1998 New York Mets Season
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1998 New York Mets Season
The 1998 New York Mets season was the 37th regular season for the Mets. Like the previous season, they finished the season with a record of 88–74. Despite placing 2nd in the National League East, the Mets fell one game short of playoff contention following a catastrophic collapse during the final week of the season. They were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium. Offseason *November 24, 1997: John Olerud was signed as a free agent with the New York Mets. *December 18, 1997: Dennis Cook was acquired from the Florida Marlins in exchange for Fletcher Bates and Scott Comer. *February 6, 1998: Al Leiter and Ralph Milliard were acquired from the Florida Marlins in exchange for A. J. Burnett, Jesus Sanchez, and Robert Stratton. Regular season Despite their collapse toward the end of the season, the 1998 season was notable for the Mets due in large part to the acquisition of All-Star catcher Mike Piazza. The Mets were in need of a catcher due to an inju ...
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National League East
The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National League (along with the American League) added two expansion teams and divided into two divisions, East and West effective for the 1969 season. The National League's geographical alignment was rather peculiar as its partitioning was really more north and south instead of east and west. Two teams in the Eastern Time Zone, the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, were in the same division as teams on the Pacific coast. This was due to the demands of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who refused to support expansion unless they were promised they would be kept together in the newly created East division. During the two-division era, from 1969 to 1993, the Phillies–Pirates rivalry, Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates toget ...
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WADO
WADO (1280 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned and operated by Uforia Audio Network, a subsidiary of Univision. It broadcasts a Spanish-language sports radio format. By day, WADO is powered at 50,000 watts, the maximum permitted for American AM stations. But to protect other stations on 1280 AM from interference, at night it reduces power to 7,200 watts. It uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array. The transmitter is on New Jersey Route 120 in Carlstadt, New Jersey. Programming WADO currently broadcasts all games of the New York Jets, and certain games for the New York Yankees, New York Knicks and New York Islanders. It previously aired the New York City FC soccer team. Sports *New York Jets and Monday Night Football from the National Football League - Spanish language play by play from Clemson Smith-Muñiz *New York Islanders from the National Hockey League - Spanish language play by play from Bruno Vain *New York Knicks f ...
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Preston Wilson
Preston James Richard Wilson (born July 19, 1974) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played all or parts of ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 to 2007 for the New York Mets, Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. He is both the nephew and stepson of former New York Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson. (Mookie married Wilson's mother after his brother fathered Wilson.) Professional career New York Mets At age 17, Wilson was drafted by the Mets out of Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School in the first round of the 1992 MLB draft. The ''Baseball America'' 1992 High School Player of the Year, Wilson was ranked among the top 100 prospects in baseball by the magazine four times between 1993 and 1998. He was known to be an aggressive hitter, according to scouts and media sources, based on his propensity to swing at the first pitch and his high strikeout rates.
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1998 Florida Marlins Season
The Florida Marlins' 1998 season was the sixth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in the National League. It would begin with the team attempting to defend their World Series Champion title, having won the title in 1997. Their manager was Jim Leyland. They played home games at Pro Player Stadium, and finished with a record of 54–108, the worst record in all of baseball. The team is notable for having arguably the biggest fire sale in sports history, auctioning off nearly all of their most notable players. The 1998 Marlins were the first defending World Series champions to finish last in their division and the first to lose 100 games. To make matters worse, the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who also finished last in their own division (the AL East), were nine games better than the Marlins, at 63-99. The Marlins won on opening day against the Chicago Cubs, but it would be the only time they were over .500 all season. They promptly lost 11 straight, the most cons ...
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Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn, which later became a borough of New York City, the team joined the NL in 1890 as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and assumed several different monikers thereafter before finally settling on the name Dodgers in 1932. From the 1940s through the mid-1950s, the Dodgers developed a fierce cross-town rivalry with the New York Yankees as the two clubs faced each other in the World Series seven times, with the Dodgers losing the first five matchups before defeating them to win the franchise's first title in 1955. It was also during this period that the Dodgers made history by breaking the baseball color line in 1947 with the debut of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues since 1884. Another major milestone was reache ...
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Todd Hundley
Todd Randolph Hundley (born May 27, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball catcher and outfielder. He was a two-time All-Star who played for 14 seasons with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs. Early life Hundley was born in Martinsville, Virginia and grew up in Illinois where his father, Randy, was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs. Hundley attended William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois, where he played on the school baseball and hockey teams. As a switch-hitting junior, he led his team in runs batted in and had a batting average of .357. Professional career The Mets selected Hundley in the second round of the 1987 MLB draft with the 39th overall pick. He was selected as a compensation pick from the Baltimore Orioles for signing Ray Knight. Hundley made his major league debut with the New York Mets on May 18, 1990 when he was 20 years old. He came up with great fanfare but did not hit very well in his first few years in the Major Leagues. Hund ...
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Mike Piazza
Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007. He currently serves as the manager of the Italian national baseball team. He played most notably for the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, while also having brief stints with the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres, and Oakland Athletics. A 12-time All-Star and 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner at catcher, Piazza produced strong offensive numbers at his position; in his career, he recorded 427 home runs—a record 396 of which were hit as catcher—along with a .308 batting average and 1,335 runs batted in (RBI). Piazza was drafted by the Dodgers in the 1988 MLB draft as a favor from Tommy Lasorda to Piazza's father. He was the last player selected and signed in his draft class to play in the Major Leagues. Initially a first baseman, Piazza converted to catcher in the minor leagues at Lasorda's suggest ...
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Ralph Milliard
Ralph Gregory Milliard (born 30 December 1973 in Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles) is a former Dutch baseball player and current baseball coach. Milliard represented the Netherlands at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he and his team placed fifth. Four years later at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens they placed sixth. Profile Milliard started playing baseball at age four in his native country Curaçao. When he was nine he moved with his family to Soest in The Netherlands where he played with the Knickerbockers club in the youth divisions. He was selected at age 14 to be part of the National youth team, the Cadetten. At age sixteen he moved to HCAW and played at the highest level, the Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse and developed into a talented short stop and second baseman. Professional career In 1992 he signed a contract with the Florida Marlins and played in total ten seasons as a professional from which three seasons were at the major league level. His strong p ...
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Al Leiter
Alois Terry Leiter (; born October 23, 1965) is an American former professional baseball player and current television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from to for the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins and New York Mets. A two-time National League (NL) All-Star player, Leiter pitched for three World Series winning teams and threw a no-hitter in 1996 during his tenure with the Marlins. In 2000, Leiter was named the recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. After his playing career, he worked as a television color commentator and baseball analyst for the YES Network and the MLB Network. Career Early career Leiter was raised in a baseball-oriented family; all five of his brothers played the game. A native of Berkeley Township, New Jersey, Leiter attended Central Regional High School, in the township's Bayville section. During one stretch in high school, he pitched consecutive no-hitters followed by ...
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Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franchise began play as an expansion team in the 1993 season as the Florida Marlins. The Marlins originally played home games at Joe Robbie Stadium, which they shared with the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins. In 2012, the team moved to LoanDepot Park (then known as Marlins Park), their first exclusive home and the first to be designed as a baseball park. As part of an agreement with park owner Miami-Dade County to use the stadium, the franchise also changed their name to the Miami Marlins prior to the 2012 season. The Marlins have qualified for the postseason only three times, but won the World Series during their first two runs in 1997 and 2003. All three of their playoff appearances came as wild card teams, making them on ...
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Dennis Cook
Dennis Bryan Cook (born October 4, 1962) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the San Francisco Giants (–), Philadelphia Phillies (1989–, ), Los Angeles Dodgers (1990–), Cleveland Indians (–, ), Chicago White Sox (), Texas Rangers (1995–), Florida Marlins (), New York Mets (–2001), and Anaheim Angels (). He made his big league debut on September 12, 1988, and played his final game on September 18, 2002. Cook graduated from Dickinson High School in 1981. In college Cook was named to the All-Southwest Conference Team as an outfielder at the University of Texas in both 1984 and 1985. Cook was a member of the 1997 World Champion Marlins, pitching in the World Series and was the winning pitcher in relief in Game 3. Although not on the postseason roster, Cook was a member of the 2002 Angels team that won the World Series, defeating the Giants. Although a pitcher, Cook was also a good hitter and he is number ...
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John Olerud
John Garrett Olerud, Jr. (; born August 5, 1968), nicknamed "Johnny O", is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays team that won two consecutive World Series championships in and . He also played for the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. A two-time All-Star, Olerud was a patient, productive hitter throughout his career, winning the American League batting title in 1993, and finishing as runner-up for the National League batting title in 1998. Olerud was also an excellent defensive first baseman, and won three Gold Glove Awards. In 1999, he appeared on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' titled "The Best Infield Ever?" along with Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordóñez, and Robin Ventura, when he played for the Mets. Olerud was notable for wearing a helmet while on defense, due to him suffering from a brain aneurysm in ...
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