General manager	Doug Melvin
Managers	Johnny Oates
Television	KXTX-TV KXAS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Tom Grieve, Bill Jones)
Radio	KRLD (Eric Nadel, Vince Cotroneo) KMRT (Luis Mayoral, Josue Perez)
← 1997 Seasons 1999 →

Offseason

• November 6, 1997: Jim Leyritz and Damon Buford were traded by the Rangers to the Boston Red Sox for Mark Brandenburg, Bill Haselman, and Aaron Sele.^[1]
• November 20, 1997: Scott Sheldon was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[2]
• December 7, 1997: Scott Bailes was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.^[3]
• December 8, 1997: Kevin Elster was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.^[4]
• December 9, 1997: Roberto Kelly was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[5]
• December 15, 1997: Scott Podsednik was drafted by the Rangers from the Florida Marlins in the 1997 rule 5 draft.^[6]
• December 23, 1997: Scott Cooper was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[7]
• March 14, 1998: Kevin Brown was traded by the Rangers to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tim Crabtree.^[8]

Regular season

During the season, Rick Helling became the final pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Rangers during the 1990s.^[9]

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

• July 17, 1998: Todd Van Poppel and Warren Morris were traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Esteban Loaiza.^[10]
• July 31, 1998: Kevin Elster was released by the Texas Rangers.^[4]
• August 26, 1998: Greg Cadaret was selected off waivers by the Rangers from the Anaheim Angels.^[11]

Roster

1998 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 58 Scott Bailes 33 John Burkett 36 Greg Cadaret 23 Tim Crabtree 49 Tony Fossas 53 Eric Gunderson 32 Rick Helling 31 Xavier Hernandez 50 Jonathan Johnson 43 Al Levine 28 Esteban Loaiza 28 Darren Oliver 56 Danny Patterson 59 Roger Pavlik 40 Matt Perisho 60 Julio Santana 30 Aaron Sele 44 Todd Stottlemyre 51 Todd Van Poppel 35 John Wetteland 36 Bobby Witt		Catchers 37 Bill Haselman  7 Iván Rodríguez Infielders 10 Luis Alicea  1 Domingo Cedeño 22 Will Clark 11,18 Royce Clayton 18 Kevin Elster  3 Mark McLemore  4 Scott Sheldon 9,11 Lee Stevens  4 Fernando Tatís 27 Todd Zeile		Outfielders 18 Milt Cuyler 19 Juan González 24 Tom Goodwin 29 Rusty Greer 39 Roberto Kelly 21 Warren Newson 16 Mike Simms Other batters 14 Rob Sasser 18 Chris Tremie		Manager 26 Johnny Oates Coaches 17 Dick Bosman (Pitching) 20 Bucky Dent (Bench) 25 Larry Hardy (Bullpen)  8 Rudy Jaramillo (Hitting) 12 Ed Napoleon (First Base)  5 Jerry Narron (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	Iván Rodríguez	145	579	88	186	21	91	.321	.513	9
1B	Will Clark	149	554	98	169	23	102	.305	.507	1
2B	Mark McLemore	126	461	79	114	5	53	.247	.317	12
3B	Fernando Tatís	95	330	41	89	3	32	.270	.442	6
SS	Kevin Elster	84	297	33	69	8	37	.232	.354	0
LF	Rusty Greer	155	598	107	183	16	108	.306	.405	2
CF	Tom Goodwin	154	520	102	151	2	33	.290	.338	38
RF	Juan González	154	606	110	193	45	157	.318	.630	2
DH	Lee Stevens	120	344	52	91	20	59	.265	.512	0

^[12]

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
Luis Alicea	101	259	71	.274	6	83
Roberto Kelly	75	257	83	.323	16	46
Mike Simms	86	186	55	.296	16	46
Royce Clayton	52	186	53	.285	5	24
Todd Zeile	52	180	47	.261	6	28
Domingo Cedeño	61	141	37	.262	2	21
Bill Haselman	40	105	33	.314	6	17
Warren Newson	10	21	4	.190	0	2
Scott Sheldon	7	16	2	.125	0	1
Milt Cuyler	7	6	3	.500	1	3
Chris Tremie	2	3	1	.333	0	0
Rob Sasser	1	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
Rick Helling	33	216.1	20	7	4.41	164
Aaron Sele	33	212.2	19	11	4.23	167
John Burkett	32	195.0	9	13	5.68	131
Darren Oliver	19	103.1	6	7	6.53	58
Esteban Loaiza	14	79.1	3	6	5.90	55
Bobby Witt	14	69.1	5	4	7.66	30
Todd Stottlemyre	10	60.1	5	4	4.33	57
Todd Van Poppel	4	19.1	1	2	8.84	10
Matt Perisho	2	5.0	0	2	27.00	2
Jonathan Johnson	1	4.1	0	0	8.31	3

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
John Wetteland	63	3	1	42	2.03	72
Eric Gunderson	68	0	3	0	5.19	41
Tim Crabtree	64	6	1	0	3.59	60
Danny Patterson	56	2	5	2	4.45	33
Xavier Hernandez	46	6	6	1	3.57	41
Scott Bailes	46	1	0	0	6.47	30
Al Levine	30	0	1	0	4.50	19
Greg Cadaret	11	0	0	0	4.70	5
Tony Fossas	10	1	0	0	0.00	7
Roger Pavlik	5	1	1	1	3.86	8
Julio Santana	3	0	0	0	8.44	1

New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

Main article: 1998 American League Division Series

Game 1

September 29 at Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	0
W: David Wells (1-0)   L: Todd Stottlemyre (0-1)  S: Mariano Rivera (1)

Game 2

September 30 at Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
New York	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
W: Andy Pettitte (1-0)   L: Rick Helling (0-1)    S: Mariano Rivera (2)
HR: NYY – Shane Spencer, Scott Brosius

Game 3

October 2 at The Ballpark in Arlington (Texas Rangers)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	4	9	1
Texas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
W: David Cone (1-0)   L: Aaron Sele (0-1)
HR: NYY – Shane Spencer, Paul O'Neill

Awards and honors

• Juan González, AL MVP
• Juan González, Silver Slugger Award
• Iván Rodríguez, C, Gold Glove
• Iván Rodríguez, Silver Slugger Award

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma RedHawks	Pacific Coast League	Greg Biagini
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Bobby Jones
A	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	Jim Byrd
A	Savannah Sand Gnats	South Atlantic League	Paul Carey
Rookie	Pulaski Rangers	Appalachian League	Bruce Crabbe
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Darryl Kennedy

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa, GCL Rangers