# 1998 Detroit Tigers season

The 1998 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 98th season and the 87th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in fifth place in their first season in the American League Central with a record of 65–97 (.401), 24 games behind the Cleveland Indians. The Tigers were outscored by their opponents 863 to 722. The Tigers drew 1,409,391 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1998, ranking 11th of the 14 teams in the American League.
The Tigers missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season, tying a record set between 1973–83. It was also the team's fifth consecutive losing season. Both streaks would last until 2006.

## Offseason

* November 11, 1997: Melvin Nieves was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Cincinnati Reds for Paul Bako and Donne Wall.
* November 18, 1997: Travis Fryman was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Gabe Alvarez, Joe Randa, and Matt Drews (minors).
* December 16, 1997: Billy Ripken was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.
* December 22, 1997: Joe Oliver was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.
* March 25, 1998: Doug Bochtler was purchased by the Detroit Tigers from the Oakland Athletics.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cleveland Indians | 89 | 73 | .549 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 80 | 82 | .494 | 9 | 44‍–‍37 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 72 | 89 | .447 | 16½ | 29‍–‍51 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Minnesota Twins | 70 | 92 | .432 | 19 | 35‍–‍46 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Detroit Tigers | 65 | 97 | .401 | 24 | 32‍–‍49 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1998 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 5–6 | 6–5 | 5–6 | 4–7 | 8–3 | 6–5 | 6–5 | 6–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–5 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 10–6 |
| Baltimore | 6–5 | — | 6–6 | 2–9 | 5–6 | 10–1 | 5–6 | 7–3 | 3–9 | 8–3 | 6–5 | 5–7 | 6–5 | 5–7 | 5–11 |
| Boston | 5–6 | 6–6 | — | 5–6 | 8–3 | 5–5 | 8–3 | 5–6 | 5–7 | 9–2 | 7–4 | 9–3 | 6–5 | 5–7 | 9–7 |
| Chicago | 6–5 | 9–2 | 6–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–7 | 4–7 | 4–7 | 5–6 | 5–6 | 4–6–1 | 7–9 |
| Cleveland | 7–4 | 6–5 | 3–8 | 6–6 | — | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–7 | 3–8 | 9–2 | 7–3 | 4–7 | 7–4 | 10–6 |
| Detroit | 3–8 | 1–10 | 5–5 | 6–6 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 3–8 | 7–4 | 3–8 | 5–6 | 3–8 | 5–6 | 7–9 |
| Kansas City | 5–6 | 6–5 | 3–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 0–10 | 7–4 | 4–6 | 8–3 | 3–8 | 6–5 | 9–7 |
| Minnesota | 5–6 | 3–7 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 4–7 | 4–7 | 2–9 | 7–4 | 7–4 | 4–7 | 7–9 |
| New York | 5–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 7–4 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 10–0 | 7–4 | — | 8–3 | 8–3 | 11–1 | 8–3 | 6–6 | 13–3 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 3–8 | 2–9 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 4–7 | 4–7 | 7–4 | 3–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 8–8 |
| Seattle | 3–9 | 5–6 | 4–7 | 7–4 | 2–9 | 8–3 | 6–4 | 9–2 | 3–8 | 7–5 | — | 6–5 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 7–9 |
| Tampa Bay | 5–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 6–5 | 3–7 | 6–5 | 3–8 | 4–7 | 1–11 | 6–5 | 5–6 | — | 4–7 | 5–7 | 5–11 |
| Texas | 7–5 | 5–6 | 5–6 | 6–5 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 8–3 | 4–7 | 3–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–4 | — | 7–4 | 8–8 |
| Toronto | 7–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–4–1 | 4–7 | 6–5 | 5–6 | 7–4 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 7–4 | 7–5 | 4–7 | — | 9–7 |

### Transactions

* July 16, 1998: Joe Oliver was released by the Detroit Tigers.
* July 20, 1998: Billy Ripken was released by the Detroit Tigers.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

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 |
| Bobby Higginson | 157 | 612 | 174 | .284 | 25 | 85 |
| Tony Clark | 157 | 602 | 175 | .291 | 34 | 103 |
| Brian L. Hunter | 142 | 595 | 151 | .254 | 4 | 36 |
| Damion Easley | 153 | 594 | 161 | .271 | 27 | 100 |
| Joe Randa | 138 | 560 | 117 | .254 | 9 | 50 |
| Luis Gonzalez | 154 | 547 | 146 | .267 | 23 | 71 |
| Deivi Cruz | 135 | 518 | 118 | .260 | 5 | 45 |
| Paul Bako | 96 | 305 | 83 | .272 | 3 | 30 |
| Gabe Alvarez | 58 | 286 | 46 | .231 | 5 | 29 |
| Frank Catalanotto | 89 | 213 | 60 | .282 | 6 | 25 |
| Gerónimo Berroa | 52 | 126 | 30 | .238 | 1 | 10 |
| Juan Encarnación | 40 | 164 | 54 | .329 | 7 | 21 |
| Joe Oliver | 50 | 155 | 35 | .226 | 4 | 22 |
| Bip Roberts | 34 | 113 | 28 | .248 | 0 | 9 |
| Kimera Bartee | 57 | 98 | 19 | .194 | 3 | 15 |
| Billy Ripken | 27 | 74 | 20 | .270 | 0 | 5 |
| Andy Tomberlin | 32 | 69 | 15 | .217 | 2 | 12 |
| Joe Siddall | 29 | 65 | 12 | .185 | 1 | 6 |
| Trey Beamon | 28 | 42 | 11 | .262 | 0 | 2 |
| Raul Casanova | 16 | 42 | 6 | .143 | 1 | 3 |
| Jeff Manto | 16 | 30 | 8 | .267 | 1 | 3 |
| Gabe Kapler | 7 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Wood | 10 | 23 | 8 | .348 | 1 | 1 |
| Robert Fick | 7 | 22 | 8 | .364 | 3 | 7 |
| Pete Incaviglia | 7 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 0 |
| Pitcher Totals | 162 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5664 | 1494 | .264 | 165 | 691 |
Note: Individual pitchers' batting statistics not included

### 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 |
| Justin Thompson | 34 | 222.0 | 11 | 15 | 4.05 | 149 |
| Seth Greisinger | 33 | 221.1 | 14 | 13 | 3.90 | 123 |
| Brian Moehler | 21 | 130.0 | 6 | 9 | 5.12 | 66 |
| Frank Castillo | 27 | 116.0 | 3 | 9 | 6.83 | 81 |
| Brian Powell | 18 | 83.2 | 3 | 8 | 6.35 | 46 |

### Relief and other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Bryce Florie | 42 | 133.0 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 4.80 | 97 |
| Doug Bochtler | 51 | 67.1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.15 | 45 |
| Todd Jones | 65 | 63.1 | 1 | 4 | 28 | 4.97 | 57 |
| Doug Brocail | 60 | 62.2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2.73 | 55 |
| Tim Worrell | 15 | 61.2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 5.98 | 47 |
| A. J. Sager | 31 | 59.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6.52 | 23 |
| Sean Runyan | 88 | 50.1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.58 | 39 |
| Dean Crow | 32 | 45.2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.94 | 18 |
| Matt Anderson | 42 | 44.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3.27 | 44 |
| Greg Keagle | 9 | 31.2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.59 | 25 |
| Roberto Durán | 18 | 15.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.87 | 12 |
| Denny Harriger | 4 | 12.0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.75 | 3 |
| Scott Sanders | 3 | 9.2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17.69 | 6 |
| Marino Santana | 7 | 7.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.68 | 10 |
| Will Brunson | 8 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
| Team Pitching Totals | 162 | 1446.1 | 65 | 97 | 32 | 4.93 | 947 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Gene Roof |
| AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Dave Anderson |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Mark Meleski |
| A | West Michigan Whitecaps | Midwest League | Bruce Fields |
| A-Short Season | Jamestown Jammers | New York–Penn League | Tim Torricelli |
| Rookie | GCL Tigers | Gulf Coast League | Kevin Bradshaw |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: West Michigan