1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season
1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays | |
---|---|
Major League affiliations | |
| |
Location | |
| |
Results | |
Record | 63–99 (.389) |
Divisional place | 5th |
Other information | |
Owner(s) | Vince Naimoli |
General manager(s) | Chuck LaMar |
Manager(s) | Larry Rothschild |
Local television | Sportschannel Florida WWWB WTSP (Joe Magrane, Dewayne Staats) |
Local radio | WFLA (Paul Olden, Charlie Slowes) |
Next season > |
The 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season was the first season in franchise history. This season, they finished last in the AL East division and finished the season with a record of 63-99, 51 games behind the World Champion New York Yankees. Their manager was Larry Rothschild.
Miguel Cairo was the last active player remaining from the Opening Day roster, until retiring after the 2012 season.
Offseason[]
- March 11, 1997: Luis Polonia was signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[1]
- May 10, 1997: Pete Laforest was signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[2]
- June 3, 1997: Jason Standridge was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1st round (31st pick) of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 6, 1997.[3]
- June 3, 1997: Kenny Kelly was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2nd round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1997.[4]
- November 11, 1997: Mike Kelly was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for a player to be named later. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent Dmitri Young (November 18, 1997) to the Cincinnati Reds to complete the trade.[5]
- December 9, 1997: Wade Boggs signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[6]
- December 16, 1997: Scott McClain was signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[7]
- December 18, 1997: Josías Manzanillo was signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[8]
- January 27, 1998: Dave Silvestri was signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[9]
- January 27, 1998: Jerome Walton was signed as a Free Agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[10]
Expansion Draft[]
Round 1[]
Pick | Player | Position | From | To |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tony Saunders | LHP | FLA | TB |
4 | Quinton McCracken | OF | COL | TB |
6 | Bobby Abreu | OF | HOU | TB |
8 | Miguel Cairo | 2B | CHC | TB |
10 | Rich Butler | OF | TOR | TB |
12 | Bob Smith | 3B | ATL | TB |
14 | Jason Johnson | RHP | PIT | TB |
16 | Dmitri Young | 1B | CIN | TB |
18 | Esteban Yan | RHP | BAL | TB |
20 | Mike DiFelice | C | STL | TB |
22 | Bubba Trammell | OF | DET | TB |
24 | Andy Sheets | IF | SEA | TB |
26 | Dennis Springer | RHP | ANA | TB |
28 | Dan Carlson | RHP | SF | TB |
Round 2[]
Pick | Player | Position | From | To |
---|---|---|---|---|
30 | Brian Boehringer | RHP | NYY | TB |
32 | Mike Duvall | LHP | FLA | TB |
34 | John LeRoy | RHP | ATL | TB |
36 | Jim Mecir | RHP | BOS | TB |
38 | Bryan Rekar | RHP | COL | TB |
40 | Rick Gorecki | RHP | LAD | TB |
42 | Ramón Tatís | LHP | CHC | TB |
44 | Kerry Robinson | OF | STL | TB |
46 | Steve Cox | 1B | OAK | TB |
48 | Albie Lopez | RHP | CLE | TB |
50 | José Paniagua | RHP | MON | TB |
52 | Carlos Mendoza | OF | NYM | TB |
54 | Ryan Karp | LHP | PHI | TB |
56 | Santos Hernández | RHP | SF | TB |
Round 3[]
Pick | Player | Position | From | To |
---|---|---|---|---|
58 | Randy Winn | OF | FLA | TB |
60 | Terrell Wade | LHP | ATL | TB |
62 | Aaron Ledesma | IF | BAL | TB |
64 | Brooks Kieschnick | OF | CHC | TB |
66 | Luke Wilcox | OF | NYY | TB |
68 | Herbert Perry | IF | CLE | TB |
70 | Vaughn Eshelman | LHP | OAK | TB |
1996–97 MLB June drafts and minor league affiliates[]
The two expansion teams set to debut in 1998, the Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, had two full seasons to establish scouting and player development systems and were permitted to participate fully in the 1996 and 1997 Major League Baseball drafts. The Devil Rays drafted 29th in 1996 (when they selected 97 players overall) and 31st in 1997 (when they selected 92). The team began developing those players in a farm system with three minor-league affiliates in 1996 and five in 1997.
Among the players selected and signed by Tampa Bay from those drafts were pitcher Dan Wheeler (34th round, 1996), catcher Toby Hall (ninth, 1997), infielder Jared Sandberg (16th, 1996) and outfielder Alex Sánchez (fifth, 1996).
1996 farm system[]
Level | Team | League | Manager |
---|---|---|---|
A-Short Season | Hudson Valley Renegades | New York–Penn League | Bump Wills |
Rookie | Butte Copper Kings | Pioneer League | Tom Foley |
Rookie | GCL Devil Rays | Gulf Coast League | Bill Evers |
Hudson Valley affiliation shared with Texas Rangers[11]
1997 farm system[]
Level | Team | League | Manager |
---|---|---|---|
A | St. Petersburg Devil Rays | Florida State League | Bill Evers |
A | Charleston RiverDogs | South Atlantic League | Scott Fletcher |
A-Short Season | Hudson Valley Renegades | New York–Penn League | Julio García |
Rookie | Princeton Devil Rays | Appalachian League | Charlie Montoyo |
Rookie | GCL Devil Rays | Gulf Coast League | Bobby Ramos |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: St. Petersburg
Regular season[]
- March 31, 1998 – The Devil Rays played their inaugural game, as well as their first home game, against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won 11-6 for an audience of 45,369 fans.[12]
- April 1, 1998 – The Devil Rays enjoyed the first win in their franchise's history, an 11-8 comeback against the Tigers. Rolando Arrojo was the winning pitcher.[13]
- June 22, 1998 – The first interleague game between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took place at Tropicana Field. The rivalry would be known as the Citrus Series. The Marlins won the game in twelve innings by a score of 3-2.[14]
Opening Day starters[]
3 | Quinton McCracken | CF |
13 | Miguel Cairo | 2B |
12 | Wade Boggs | 3B |
29 | Fred McGriff | 1B |
24 | Mike Kelly | LF |
44 | Paul Sorrento | DH |
6 | John Flaherty | C |
14 | Dave Martinez | RF |
19 | Kevin Stocker | SS |
40 | Wilson Álvarez | P |
Season standings[]
AL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 114 | 48 | 0.704 | — | 62–19 | 52–29 |
Boston Red Sox | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | 22 | 51–30 | 41–40 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 26 | 51–30 | 37–44 |
Baltimore Orioles | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 35 | 42–39 | 37–44 |
Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 63 | 99 | 0.389 | 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[]
- May 26, 1998: Jerome Walton was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[10]
- June 2, 1998: Aubrey Huff was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 5th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 17, 1998.[15]
- July 1, 1998: Josías Manzanillo was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.[8]
Citrus Series[]
The season series each year between the Devil Rays and the Florida Marlins has come to be known as the Citrus Series. In 1998, the Marlins won the series 3 games to 1.[16]
- June 22 - Devil Rays vs Marlins: 2 – 3
- June 23 - Devil Rays vs Marlins: 6 – 4
- June 24 - Devil Rays @ Marlins: 4 – 8
- June 25 - Devil Rays @ Marlins: 1 – 5
Roster[]
1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
|
Player stats[]
= Indicates team leader |
Batting[]
Starters by position[]
Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | John Flaherty | 91 | 304 | 63 | 3 | 24 | .207 | 0 |
1B | Fred McGriff | 151 | 564 | 160 | 19 | 81 | .284 | 7 |
2B | Miguel Cairo | 150 | 515 | 138 | 5 | 46 | .268 | 19 |
3B | Bob Smith | 117 | 370 | 102 | 11 | 55 | .276 | 5 |
SS | Kevin Stocker | 112 | 336 | 70 | 6 | 25 | .208 | 5 |
LF | Quinton McCracken | 155 | 614 | 179 | 7 | 59 | .292 | 19 |
CF | Randy Winn | 109 | 338 | 94 | 1 | 17 | .278 | 26 |
RF | Dave Martinez | 90 | 309 | 79 | 3 | 20 | .256 | 8 |
DH | Paul Sorrento | 137 | 435 | 98 | 17 | 57 | .225 | 2 |
Other batters[]
Player | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wade Boggs | 123 | 435 | 122 | 7 | 52 | .280 | 3 |
Rich Butler | 72 | 217 | 49 | 7 | 20 | .226 | 4 |
Mike Difelice | 84 | 248 | 57 | 3 | 23 | .230 | 0 |
Mike Kelly | 106 | 279 | 67 | 10 | 33 | .240 | 13 |
Tim Laker | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 | 0 |
Aaron Ledesma | 95 | 299 | 97 | 0 | 29 | .324 | 9 |
Scott McClain | 9 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .100 | 0 |
Kerry Robinson | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
Dave Silvestri | 8 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .071 | 0 |
Bubba Trammell | 59 | 199 | 57 | 12 | 35 | .286 | 0 |
Jerome Walton | 12 | 34 | 11 | 0 | 3 | .324 | 0 |
Pitching[]
Starting pitchers[]
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rolando Arrojo | 32 | 202.0 | 14 | 12 | 3.56 | 152 |
Tony Saunders | 31 | 192.1 | 6 | 15 | 4.12 | 172 |
Wilson Alvarez | 25 | 142.2 | 6 | 14 | 4.73 | 107 |
Julio Santana | 32 | 140.1 | 5 | 6 | 4.23 | 60 |
Dennis Springer | 29 | 115.2 | 3 | 11 | 5.45 | 46 |
Bryan Rekar | 16 | 86.2 | 2 | 8 | 4.98 | 55 |
Relief pitchers[]
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | Sv |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scott Aldred | 48 | 31.1 | 0 | 0 | 3.73 | 21 | 0 |
Dan Carlson | 10 | 17.2 | 0 | 0 | 7.64 | 16 | 0 |
Mike Duvall | 3 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 1 | 0 |
Eddie Gaillard | 6 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 5.87 | 5 | 0 |
Roberto Hernandez | 67 | 71.1 | 2 | 6 | 4.04 | 55 | 26 |
Albie Lopez | 54 | 79.2 | 7 | 4 | 2.60 | 62 | 1 |
Jim Mecir | 68 | 84.0 | 7 | 2 | 3.11 | 77 | 0 |
Brad Pennington | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | inf | 0 | 0 |
Matt Ruebel | 7 | 8.2 | 0 | 2 | 6.23 | 6 | 0 |
Ramon Tatis | 22 | 11.2 | 0 | 0 | 13.89 | 5 | 0 |
Rick White | 38 | 68.2 | 2 | 6 | 3.80 | 39 | 0 |
Esteban Yan | 64 | 88.2 | 5 | 4 | 3.86 | 77 | 1 |
Other pitchers[]
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | Sv |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dave Eiland | 1 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 20.25 | 1 | 0 |
Rick Gorecki | 3 | 16.2 | 1 | 2 | 4.86 | 8 | 0 |
Jason Johnson | 13 | 60.0 | 2 | 5 | 5.70 | 36 | 0 |
Terrell Wade | 2 | 10.2 | 1 | 1 | 5.06 | 8 | 0 |
Game log[]
Game Log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April (12-13)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May (12-16)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
June (10-17)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
July (9-16)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
August (10-20)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
September (10-16)
|
Awards and honors[]
1998 MLB All-Star Game selection:
- Rolando Arrojo, Pitcher
Team leaders[]
- Home runs – Fred McGriff (19)
- Runs batted in – Fred McGriff (81)
- Batting average – Aaron Ledesma (.324)
- Hits – Quinton McCracken (179)
- Stolen bases – Randy Winn (26)
- Walks – Fred McGriff (79)
- Wins – Rolando Arrojo (14)
- Strikeouts – Tony Saunders (172)
- Earned run average – Albie Lopez (2.60)
- Saves – Roberto Hernández (26)
Farm system[]
Level | Team | League | Manager |
---|---|---|---|
AAA | Durham Bulls | International League | Bill Evers |
A | St. Petersburg Devil Rays | Florida State League | Roy Silver |
A | Charleston RiverDogs | South Atlantic League | Greg Mahlberg |
A-Short Season | Hudson Valley Renegades | New York–Penn League | Charlie Montoyo |
Rookie | Princeton Devil Rays | Appalachian League | |
Rookie | GCL Devil Rays | Gulf Coast League | Bobby Ramos |
References[]
- ^ Luis Polonia Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 31, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Jason Standridge Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Kenny Kelly Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ "Mike Kelly Stats".
- ^ Wade Boggs Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ "Scott McClain Stats".
- ^ a b "Josias Manzanillo Stats".
- ^ "Dave Silvestri Stats".
- ^ a b "Jerome Walton Stats".
- ^ a b Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
- ^ "Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Devil Rays Box Score, March 31, 1998". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ "Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Devil Rays Box Score, April 1, 1998". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ "Box Score of Game played on Monday, June 22, 1998 at Tropicana Field".
- ^ Aubrey Huff Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ "1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ "1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Statistics".
- ^ "1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Minor League Affiliates".
- Tampa Bay on Baseball Reference
- 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Baseball Almanac
- Tampa Bay Devil Rays seasons
- Inaugural Major League Baseball seasons by team
- 1998 Major League Baseball season
- 1998 in sports in Florida