1998 Minnesota Twins season

Like many Twins teams of its half-decade, the 1998 Minnesota Twins neither impressed nor contended. The team finished with a 70-92 record, with subpar batting and pitching. The season was not without its bright spots, as individual players had solid seasons and Hall of Fame designated hitter Paul Molitor announced his retirement at the end of the season. Tom Kelly's team had plenty of lowlights, most notably David Wells' perfect game against the team on May 17 at Yankee Stadium.

1998 Minnesota Twins
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Carl Pohlad
General manager(s)Terry Ryan
Manager(s)Tom Kelly
Local televisionKMSP-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Bert Blyleven, Dick Bremer, Ryan Lefebvre)
Local radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Ryan Lefebvre)
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Regular season

Offense

In 1998, Twins fans witnessed the emergence of Matt Lawton and Todd Walker as major league hitters. The team believed Walker would be able to fill the void left after the trade of Chuck Knoblauch, who had been traded to the New York Yankees on February 6. Fans also saw the merciful end to Twins' Scott Stahoviak era. Otis Nixon had a surprising year for a 39-year-old, hitting .297 and stealing 37 bases (leading the team). Molitor's hitting continued its gradual decline from his stellar 1996 campaign, with his average down to .281 and RBIs down to 69. These numbers were still competent and he was able to retire while playing solid baseball.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
HRMatt Lawton21
RBIMatt Lawton77
BATodd Walker.316
RunsMatt Lawton91

Pitching

Bob Tewksbury was the opening day starter for the Twins, the last opening day starter not named Brad Radke until 2006. Tewksbury, Radke, LaTroy Hawkins, and rookie Eric Milton (acquired in the Knoblauch trade) were in the rotation for most of the year. Mike Morgan and Frank Rodriguez also started 17 and 11 games, respectively. While Morgan had an impressive year for a forty-year-old journeyman before being traded in August, Rodriguez's season was a major disappointment. In his last year for the Twins, Rodriguez went 4-6 with an ERA of 6.56. This could not have been what the team had in mind when it acquired him for Rick Aguilera in 1995.

Subsequent to that trade, the Twins reacquired Aguilera, and he served as the teams' closer in 1998, earning a respectable 38 saves. Also in the bullpen, Eddie Guardado, Mike Trombley, Héctor Carrasco, and Greg Swindell had competent seasons.

Team Leaders
StatisticPlayerQuantity
ERABrad Radke4.30
WinsBrad Radke12
SavesRick Aguilera38
StrikeoutsBrad Radke146

Defense

In his penultimate year as a major league catcher, Minnesota native Terry Steinbach, then 36, had a mediocre season, with Javier Valentín as his backup. David Ortiz was projected as the starting first baseman, but was hampered by injuries. Orlando Merced, Molitor, and Stahoviak saw time at the position in Ortiz's absence. Walker played second, while Ron Coomer saw a majority of the time at third. Pat Meares was the starting shortstop, but was unceremoniously dumped by the team following the season. The outfield consisted of a declining Marty Cordova, Nixon, and Lawton.

Season standings
AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 8973 0.549 — 46–35 43–38
Chicago White Sox 8082 0.494 9 44–37 36–45
Kansas City Royals 7289 0.447 16½ 29–51 43–38
Minnesota Twins 7092 0.432 19 35–46 35–46
Detroit Tigers 6597 0.401 24 32–49 33–48

Record vs. opponents
1998 American League Records

Sources:
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim —5–66–55–64–78–36–56–56–55–79–36–55–74–710–6
Baltimore 6–5—6–62–95–610–15–67–33–98–36–55–76–55–75–11
Boston 5–66–6—5–68–35–58–35–65–79–27–49–36–55–79–7
Chicago 6–59–26–5—6–66–68–46–64–74–74–75–65–64–6–17–9
Cleveland 7–46–53–86–6—9–38–46–64–73–89–27–34–77–410–6
Detroit 3–81–105–56–63–9—6–68–43–87–43–85–63–85–67–9
Kansas City 5–66–53–84–84–86–6—7–50–107–44–68–33–86–59–7
Minnesota 5–63–76–56–66–64–85–7—4–74–72–97–47–44–77–9
New York 5–69–37–57–47–48–310–07–4—8–38–311–18–36–613–3
Oakland 7–53–82–97–48–34–74–77–43–8—5–75–66–65–68–8
Seattle 3–95–64–77–42–98–36–49–23–87–5—6–55–74–77–9
Tampa Bay 5–67–53–96–53–76–53–84–71–116–55–6—4–75–75–11
Texas 7–55–65–66–57–48–38–34–73–86–67–57–4—7–48–8
Toronto 7–47–57–56–4–14–76–55–67–46–66–57–47–54–7—9–7

Roster
1998 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Notable transactions

Miscellaneous
  • In February, Paul Molitor received the 1997 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award recognizing his exemplary contributions in both community and philanthropy. Molitor is the third Twin to receive the award, following Harmon Killebrew (1971) and Kent Hrbek (1991).
  • The lone representative of the Twins in the All-Star Game was pitcher Brad Radke.
  • After a 9-for-10 weekend (July 24–26) at the Dome, Todd Walker raised his batting 18 points to take the league lead at .352. He singled in his first July 28 at-bat in Kansas City to tie club records for consecutive hits (9) and consecutive times on base (11). With a chance to set new records, he struck out looking in the fourth inning.
  • The highest paid Twin in 1998 was Paul Molitor at $4,250,000; followed by Terry Steinbach at $2,850,000.
  • Molitor also received the 1998 Branch Rickey Award, given annually to an individual in Major League Baseball (MLB) in recognition of his exceptional community service. Kirby Puckett, in 1993, is the only other Twin to receive this award.

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
CTerry Steinbach124422451021454.242.4100
1BDavid Ortiz862784777946.277.4461
2BTodd Walker143528851671262.316.47319
3BRon Coomer137529541461572.276.4062
SSPat Meares14954356141970.260.3687
LFMarty Cordova119438521111069.253.3773
CFOtis Nixon11044871133120.297.34437
RFMatt Lawton152557911552177.278.47816
DHPaul Molitor12650275141469.281.3829

[3]

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

Other post-season awards
  • Calvin R. Griffith Award (Most Valuable Twin) – Matt Lawton
  • Joseph W. Haynes Award (Twins Pitcher of the Year) – Mike Trombley
  • Bill Boni Award (Twins Outstanding Rookie) – Eric Milton
  • Charles O. Johnson Award (Most Improved Twin) – Todd Walker
  • Dick Siebert Award (Upper Midwest Player of the Year) – Rick Helling
    • The above awards are voted on by the Twin Cities chapter of the BBWAA
  • Carl R. Pohlad Award (Outstanding Community Service) – Terry Steinbach
  • Sherry Robertson Award (Twins Outstanding Farm System Player) – Doug Mientkiewicz

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Salt Lake Buzz Pacific Coast League Phil Roof
AA New Britain Rock Cats Eastern League John Russell
A Fort Myers Miracle Florida State League Mike Boulanger
A Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League Jose Marzan
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Jon Mathews
Rookie GCL Twins Gulf Coast League Steve Liddle

[4]

References
  1. "Doug Linton Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. Greg Swindell Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. "1998 Seattle Mariners Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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