1998 Women's Pro Fastpitch season
The 1998 Women's Pro Fastpitch season was the second season of professional softball for the Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF). The 66-game season was divided into two-halves, with the winner of each half meeting in a championship series.[1][2]
1998 WPF Season | |
---|---|
League | Women's Pro Fastpitch |
Sport | softball |
Duration | May 29, 1998 - September 5, 1998 |
Number of teams | 6 |
TV partner(s) | ESPN2 |
1998 WPF Draft | |
Top draft pick | Cal Poly-SLO |
Picked by | |
Regular Season | |
Regular Season Champions | 1st Half: 2nd Half: Orlando Wahoos |
Season MVP | Crystl Bustos Orlando Wahoos |
WPF Championship | |
Champions | Orlando Wahoos |
Runners-up | |
Finals MVP | Orlando Wahoos |
Teams, cities and stadiums[]
Team | City | Stadium |
---|---|---|
Gastonia, North Carolina | Sims Legion Park[3] | |
Durham, North Carolina | Durham Athletic Park[4] | |
Columbus, Georgia | [5] | |
Orlando Wahoos | Winter Park, Florida | Alfond Stadium at Rollins College[6] |
Tampa, Florida | Red McEwen Field [7] | |
Hampton, Virginia | War Memorial Stadium[8] |
Milestones and Events[]
Two WPF teams announced that they would play their games in different stadiums during the 1998 season: the moved to Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina, and the Georgia Pride announced that they would play their home games at in Columbus, Georgia.
Changes for 1998 included a revision of the playing rules (43-foot pitching distance, 60-foot base distances), an expanded national television schedule (eight games on ESPN2), and the league's first all-star game, to be played at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio on July 14.[9]
Player Acquisition[]
College Draft[]
The 10-round 1998 WPF Draft was held December 6, 1997 in Palm Springs, CA. selected pitcher of Cal Poly as the first overall pick.[1][10]
League standings[]
Source:[11]
Team | GP | W | L | Pct. | GB | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Orlando Wahoos | 66 | 42 | 24 | .626 | - | 2nd Half Champion |
66 | 36 | 30 | .545 | 6 | ||
65 | 34 | 31 | .523 | 7.5 | 1st Half Champion | |
63 | 31 | 32 | .492 | 9.5 | ||
66 | 27 | 39 | .409 | 15 | ||
64 | 25 | 39 | .391 | 16 |
WPF Championship Series[]
The 1998 WPF Championship Series was held at Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina September 4–5. The winners of each half of the season met in a best-of-three series to determine the champion.
1998 WPF Championship Series Orlando Wahoos defeat 2–0 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Game | Date | Score | Series (ORL-CAR) | ||||
1 | September 4 | Orlando Wahoos 8, 0 | 1–0 | ||||
2 | September 5 | Orlando Wahoos 8, 2 | 2–0 |
1998 WPF Championship Series MVP | ||
---|---|---|
Player | Club | |
Orlando Wahoos |
Annual awards[]
Award | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
Most Valuable Player | Crystl Bustos | Orlando Wahoos |
Hitter of the Year | ||
Home Run Champions | ||
Crystl Bustos | Orlando Wahoos | |
Pitcher of the Year | Orlando Wahoos | |
Defensive Player of the Year | ||
Coach of the Year | Sharron Backus | Orlando Wahoos |
General Manager of the Year |
WPF All-Star Game[]
After the completion of the 1997 WPF season, the league circulated a questionnaire to players. At the suggestion of players on that questionnaire, the league scheduled an All-Star Game for the 1998 season.[13]
The game was played on July 14 in Akron, OH at Firestone Stadium, televised on July 20 on ESPN2. The game was contested by a "Stars" team that played a "Stripes" team. The Stars team included players from the Diamonds, Dragons and Roadsters, while the Stripes were composed of players from the Pride, FireStix and Wahoos.[14] The Stars beat the Stripes by an 8-1 score, in front of a crowd of 3,873.[15]
Following is an incomplete listing of the All-Star rosters:
1998 WPF STARS All-STARS | ||
---|---|---|
Player | WPF Team | Position |
COACHES | ||
All-Star Head Coach |
1998 WPF STRIPES ALL-STARS | ||
---|---|---|
Player | WPF Team | Position |
[13] | P | |
[13] | C | |
Crystal Bustos[14] | Orlando Wahoos | |
[14] | ||
[14] | OF | |
COACHES | ||
All-Star Head Coach |
References[]
- ^ a b AC (15 August 2014). "Archive for the 'Women's Professional Softball League' Category". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ "1998 Women's Professional Fastpitch League Brochure". Box.com. 1 February 1998. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ "Directions to the Game". www.carolinadiamonds.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 1999. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ^ "Durham Dragon News". DurhamDragons.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 1998. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ "TWO SENIOR SOFTBALL PAYERS DRAFTED BY THE WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL SOFTBALL LEAGUE". Official Site of Mizzou Athletics. 8 December 1998. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ Shannon Rose (7 November 1998). "Orlando Wahoos Disband". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ Scott Massey (22 June 2000). "FireStix look for second league title". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ "Front Office". www.virginiaroadsters.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 1999. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ^ "WPSL History". ProSoftball.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 1999. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ "1998 Women's Professional Fastpitch Draft Selections". Box.com. 8 December 1998. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ a b c Steve Dimitry (31 December 2007). "Fast Pitch Softball History". Angelfire. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ a b Bruce Wolfe (September 1998). "Orlando Wahoos Win 2nd-Straight WPF Champion" (PDF). NFCA Fastpitch Delivery. p. 1. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ a b c Ken Berger (14 July 1998). "Women's Pro Fastpitch softball league to hold All-Star Game". Ocala Star-Banner. p. 9. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Lopez, Bustos, Parker in All-Star Game". LATimes.com. 3 July 1998. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ "NPF History". ProFastpitch.com. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
External links[]
See also[]
- Softball teams
- Softball in the United States
- 1998 in women's softball
- 1998 in American women's sports