1998 St. Louis Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals 1998 season was the team's 117th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 107th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 83-79 during the season and finished 3rd in the National League Central division.

Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's single season home run record this season by hitting 70 home runs.

Offseason

• December 5, 1997: Willie McGee was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.^[1]
• January 8, 1998: Kent Bottenfield was signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.^[2]
• March 30, 1998: Chip Hale was traded by the Anaheim Angels to the St. Louis Cardinals for Craig Shipley.^[3]

Regular season

• On May 8, 1998, Mark McGwire hit career home run number four-hundred in his four-thousand seven-hundred twenty-sixth at bat, which was faster than any other player in history.
• Facing Liván Hernández on May 16, 1998, McGwire hit his longest home run of the 1998 season, an estimated shot of five-hundred forty-five feet.
• Mark McGwire hit single season home run number fifty on August 20, 1998, becoming the first Major League ballplayer in history with three consecutive fifty plus home run seasons.

Opening Day Lineup

• Royce Clayton, SS
• Delino DeShields, 2B
• Gary Gaetti, 3B
• Ron Gant, OF
• Brian Jordan, OF
• Tom Lampkin, C
• Ray Lankford, OF
• Mark McGwire, 1B
• Todd Stottlemyre, P

Season standings

Notable Transactions

• June 2, 1998: J.D. Drew was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed July 3, 1998.^[4]
• April 14, 1998: David Bell was selected off waivers by the Cleveland Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals.^[5]
• July 31, 1998: Todd Stottlemyre was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Royce Clayton to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later, Darren Oliver, and Fernando Tatis. The Texas Rangers sent Mark Little (August 9, 1998) to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the trade.
• August 16, 1998: Tom Pagnozzi was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.^[6]

Scorecard for McGwire’s 70th

On September 27, 1998, McGwire had 68 Home Runs. After the game, McGwire set the new record with 70 Home Runs. In the third inning McGwire hit a home run off of Mike Thurman, and in the seventh inning, he got number 70 off of Carl Pavano. The ball was caught by Philip Ozersky.^[7] In January 1999, Todd McFarlane purchased Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from the 1998 season for a record $3 million.^[8]

September 27, Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In; Avg. = Batting Average; SB = Stolen Bases

^[9]

Other batters

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO. = Strikeouts; BB = Bases on Balls

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

McGwire’s 70

^[10]

Awards and honors

• Mark McGwire, Franchise Record, Most Home Runs in One Season (70)
• Mark McGwire, Major League Baseball Home Run Champion
• Mark McGwire, Major League record, Most home runs through July 31 (45)^[11]
• Mark McGwire, First player to hit 50 home runs in three straight seasons: 1996-1998 ^[12]
• Mark McGwire, Associated Press Athlete of the Year^[13]
• Mark McGwire, First Base, Silver Slugger Award
• Mark McGwire, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year

All-Star Game

• Mark McGwire, First Base, Starter

Farm system

^[14]

References

1. ^ Willie McGee Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
2. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/botteke01.shtml
3. ^ Chip Hale Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
4. ^ J.D. Drew Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
5. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bellda01.shtml
6. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pagnoto01.shtml
7. ^ Sports Illustrated, Volume 109, No. 2, July 14–21, 2008, p.122, Published by Time Inc.
8. ^ Spawn.Com >> Info >> Todd Mcfarlane
9. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1990.shtml
10. ^ Mark McGwire's Seventy Home Run Season by Baseball Almanac
11. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.260, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
12. ^ http://www.allsports.com/players/mark-mcgwire/
13. ^ Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)
14. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007

• 1998 St. Louis Cardinals
• 1998 St. Louis Cardinals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Mark McGwire’s 70 Home Runs on Baseball Almanac