The 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 109th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 41st season in Los Angeles, California. It was the first season since the sale of the franchise from Peter O'Malley to the Fox Entertainment Group took effect. The new corporate executives would quickly anger Dodger fans when they bypassed General Manager Fred Claire and made one of the biggest trades in franchise history. They traded All-Star catcher Mike Piazza and starting third baseman Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins for a package that included Gary Sheffield.

The team on the field performed poorly under all the stress and soon Fox fired Claire and manager Bill Russell, replacing them with former Manager Tommy Lasorda, who was appointed interim GM and Minor League manager Glenn Hoffman who took over for Russell. The team limped along to finish in third place in the National League West and more changes were in the offing for the following season.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup +Opening Day startersName Position Eric Young Second basemanJosé Vizcaíno ShortstopMike PiazzaCatcherTodd ZeileThird basemanRaúl Mondesí Right fielderPaul Konerko First basemanTodd Hollandsworth Left fielderTrenidad Hubbard Center fielderRamón Martínez Starting pitcher

Notable transactions May 15, 1998: Acquired Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson, Gary Sheffield and Manuel Barrios from the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile June 4, 1998: Acquired Dave Mlicki and Greg McMichael from the New York Mets for Hideo Nomo and Brad Clontz July 4, 1998: Acquired Jeff Shaw from the Cincinnati Reds for Paul Konerko and Dennys Reyes July 10, 1998: Acquired Brian Bohanon from the New York Mets for Greg McMichael July 23, 1998: Acquired Widd Workman from the San Diego Padres for Jim Bruske July 31, 1998: Acquired Mark Grudzielanek, Carlos Perez and Hiram Bocachica from the Montreal Expos for Wilton Guerrero, Ted Lilly, Peter Bergeron and Jonathan Tucker

Roster

1998 Los Angeles Dodgers Roster Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (third base) (bullpen) (pitching) (hitting) (pitching)

(bench) (1st base) (hitting/1st base)

Starting Pitchers stats Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games Name G GS IP W/L ERA BB SO CG Chan Ho Park 34 34 220.2 15-9 3.71 97 191 2 Darren Dreifort 32 26 180.0 8-12 4.0057 168 1 Ismael Valdez 27 27 174.0 11-10 3.98 66 122 2 Dave Mlicki 20 20 124.1 7-3 4.05 38 782 Ramón Martínez 15 15 101.2 7-3 2.83 41 91 1 Brian Bohanon 14 14 97.1 5-7 2.40 36 722 Carlos Perez 11 11 77.2 4-4 3.24 30 46 4 Hideo Nomo 12 12 67.2 2-7 5.05 38 732

Relief Pitchers stats Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves Name G GS IP W/L ERA BB SO SV Jeff Shaw 34 0 35.1 1-4 2.55 7 26 25 Scott Radinsky 62 0 61.2 6-6 2.63 204513 Antonio Osuna 54 0 64.2 7-1 3.06 32 72 6 Mark Guthrie 53 0 54.0 2-1 3.50 24 45 0 Jim Bruske 35 0 44.0 3-0 3.48 19 31 1 Dennys Reyes 11 3 28.2 0-4 4.71 20 33 0 Brad Clontz 18 0 20.2 2-0 5.66 10 140 Frank Lankford 12 0 19.2 0-2 5.95 7 7 1 Greg McMichael 12 0 14.1 0-1 4.40 6 11 1 Sean Maloney 11 0 12.2 0-1 4.97 5 110 Mike Judd 7 0 11.1 0-0 15.09 9 140 Darren Hall 11 0 11.1 0-3 10.32 5 80 Eric Weaver 7 0 9.2 2-0 0.93 6 50 Jeff Kubenka 6 0 9.1 1-0 0.96 8 100 Gary Rath 3 0 3.1 0-0 10.80 2 40 Will Brunson 2 0 2.1 0-1 11.57 2 10 Manuel Barrios 1 0 1.0 0-0 0.00 2 00

Batting Stats Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; Avg. = Batting average; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases Name Pos G AB Avg. R H HR RBI SB Charles Johnson C 102 346 .217 31 75 12 35 3 Mike Piazza C 37 149 .282 20 42 9 30 0 Tom Prince C 37 81 .185 7 115 0 5 0 Paul Lo Duca C 6 14 .286 2 4 0 1 0 Ángel Peña C 6 13 .231 1 3 0 00 Eric Karros 1B 139 507 .296 59 150 23 87 7 Eric Young 2B 117 452 .285 78129 8 43 42 José Vizcaíno SS 67 237 .262 30 62 3 297 Adrián Beltré 3B/SS 77 195 .215 18 427 22 3 Bobby Bonilla 3B/LF 72 236.237 28 56 7 30 1 Juan Castro 2B/SS 89 220.195 25 43 2 140 Mark Grudzielanek SS 51 193 .264 1151 2 21 7 Wilton Guerrero 2B/SS/LF/CF 64 180.283 21 51 0 7 5 Todd Zeile 3B/1B 40 158 .253 22 40 7 271 Paul Konerko 1B/3B/LF 49 144 .215 14 31 0 20 Alex Cora SS/2B 29 33 .121 1 4 0 0 0 Tripp Cromer IF6 6 .167 1 11 1 10 Mike Metcalfe 2B 4 1 .000 0 0 0 02 Gary Sheffield RF 90 301 .316 52 95 16 57 18 Raúl Mondesí CF/RF 148 580 .279 85 162 30 90 16 Todd Hollandsworth LF/CF/RF 55 175 .269 23 47 3 20 4 Roger Cedeño LF/CF/RF 105 240 .242 33582 17 8 Trenidad Hubbard CF/LF/RF/3B 94 208 .298 29 62 7 18 9 Matt Luke LF/RF/1B 69 160 .213 24 34 9 23 2 Jim Eisenreich LF/1B/RF 75 127 .197 12 25 0 64 Thomas Howard CF/LF/RF 47 76 .184 9 14 2 41 Mike Devereaux CF/LF/RF 9 13 .308 0 4 0 10 Damon Hollins RF/LF 5 9 .222 1 2 0 20

1998 Awards 1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Gary Sheffield reserve Jeff Shaw reserve (selected as a member of the Cincinnati Reds but was traded to the Dodgers during the break and made his first appearance in a Dodger uniform in the All-Star Game) Gold Glove Award Charles Johnson NL Pitcher of the Month Chan Ho Park (July 1998) NL Player of the Week Mike Piazza (April 6–12) Mike Piazza (April 20–26) Raúl Mondesí (June 29 – July 5)

Farm system

Major League Baseball draft

The Dodgers selected 50 players in this draft. Of those, only four of them would eventually play Major League baseball.

The first round pick was outfielder Bubba Crosby from Rice University. He played nine games for the Dodgers before he was traded to the New York Yankees, where he was a part-time player for three seasons. He hit .216 in 205 games in the Majors.

This draft also included pitcher Scott Proctor (5th round) from Florida State University and catcher David Ross (7th round) from the University of Florida. Proctor was a relief pitcher in the Majors, who played in seven seasons (two for the Dodgers) and was 18-16 with a 4.78 ERA in 307 games (most prominently with the New York Yankees). Ross was primarily a backup catcher during his two decade career which began in 2002 and ended in 2016.

1998 draft picksRoundNamePositionSchoolSignedCareer spanHighest level 1Bubba CrosbyOFRice UniversityYes1998–2007MLB2Mike FischerRHPUniversity of South AlabamaYes1998–2002AA3Alex SantosRHPUniversity of MiamiNoDevil Rays-20002000–2006AAA4Eric RiggsSSUniversity of Central FloridaYes1998–2007 AAA5Scott ProctorRHPFlorida State UniversityYes1998–2013MLB6Ryan MoskauRHPUniversity of ArizonaYes1998–2001AA7David RossCUniversity of FloridaYes1998–2016MLB8Thomari Story-Harden1BEl Cerrito High SchoolYes1998–2006 A+9Joel WilliamsRHPYoncalla High SchoolYes1998–1999A-10Lance CaraccioliLHPUniversity of Louisiana at MonroeYes 1998–2005 AAA11Christian BridenbaughLHPCentral High SchoolYes 1998–2001 A+12J. K. TaylorRHPLouisa County High SchoolYes 1998 Rookie13C J ThomasOFMcLane High SchoolYes1998–2003 A+14Robb Gorr1B University of Southern CaliforniaYes 1998–2001 AAA15Paul AveryLHPPepperdine UniversityYes 1998–2002 A+16Jim GoelzSSNew York City College of TechnologyYes 1998–2006 AAA17Alex PiedraRHPMiami Southern High SchoolYes1998–1999Rookie18Tony RichardsC North Dakota State UniversityNo1999–2009 Ind19Jeremiah MeccageRHPUniversity of IowaNo 20Tim HarrellRHPLiberty UniversityYes1998–2002 AA21Jacob SampsonSSCurtis High SchoolYes1998–2000A-22Tony GomesRHPSan Joaquin Delta CollegeYes1998–2003 AA23Jason MoodyLHPSpartanburg Methodist CollegeYes1998–2012A-24Allen DavisLHP Northwestern State University of LouisianaYes1998–2007AAA25Scott BarnsbyRHP University of Massachusetts AmherstYes1998–1999 A+26Matt GreerC Louisiana Tech UniversityYes1998A-27Nick Theodorou2B University of California, Los AngelesYes1998–2005 AAA28Corry ParrottOF Pasadena City CollegeNoBrewers-20012001Rookie29David BaumLHP Martin County High SchoolNoPirates-2000 2000 A-30Lloyd TurnerSS Hephzibah High SchoolNoAthletics-2002 2002–2012 AAA31Paul BrownLHP Citrus CollegeNoReds-19991999–2000 A32Darren HealCIndian River Community CollegeNo Blue Jays-2001 2001 Rookie33Herman DeanOF Monrovia High SchoolNoTigers-2001 2001–2003 A34Carlos ClaudioSS Ora Wilma High SchoolNo 35Rashad ParkerSS Crossroads School for Arts & SciencesNo Mets-2002 2002–2004 A+36Curt BorlandRHP Centaurus High SchoolNo 37Joshua McMillenOF West Virginia UniversityNo Blue Jays-1998 1998–2001 AAA38Joshua BerndtLHP Oshkosh West High SchoolNo 39Marc-Andre LagaceLHP Louis Riel High SchoolNo 40Clint HosfordRHP Carson Graham High SchoolYes 1999–2006 A+41Douglas Vandecaveye3B Tilbury District High SchoolNo 42Jahseam GeorgeLHP College of the SequoiasNo Indians-2002 2002 A-43Jorge RomanRHP José de Diego High SchoolNo -44Edward HartC Grayson County High SchoolNo 45Brandon Smith1B Cypress CollegeNo 46Steve AndradeRHP American River High SchoolNo Angels-2001 2001–2009 MLB47Henry ArochoOF Benito Cerezo High SchoolNo 48Chad MerchandRHP Lethbridge High SchoolNo 49Wayne Stone3B A. B. Miller High SchoolNo 50Blake McGinleyLHP Bakersfield High SchoolNoMets-2001 2001–2007 AAA 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft

References

External links 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform Los Angeles Dodgers official web site Baseball-Reference season page Baseball Almanac season page