# 1998 Florida Marlins season

The 1998 Florida Marlins 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 more embarrassing, their record that season was worst than both of that year's expansion teams, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks, who also finished last in their own divisions (the AL East and NL West respectively), were nine and eleven games better than the Marlins, at 63–99 and 65-97 respectively.
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 consecutive losses by a reigning champion. By the end of May, they were 17–38, 21 games under .500, and their season was all but over. The Marlins would finish 0–9 against three teams: Cincinnati, San Francisco, and Milwaukee. The 1998 Marlins are the most recent team to finish winless against three separate opponents.

## Offseason

* November 18, 1997: Devon White was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jesus Martinez (minors).
* December 15, 1997: Scott Podsednik was drafted by the Texas Rangers from the Florida Marlins in the 1997 rule 5 draft.
* December 15, 1997: Derrek Lee was traded by the San Diego Padres with Steve Hoff (minors) and Rafael Medina to the Florida Marlins for Kevin Brown.
* December 21, 1997: Kevin Millar was signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins.

## Regular season
### Opening Day starters

| 15 | Cliff Floyd | LF |
| 16 | Edgar Renteria | SS |
| 3 | Ryan Jackson | 1B |
| 10 | Gary Sheffield | RF |
| 7 | Mark Kotsay | CF |
| 23 | Charles Johnson | C |
| 30 | Craig Counsell | 2B |
| 2 | Josh Booty | 3B |
| 61 | Livan Hernandez | P |

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Atlanta Braves | 106 | 56 | .654 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 50‍–‍31 |
| New York Mets | 88 | 74 | .543 | 18 | 47‍–‍34 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 75 | 87 | .463 | 31 | 40‍–‍41 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Montreal Expos | 65 | 97 | .401 | 41 | 39‍–‍42 | 26‍–‍55 |
| Florida Marlins | 54 | 108 | .333 | 52 | 31‍–‍50 | 23‍–‍58 |

### Record vs. opponents

1998 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–2 | 4–5 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 5–8 |
| Atlanta | 8–1 | — | 3–6 | 7–2 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 7–2 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | 6–3 | — | 6–5 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 4–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 8–3 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 4–7 | 5–8 |
| Cincinnati | 5–4 | 2–7 | 5–6 | — | 4–5 | 9–0 | 3–8 | 5–4 | 6–5 | 8–1 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–7 | 1–11 | 2–7 | 8–3 | 7-6 |
| Colorado | 6–6 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 5–4 | — | 6–3 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 4–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 4–8 |
| Florida | 2–6 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 0–9 | 3–6 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 4–5 | 8–8 |
| Houston | 5–4 | 5–4 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 5–6 | 6-3 | — | 3–6 | 9–2 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 9–2 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 5–7 | 10–4 |
| Los Angeles | 8–4 | 1–8 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | — | 5–4 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 8–5 |
| Milwaukee | 3–6 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–4 | 9–0 | 2–9 | 4–5 | — | 6–3 | 1–8 | 4–5 | 6–5 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 3–8 | 8–6 |
| Montreal | 7–2 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 1–8 | 2–7 | 7–5 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 3–6 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 6–10 |
| New York | 5–4 | 3–9 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 5–3 | 8–1 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
| Philadelphia | 7-2 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 8–1 | 1–8 | 2–6 | 3–6 | 7–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–6 | 2–7 | 3–8 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 2–9 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 1–8 | — | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–5 | 6–7 |
| San Diego | 9–3 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 11–1 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–4 | 5–4 | 8–1 | 4–5 | — | 8–4 | 6–3 | 6–7 |
| San Francisco | 7–5 | 2–7 | 3–7 | 7–2 | 5–7 | 9–0 | 3–6 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 6–2 | 7–2 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 8–5 |
| St. Louis | 7–2 | 3–6 | 7–4 | 3–8 | 6–3 | 5-4 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 8–3 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 6–3 | 5–6 | 3–6 | 5–7 | — | 4–9 |

### Notable transactions

* April 15, 1998: Jacob Brumfield was signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins.

#### The Mike Piazza trades

* May 14, 1998: Mike Piazza was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins for Manuel Barrios, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson, and Gary Sheffield.
* May 22, 1998: Mike Piazza was traded by the Florida Marlins to the New York Mets for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz (minors).

### Citrus Series

The first interleague game between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took place at Tropicana Field. The rivalry would be known as the Citrus Series. The Marlins won the game in twelve innings by a score of 3–2 and would go on to win the season series 3 games to 1.
* June 22 - Marlins @ Devil Rays: 3 – 2
* June 23 - Marlins @ Devil Rays: 4 – 6
* June 24 - Marlins vs Devil Rays: 8 – 4
* June 25 - Marlins vs Devil Rays: 5 – 1

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | SB |
| C | Gregg Zaun | 106 | 298 | 19 | 56 | 5 | 29 | .188 | 5 |
| 1B | Derrek Lee | 141 | 454 | 62 | 106 | 17 | 74 | .233 | 5 |
| 2B | Craig Counsell | 107 | 335 | 43 | 84 | 4 | 40 | .251 | 3 |
| 3B | Todd Zeile | 66 | 234 | 37 | 68 | 6 | 39 | .291 | 2 |
| SS | Édgar Rentería | 133 | 517 | 79 | 146 | 3 | 31 | .282 | 41 |
| LF | Cliff Floyd | 153 | 588 | 85 | 166 | 22 | 90 | .282 | 27 |
| CF | Todd Dunwoody | 116 | 434 | 53 | 109 | 5 | 28 | .251 | 5 |
| RF | Mark Kotsay | 154 | 578 | 72 | 161 | 11 | 68 | .279 | 10 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | SB |
| Dave Berg | 81 | 182 | 18 | 57 | 2 | 21 | .313 | 3 |
| Bobby Bonilla | 28 | 97 | 11 | 27 | 4 | 15 | .278 | 0 |
| Josh Booty | 7 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .158 | 0 |
| John Cangelosi | 104 | 171 | 19 | 43 | 1 | 10 | .251 | 2 |
| Luis Castillo | 44 | 153 | 21 | 31 | 1 | 10 | .203 | 3 |
| Brian Daubach | 10 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .200 | 0 |
| Jim Eisenreich | 30 | 64 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 7 | .250 | 2 |
| Alex Gonzalez | 25 | 86 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 7 | .151 | 0 |
| Ryan Jackson | 111 | 260 | 26 | 65 | 5 | 31 | .250 | 1 |
| Charles Johnson | 31 | 113 | 13 | 25 | 7 | 23 | .221 | 0 |
| Randy Knorr | 15 | 49 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 11 | .204 | 0 |
| Kevin Millar | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 0 |
| Kevin Orie | 48 | 175 | 23 | 46 | 6 | 17 | .263 | 1 |
| Mike Piazza | 5 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | .278 | 0 |
| Mike Redmond | 37 | 118 | 10 | 39 | 2 | 12 | .331 | 0 |
| John Roskos | 10 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .100 | 0 |
| Gary Sheffield | 40 | 136 | 21 | 37 | 6 | 28 | .272 | 4 |
| John Wehner | 53 | 88 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 5 | .227 | 1 |
| Preston Wilson | 14 | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .065 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Liván Hernández | 33 | 234.1 | 10 | 12 | 4.72 | 162 |
| Brian Meadows | 31 | 174.1 | 11 | 13 | 5.21 | 88 |
| Jesús Sánchez | 35 | 173.0 | 7 | 9 | 4.47 | 137 |
| Andy Larkin | 17 | 74.2 | 3 | 8 | 9.64 | 43 |
| Rafael Medina | 12 | 67.1 | 2 | 6 | 6.01 | 49 |
| Joe Fontenot | 8 | 42.2 | 0 | 7 | 6.33 | 24 |
| Chris Hammond | 3 | 13.2 | 0 | 2 | 6.59 | 8 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | SV |
| Antonio Alfonseca | 58 | 70.2 | 4 | 6 | 4.08 | 46 | 8 |
| Vic Darensbourg | 59 | 71.0 | 0 | 7 | 3.68 | 74 | 1 |
| Brian Edmondson | 43 | 59.1 | 4 | 3 | 3.79 | 32 | 0 |
| Oscar Henriquez | 15 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 8.55 | 19 | 0 |
| Felix Heredia | 41 | 41.0 | 0 | 3 | 5.49 | 38 | 2 |
| Matt Mantei | 42 | 54.2 | 3 | 4 | 2.96 | 63 | 9 |
| Donn Pall | 23 | 33.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.13 | 26 | 0 |
| Jay Powell | 33 | 36.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.21 | 24 | 3 |
| Justin Speier | 18 | 19.1 | 0 | 3 | 8.38 | 15 | 0 |
| Rob Stanifer | 38 | 48.0 | 2 | 4 | 5.63 | 30 | 1 |
| Manuel Barrios | 2 | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 1 | 0 |
| Gabe Gonzalez | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 | 0 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | SV |
| Kirt Ojala | 41 | 125.0 | 2 | 7 | 4.25 | 75 | 0 |
| Ryan Dempster | 14 | 54.2 | 1 | 5 | 7.08 | 35 | 0 |
| Eric Ludwick | 13 | 32.2 | 1 | 4 | 7.44 | 27 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Charlotte Knights | International League | Fredi González |
| AA | Portland Sea Dogs | Eastern League | Lynn Jones |
| A | Brevard County Manatees | Florida State League | Rick Renteria |
| A | Kane County Cougars | Midwest League | Juan Bustabad |
| A-Short Season | Utica Blue Sox | New York–Penn League | Ken Joyce |
| Rookie | GCL Marlins | Gulf Coast League | Jon Deeble |