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1998 Toronto Blue Jays season

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1998 Toronto Blue Jays
DivisionEast Division
BallparkSkyDome
CityToronto
Record88–74 (.543)
OwnersInterbrew,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
ManagersTim Johnson
TelevisionCBC Television
(Brian Williams, John Cerutti)
The Sports Network
(Dan Shulman, Buck Martinez)
RadioCHUM (AM)
(Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek)
← 1997 Seasons 1999 →

The 1998 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 22nd season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses, which was their best record since their 1993 World Series-winning season; the 88 wins were not surpassed until 2015.

With the disappointing last-place finish of the previous year, General Manager Gord Ash once again dug into the wallet to improve the team, signing reliever Randy Myers and slugger José Canseco as free agents. Though the team improved noticeably (thanks to another pitching Triple Crown and Cy Young Award-winning campaign by ace hurler Roger Clemens and a powerful lineup that featured Canseco, Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green, and José Cruz, Jr.), they could not finish ahead of the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox, who won 114 and 92 games en route to winning the division crown and Wild Card respectively.

Offseason

  • October 29, 1997: Dane Johnson was selected off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Oakland Athletics.[1]
  • November 18, 1997: Omar Daal was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Toronto Blue Jays as the 31st pick in the 1997 expansion draft.[2]
  • November 26, 1997: Randy Myers signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.[3]
  • November 27, 1997: Craig Grebeck was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.[4]
  • December 6, 1997: Juan Samuel was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.[5]
  • December 8, 1997: Tony Fernandez was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.[6]
  • January 5, 1998: Jacob Brumfield was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.[7]
  • February 4, 1998: José Canseco signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.
  • March 24, 1998: Jacob Brumfield was released by the Toronto Blue Jays.[7]
  • March 14, 1998: Tim Crabtree was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Texas Rangers for Kevin Brown.[8]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 114 48 .704 62‍–‍19 52‍–‍29
Boston Red Sox 92 70 .568 22 51‍–‍30 41‍–‍40
Toronto Blue Jays 88 74 .543 26 51‍–‍30 37‍–‍44
Baltimore Orioles 79 83 .488 35 42‍–‍39 37‍–‍44
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 63 99 .389 51 33‍–‍48 30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
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: Felipe López was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1st round (8th pick) of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed August 11, 1998.[9]
  • July 1, 1998: Tony Phillips was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.[10]
  • July 31, 1998: Tony Phillips was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Mets for Leo Estrella.[10]
  • August 6, 1998: Randy Myers was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the San Diego Padres for Brian Loyd (minors).[3]

Roster

1998 Toronto Blue Jays
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

Game log

1998 Game Log

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; R = Runs; 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 Darrin Fletcher 124 407 37 115 9 52 .283 .410 0
1B Carlos Delgado 142 503 94 155 38 115 .292 .592 3
2B Craig Grebeck 102 301 33 77 2 27 .256 .346 2
3B Ed Sprague 105 382 49 91 17 51 .238 .424 0
SS Alex Gonzalez 158 568 70 136 13 51 .239 .361 21
LF Shannon Stewert 144 516 90 144 12 55 .279 .417 51
CF Jose Cruz Jr. 105 352 55 89 11 42 .253 .403 11
RF Shawn Green 158 630 106 175 35 100 .278 .510 35
DH Jose Canseco 151 583 98 138 46 107 .237 .518 29

[11]

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

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

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

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

Award winners

All-Star Game

  • Roger Clemens, P[13]

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse SkyChiefs International League Terry Bevington
AA Knoxville Smokies Southern League Omar Malavé
A Dunedin Blue Jays Florida State League Rocket Wheeler
A Hagerstown Suns South Atlantic League Marty Pevey
A-Short Season St. Catharines Stompers New York–Penn League Duane Larson
Rookie Medicine Hat Blue Jays Pioneer League Rolando Pino

[14]

References

  1. ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/j/johnsda05.shtml
  2. ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/daalom01.shtml
  3. ^ a b Randy Myers Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/grebecr01.shtml
  5. ^ Juan Samuel Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fernato01.shtml
  7. ^ a b Jacob Brumfield Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  8. ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/crabtti01.shtml
  9. ^ Felipe López Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  10. ^ a b Tony Phillips Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  11. ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1998.shtml
  12. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.234, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  13. ^ Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
  14. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007