1998 Chicago Cubs season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago Cubs Chicago Cubs logo.svg 1998 National League Wild Card winners National League Central Wrigley Field Chicago 90–73 (.552) 2nd Tribune Company Ed Lynch Jim Riggleman WGN-TV/Superstation WGN/Chicagoland TV(Chip Caray, Steve Stone) WGN(Pat Hughes, Ron Santo) chc CHC The 1998 Chicago Cubs season was the 127th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 123rd in the National League and the 83rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished second in the National League Central with a record of 90–73. The season was a significant one for the team for several reasons. Firstly, it saw the Cubs reach the playoffs for the first time since 1989 by way of a Wild Card berth, which they clinched after winning a one-game playoff against the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs, however, would lose the NLDS in a 3–0 sweep by the Atlanta Braves. The season also saw Sammy Sosa, along with Mark McGwire, surpass the existing single-season home run record of 61. Sosa would hold the home run lead at several points over the course of the season, eventually finishing four homers behind McGwire (66 and 70 respectively). The 1998 season also saw the debut of Kerry Wood, who drew immediate national attention because of a 20-strikeout performance in his fifth career start, a 13–6 record over 26 starts, and more than 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Offseason Harry Caray On February 18, 1998, Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray died. Caray had the benefit of being in the booth during the NL East title run in 1984, when being a Cub fan became more popular to Chicagoans. His trademark call of "Holy Cow!" and his singing of "Take me out to the ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch made Caray a fan favorite both locally and, thanks to WGN's superstation status, on a national level as well. The Cubs still have a live singer, usually a celebrity, during the 7th inning stretch to honor Caray's memory to this day. Caray is also honored with a statue located at the corner of Sheffield and Addison streets, and during the 1998 season, a patch with Caray's caricature and Brickhouse's trademark "Hey Hey" were worn on the players sleeves to honor the passing of both commentators within a span of a few months. Harry's popularity also led to his grandson Chip Caray joining the broadcast team in winter of 1997, shortly before Harry's death. Notable transactions November 18, 1997: Brooks Kieschnick was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from the Chicago Cubs as the 64th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kiescbr01.shtml Brooks Kieschnick Stats Regular season May 6, 1998 – Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros tying the major league record and setting a new National League record. Wood accomplished this feat in only his fifth major league start. September 8, 1998 – Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel gave up Mark McGwire's 62nd home run of the season. The home run would break the record set by Roger Maris for most home runs in a season. September 13, 1998 – Sammy Sosa hits home runs number 61 and 62 tying McGwire in the home run race in the Cubs 11–10 win over Milwaukee. September 23, 1998 – In a tie with the New York Mets for the lead in the NL Wild Card standings with three games remaining, the Cubs held a 7–5 lead in the bottom of the 9th inning in a crucial game against the Milwaukee Brewers, but the Brewers had the bases loaded with two out. Closer Rod Beck delivered to Geoff Jenkins, and he hit an easy fly ball to left fielder Brant Brown. But Brown dropped the ball and it skipped past him. This error allowed three runs to score, including the winning run, and the Brewers pulled off an 8–7 victory. In the final game of the season, with the Cubs and Giants tied for the Wild Card lead, a Terry Mulholland throwing error cost the Cubs a victory against the Houston Astros, as San Francisco held an early lead in Colorado, and the team's playoff hopes were in jeopardy. However, a Neifi Pérez walk-off home run gave the Rockies a win and forced a one-game playoff at Wrigley Field. Notable transactions July 6, 1998: Glenallen Hill was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs from the Seattle Mariners.Glenallen Hill Statistics – Baseball-Reference.com August 3, 1998: Gary Gaetti was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs from the St. Louis Cardinals. Season standings Chicago Cubs Record vs. opponents CHC Roster 1998 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers 51 Terry Adams 47 Rod Beck 54 Mark Clark 44 Tony Fossas 31 Kevin Foster 30 Geremi González 44 Chris Haney 49 Félix Heredia 52 Matt Karchner 53 Kurt Miller 38 Mike Morgan 45 Terry Mulholland 59 Rodney Myers 35 Bob Patterson 41 Marc Pisciotta 56 Justin Speier 49 Kennie Steenstra 48 Dave Stevens 36 Kevin Tapani 44 Amaury Telemaco 46 Steve Trachsel 58 Ben Van Ryn 33 Don Wengert 34 Kerry Wood Catchers  7 Tyler Houston 8,15 Sandy Martínez  9 Scott Servais Infielders 24 Manny Alexander  4 Jeff Blauser 8,15 Gary Gaetti 17 Mark Grace 19 Jason Hardtke 18 José Hernández 50 Jason Maxwell 12 Mickey Morandini 11 José Nieves 15 Kevin Orie Outfielders 37 Brant Brown  6 Glenallen Hill  1 Lance Johnson 10 Terrell Lowery 25 Orlando Merced 20 Matt Mieske 40 Henry Rodríguez 21 Sammy Sosa 28 Pedro Valdés 25 Derrick White Manager  5 Jim Riggleman Coaches 43 Dave Bialas (bullpen) 39 Tom Gamboa (third base)  2 Jeff Pentland (hitting)  3 Dan Radison (first base) 27 Phil Regan (pitching) 26 Billy Williams (bench) Sammy Sosa's 66 home runs NumberDatePitcherLength1 April 4, 1998 Marc Valdes 371'2 04-11-1998 Anthony Telford 350'3 04-15-1998 Dennis Cook 430'4 04-23-1998 Dan Miceli 420'5 04-24-1998 Ismael Valdez 430'6 04-27-1998 Joey Hamilton 434'7 05-03-1998 Cliff Politte 370'8 05-16-1998 Scott Sullivan 441'9 05-22-1998 Greg Maddux 440'10 05-25-1998 Kevin Millwood 410'11 05-25-1998 Mike Cather 420'12 05-27-1998 Darrin Winston 460'13 05-27-1998 Wayne Gomes 400'14 06-01-1998 Ryan Dempster 430'15 06-01-1998 Oscar Henriquez 410'16 06-03-1998 Liván Hernández 370'17 06-05-1998 Jim Parque 370'18 06-06-1998 Carlos Castillo 410'19 06-07-1998 James Baldwin 380'20 06-08-1998 LaTroy Hawkins 340'21 06-13-1998 Mark Portugal 410'22 06-15-1998 Cal Eldred 420'23 06-15-1998 Cal Eldred 410'24 06-15-1998 Cal Eldred 415'25 06-17-1998 Bronswell Patrick 430'26 06-19-1998 Carlton Loewer 380'27 06-19-1998 Carlton Loewer 380'28 06-20-1998 Matt Beech 366'29 06-20-1998 Toby Borland 500'30 06-21-1998 Tyler Green 380'31 06-24-1998 Seth Greisinger 390'32 06-25-1998 Brian Moehler 400'33 06-30-1998 Alan Embree 364'34 07-09-1998 Jeff Juden 432'35 07-10-1998 Scott Karl 428'36 07-17-1998 Kirt Ojala 440'37 07-22-1998 Miguel Batista 365'38 07-26-1998 Rick Reed 420'39 07-27-1998 Willie Blair 347'40 07-27-1998 Alan Embree 438'41 07-28-1998 Bob Wolcott 390'42 07-31-1998 Jamey Wright 375'43 08-05-1998 Andy Benes 374'44 08-08-1998 Rich Croushore 400'45 08-10-1998 Russ Ortiz 361'46 08-10-1998 Chris Brock 480'47 08-16-1998 Sean Bergman 360'48 08-19-1998 Kent Bottenfield 368'49 08-21-1998 Orel Hershiser 430'50 08-23-1998 José Lima 440'51 08-23-1998 José Lima 380'52 08-26-1998 Brett Tomko 438'53 08-28-1998 John Thomson 414'54 08-30-1998 Darryl Kile 482'55 08-31-1998 Brett Tomko 364'56 09-02-1998 Jason Bere 363'57 09-04-1998 Jason Schmidt 374'58 09-05-1998 Sean Lawrence 417'59 09-11-1998 Bill Pulsipher 464'60 09-12-1998 Valerio de los Santos 430'61 09-13-1998 Bronswell Patrick 480'62 09-13-1998 Eric Plunk 480'63 09-16-1998 Brian Boehringer 434'64 09-23-1998 Rafael Roque 344'65 09-23-1998 Rod Henderson 410'66 09-25-1998 José Lima 462' Player stats Batting Starters by position 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 Scott Servais 113 325 72 .222 7 36 1B Mark Grace 158 595 184 .309 17 89 2B Mickey Morandini 154 582 172 .296 8 53 SS Jeff Blauser 119 361 79 .219 4 26 3B José Hernández 149 488 124 .254 23 75 LF Henry Rodríguez 128 415 104 .251 31 85 CF Lance Johnson 85 304 85 .280 2 21 RF Sammy Sosa 159 643 198 .308 66 158 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 Brant Brown 124 347 101 .291 14 48 Manny Alexander 108 264 60 .227 5 25 Tyler Houston 95 255 65 .255 9 33 Kevin Orie 64 204 37 .181 2 21 Glenallen Hill 48 131 46 .351 8 23 Gary Gaetti 37 128 41 .320 8 27 Matt Mieske 77 97 29 .299 1 12 Sandy Martínez 45 87 23 .264 0 7 Pedro Valdés 14 23 5 .217 0 2 Jason Hardtke 18 21 5 .238 0 2 Terrell Lowery 24 15 3 .200 0 1 Orlando Merced 12 10 3 .300 1 5 Derrick White Derrick White (baseball) 11 10 1 .100 1 2 Jason Maxwell 7 3 1 .333 1 2 José Nieves 2 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 Kevin Tapani 35 219.0 19 9 4.85 139 Mark Clark 33 213.2 9 14 4.84 161 Steve Trachsel 33 208.0 15 8 4.46 149 Kerry Wood 26 166.2 13 6 3.40 233 Geremi González 20 110.0 7 7 5.32 70 Mike Morgan 5 22.2 0 1 7.15 10 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 Don Wengert 21 49.2 1 5 5.07 41 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 Rod Beck 81 3 4 51 3.02 81 Terry Mulholland 70 6 5 3 2.89 72 Terry Adams Terry Adams (baseball) 63 7 7 1 4.33 73 Marc Pisciotta 43 1 2 0 4.09 31 Bob Patterson 33 1 1 1 7.52 17 Dave Stevens 31 1 2 0 4.74 31 Félix Heredia 30 3 0 0 4.08 16 Matt Karchner 29 3 1 0 5.14 22 Amaury Telemaco 14 1 1 0 3.90 18 Rodney Myers 12 0 0 0 7.00 15 Ben Van Ryn 9 0 0 0 3.38 6 Tony Fossas 8 0 0 0 9.00 6 Chris Haney 5 0 0 0 7.20 4 Kennie Steenstra 4 0 0 0 10.80 4 Kurt Miller 3 0 0 0 0.00 6 Kevin Foster 3 0 0 0 16.20 3 Justin Speier 1 0 0 0 13.50 2 Postseason Wild Card tie-breaker game 1998 National League Wild Card tie-breaker game One-game playoff to break tie in regular season standings Chicago Cubs 5, San Francisco Giants 3 (Wrigley Field) Division Series 1998 National League Division Series NL Division Series (Best of 5) Atlanta Braves 7, Chicago Cubs 1 (Turner Field) Atlanta Braves 2, Chicago Cubs 1 (Turner Field) Atlanta Braves 6, Chicago Cubs 2 (Wrigley Field) Braves win series 3–0 Awards and honors Sammy Sosa, National League Most Valuable Player Sammy Sosa, Outfield, Roberto Clemente Award Sammy Sosa, Franchise Record, Most Home Runs in One Season Sammy Sosa, National League Record, Fewest Triples in One Season with 600 or more At-Bats (0)Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.96, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 Kerry Wood, National League Rookie of the Year All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Iowa Cubs Pacific Coast League Terry Kennedy AA West Tenn Diamond Jaxx Southern League Dave Trembley A Daytona Cubs Florida State League Steve Roadcap A Rockford Cubbies Midwest League Rubén Amaro, Sr. A-Short Season Williamsport Cubs New York–Penn League Bobby Ralston Rookie AZL Cubs Arizona League Nate OliverJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 References External links 1998 Chicago Cubs at Baseball Reference 1998 Chicago Cubs on Baseball Almanac Category:Chicago Cubs seasons Chicago Cubs season Chicago Cubs Category:1998 in Chicago Category:National League Wild Card winner seasons