| 1998 New York Mets | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Shea Stadium | |||
| City | New York | |||
| Record | 88–74 (.543) | |||
| Divisional place | 2nd | |||
| Owners | Nelson Doubleday Jr., Fred Wilpon | |||
| General managers | Steve Phillips | |||
| Managers | Bobby Valentine | |||
| Television | WWOR-TV/Fox Sports New York (Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Howie Rose, Gary Thorne) | |||
| Radio | WFAN (Bob Murphy, Gary Cohen, Ed Coleman) WADO (spanish) (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa) | |||
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The 1998 New York Mets season was the 37th regular season for the Mets. Like the previous season, they finished the season with a record of 88–74. Despite placing second in the National League East, the Mets fell one game short of playoff contention following a catastrophic collapse during the final week of the season. They were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium.
Despite their collapse toward the end of the season, the 1998 season was notable for the Mets due in large part to the acquisition of All-Star catcher Mike Piazza. The Mets were in need of a catcher due to an injury suffered by their own star catcher Todd Hundley, and took advantage of both Piazza's disagreement over a new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the ongoing salary dumping by the defending World Series champion Florida Marlins; unable to negotiate a deal, the Dodgers traded Piazza to the Marlins, who turned around several days later and dealt Piazza to the Mets for outfield prospect Preston Wilson, among others. Piazza contributed a .348 average with 23 home runs and 76 RBI during his time with the Mets and once again was voted to the National League All-Star team. Hundley, meanwhile, attempted to make a move to left field when he rejoined the team, but it did not work. His tenure with the Mets ended when he was traded to the Dodgers after the season.
John Olerud was again the hitting star for the Mets. He recorded a .354 average, the second best in all of baseball behind Larry Walker, and once again led the team with 93 RBI, to go with his 22 home runs. On the pitching side, another Marlins castoff made his presence felt as Al Leiter had his career best marks as a starter. Leiter won a career high seventeen games and added a 2.47 ERA. Rick Reed continued his career renaissance by adding sixteen wins of his own.
The Mets played an unforgettable opening day game at Shea Stadium on March 31 against their division rival Philadelphia Phillies. Both of them were involved in the longest scoreless opening day game in the National League and the longest one in MLB since 1926 when the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 1–0 in 15 innings.[5][6][7] The Mets won the game 1–0 in 14 innings when backup catcher Alberto Castillo delivered a full-count, two-out, pinch-hit single to right with the bases loaded off Philadelphia closer Ricky Bottalico.[6] This was the first regular season baseball game played in New York in March.[8]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves | 106 | 56 | .654 | — | 56–25 | 50–31 |
| New York Mets | 88 | 74 | .543 | 18 | 47–34 | 41–40 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | 87 | .463 | 31 | 40–41 | 35–46 |
| Montreal Expos | 65 | 97 | .401 | 41 | 39–42 | 26–55 |
| Florida Marlins | 54 | 108 | .333 | 52 | 31–50 | 23–58 |
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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–2 | 4–5 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 5–8 |
| Atlanta | 8–1 | — | 3–6 | 7–2 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 7–2 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | 6–3 | — | 6–5 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 4–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 8–3 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 4–7 | 5–8 |
| Cincinnati | 5–4 | 2–7 | 5–6 | — | 4–5 | 9–0 | 3–8 | 5–4 | 6–5 | 8–1 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–7 | 1–11 | 2–7 | 8–3 | 7-6 |
| Colorado | 6–6 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 5–4 | — | 6–3 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 4–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 4–8 |
| Florida | 2–6 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 0–9 | 3–6 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 4–5 | 8–8 |
| Houston | 5–4 | 5–4 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 5–6 | 6-3 | — | 3–6 | 9–2 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 9–2 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 5–7 | 10–4 |
| Los Angeles | 8–4 | 1–8 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | — | 5–4 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 8–5 |
| Milwaukee | 3–6 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–4 | 9–0 | 2–9 | 4–5 | — | 6–3 | 1–8 | 4–5 | 6–5 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 3–8 | 8–6 |
| Montreal | 7–2 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 1–8 | 2–7 | 7–5 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 3–6 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 6–10 |
| New York | 5–4 | 3–9 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 5–3 | 8–1 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
| Philadelphia | 7-2 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 8–1 | 1–8 | 2–6 | 3–6 | 7–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–6 | 2–7 | 3–8 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 2–9 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 1–8 | — | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–5 | 6–7 |
| San Diego | 9–3 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 11–1 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–4 | 5–4 | 8–1 | 4–5 | — | 8–4 | 6–3 | 6–7 |
| San Francisco | 7–5 | 2–7 | 3–7 | 7–2 | 5–7 | 9–0 | 3–6 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 6–2 | 7–2 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 8–5 |
| St. Louis | 7–2 | 3–6 | 7–4 | 3–8 | 6–3 | 5-4 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 8–3 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 6–3 | 5–6 | 3–6 | 5–7 | — | 4–9 |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Mike Piazza | 109 | 394 | 137 | .348 | 23 | 76 |
| 1B | John Olerud | 160 | 557 | 197 | .354 | 22 | 93 |
| 2B | Carlos Baerga | 147 | 511 | 136 | .266 | 7 | 53 |
| SS | Rey Ordóñez | 153 | 505 | 124 | .246 | 1 | 42 |
| 3B | Edgardo Alfonso | 144 | 557 | 155 | .278 | 17 | 78 |
| LF | Bernard Gilkey | 82 | 264 | 60 | .227 | 4 | 28 |
| CF | Brian McRae | 159 | 552 | 146 | .264 | 21 | 79 |
| RF | Butch Huskey | 113 | 369 | 93 | .252 | 13 | 59 |
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 López | 117 | 266 | 67 | .252 | 2 | 22 |
| Tony Phillips | 52 | 188 | 42 | .223 | 3 | 14 |
| Lenny Harris | 75 | 168 | 39 | .232 | 6 | 17 |
| Matt Franco | 103 | 161 | 44 | .273 | 1 | 13 |
| Todd Hundley | 53 | 124 | 20 | .161 | 3 | 12 |
| Rich Becker | 49 | 100 | 19 | .190 | 3 | 10 |
| Alberto Castillo | 38 | 83 | 17 | .205 | 2 | 7 |
| Todd Pratt | 41 | 69 | 19 | .275 | 2 | 18 |
| Jermaine Allensworth | 34 | 54 | 11 | .204 | 2 | 4 |
| Tim Spehr | 21 | 51 | 7 | .137 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Tatum | 35 | 50 | 9 | .180 | 2 | 13 |
| Jorge Fábregas | 20 | 32 | 6 | .188 | 1 | 5 |
| Wayne Kirby | 26 | 31 | 6 | .194 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Payton | 15 | 22 | 7 | .218 | 0 | 0 |
| Preston Wilson | 8 | 20 | 6 | .300 | 0 | 2 |
| Craig Paquette | 7 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Wilkins | 5 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 1 |
| Benny Agbayani | 11 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 0 |
| Todd Haney | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Shawn Gilbert | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Kinkade | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph Milliard | 10 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 Reed | 31 | 212.1 | 16 | 11 | 3.48 | 153 |
| Bobby Jones | 30 | 195.1 | 9 | 9 | 4.05 | 115 |
| Al Leiter | 28 | 193.0 | 17 | 6 | 2.47 | 174 |
| Masato Yoshii | 29 | 171.2 | 6 | 8 | 3.93 | 117 |
| Hideo Nomo | 17 | 89.2 | 4 | 5 | 4.82 | 94 |
| Armando Reynoso | 11 | 68.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.82 | 40 |
| Dave Mlicki | 10 | 57.0 | 1 | 4 | 5.68 | 39 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Bohanon | 25 | 54.1 | 2 | 4 | 3.15 | 39 |
| Willie Blair | 11 | 28.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.14 | 21 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Franco | 61 | 0 | 8 | 38 | 3.62 | 59 |
| Dennis Cook | 73 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2.38 | 79 |
| Turk Wendell | 66 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2.93 | 58 |
| Greg McMichael | 52 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4.02 | 44 |
| Mel Rojas | 50 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6.05 | 41 |
| John Hudek | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4.00 | 28 |
| Bill Pulsipher | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.91 | 13 |
| Jeff Tam | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.23 | 8 |
| Rigo Beltrán | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 5 |
| Brad Clontz | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Lucie, Capital City[14]
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1998 MLB season by team
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| Franchise |
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| World Series championships (2) |
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