The

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

' 1998 season saw the A's finish with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. The campaign was the first of the

Billy Beane William Lamar Beane III (born March 29, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and current front office executive. He is the executive vice president of baseball operations and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics of Majo ...

era. While the Athletics finished a distant fourth in the

AL West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

, they improved upon the prior year's dismal output of 65-97. The strong play of

Jason Giambi Jason Gilbert Giambi (; born January 8, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, which began in 1995, Giambi played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yank ...

Matt Stairs Matthew Wade Stairs (born February 27, 1968) is a Canadian former professional baseball outfielder, first baseman, and designated hitter, who holds the record for most pinch-hit home runs in Major League Baseball (MLB) history with 23. His pinch ...

and

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

highlighted an otherwise forgettable campaign. Rogers' performance was particularly impressive; in arguably the finest season of his career, he won 16 games and posted a 3.17 earned run average (both were the best full-season marks by an Athletics starter since 1992). Additionally, the 1998 season marked

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

's fourth (and final) stint with the Athletics. Henderson, at the age of 39, stole a total 66 bases; this total lead the league in that category. Lastly, rookie

Ben Grieve Ben Grieve (born May 4, 1976) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He batted left and threw right. In his nine-season career, he played with the Oakland Athletics (–), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (–), Milwaukee Brewers (), and Chic ...

collected a Rookie of the Year (ROY) award for his solid debut season. The award was the Athletics' first since

Walt Weiss Walter William Weiss (born November 28, 1963) is an American former professional baseball shortstop and manager and current bench coach for the Atlanta Braves. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1987 through 2000 for the Oakland Athlet ...

received one in 1988. The Athletics posted a winning record in 1999. The organization, under Beane, would not post another losing season until

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Offseason

* October 29, 1997:

Dane Johnson Dane Edward Johnson (born February 10, 1963) is an American former professional baseball coach and former pitcher. He played parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics ...

was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. * November 7, 1997: The Athletics traded a player to be named later to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

for

and cash. The Athletics completed the deal by sending

Scott Brosius Scott David Brosius (born August 15, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman for the Oakland Athletics (–) and the New York Yankees (–). Early life Brosius grew up in Milwaukie, Oregon, where he attended Rex Pu ...

to the Yankees on November 18. * November 18, 1997:

Tony Batista Leocadio Francisco "Tony" Batista Hernandez (born December 9, 1973) is a Dominican former Major League Baseball infielder. He played in the major leagues from to and to , and with the SoftBank Hawks of the Japanese Pacific League in . Care ...

was drafted from the Athletics by the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

as the 27th pick in the

1997 MLB Expansion Draft On November 18, 1997, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft to allow two expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the National League West and American League ...

. * November 26, 1997:

David Newhan David Matthew Newhan (born September 7, 1973) is an American former professional baseball utility player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams during eight seasons. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. After serving ...

and

Don Wengert Donald Paul Wengert (born November 6, 1969) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, ...

were traded by the Athletics to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

for

Jorge Velandia Jorge Luis Velandia Macías (born January 12, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop. Playing career Velandia played with the San Diego Padres (1997), Oakland Athletics (1998–2000), New York Mets (2000–2003), Tampa Bay Devil Ra ...

and

Doug Bochtler Douglas Eugene Bochtler (born July 5, 1970) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995–2000. Amateur career Bochtler attended John I. Leonard High School in Lake Worth, Florida and graduated i ...

. * November 22, 1997:

Damon Berryhill Damon Scott Berryhill (born December 3, 1963) is an American former professional baseball catcher and former manager of the AAA Gwinnett Stripers. He played ten seasons for the Chicago Cubs, the Atlanta Braves, the Boston Red Sox, the Cincinnati R ...

was signed as a free agent by the Athletics. * December 4, 1997:

Mark Acre Mark Robert Acre (born September 16, 1968) is an American former professional baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the cour ...

was purchased from the Athletics by the

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

. * December 5, 1997:

Jack Voigt John David Voigt (born May 17, 1966) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and the current hitting coach for the Las Vegas 51s. He played all or part of seven seasons in the majors, from 1992 until 1998, for the Baltimore Oriole ...

was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Jack Voigt
at ''Baseball-Reference'' * December 16, 1997:

Mike Blowers Michael Roy Blowers (; born April 24, 1965) is a German-born American former Major League Baseball player, a third baseman and first baseman for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oakland Athletics. Since 2007 he h ...

was signed as a free agent by the Athletics. * December 22, 1997:

Izzy Molina Islay "Izzy" Molina (born June 3, 1971 in New York City, New York) is an American former professional baseball catcher for the Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). Molina is not related to the brothers Bengie ...

was signed as a free agent by the Athletics. * January 22, 1998:

was signed as a free agent by the Athletics. * March 9, 1998: Kevin Mitchell was signed as a free agent by the Athletics.Kevin Mitchell
at ''Baseball-Reference'' * March 17, 1998:

Ernie Young Ernest Wesley Young (born July 8, 1969) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current coach for the United States national baseball team. He played in parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five different ...

was purchased from the Athletics by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. * March 25, 1998: Doug Bochtler was purchased from the Athletics by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Regular season

Opening Day starters

*Rafael Bournigal *Tom Candiotti *Jason Giambi *Ben Grieve *Rickey Henderson *

A. J. Hinch Andrew Jay Hinch (born May 15, 1974) is an American professional baseball coach and former player who is the manager of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hinch played catcher for the Oakland Athletics (–), Kansas City Royals (� ...

*Dave Magadan *Jason McDonald *Scott Spiezio *Matt Stairs

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* June 2, 1998:

1998 Major League Baseball draft The 1998 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1998. A total of 1445 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

Mark Mulder Mark Alan Mulder (born August 5, 1977) is an American former professional baseball player. A left-handed starting pitcher, Mulder pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals. He is a two-time All-Sta ...

was drafted by the Athletics in the 1st round (2nd pick). Player signed October 9, 1998. **

Eric Byrnes Eric James Byrnes (born February 16, 1976), is a baseball analyst and former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Se ...

was drafted by the Athletics in the 8th round. Player signed June 12, 1998. * June 26, 1998:

Aaron Small Aaron James Small (born November 23, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Small played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. Regarded as a ...

was selected off waivers from the Athletics by the Arizona Diamondbacks. * August 7, 1998: Kevin Mitchell was released by the Athletics. * August 9, 1998:

was acquired from the Athletics by the Texas Rangers in a conditional deal.

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; Slg. =

Slugging average In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, a ...

; SB = Stolen bases''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Farm system

References

1998 Oakland Athletics team
at ''Baseball-Reference''
1998 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
* {{Oakland Athletics Oakland Athletics seasons Oakland Athletics season

Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...