# 1998 Kansas City Royals season

The 1998 Kansas City Royals season was the 30th season for the franchise, and their 26th at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals finished third in the American League Central with a record of 72 wins and 89 losses and missed the postseason for the 13th consecutive season.

## Offseason

* November 18, 1997: Yamil Benitez was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Kansas City Royals as the 19th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.
* January 20, 1998: Terry Pendleton was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* January 20, 1998: Lee Smith signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* March 17, 1998: Ernie Young was purchased by the Kansas City Royals from the Oakland Athletics.

## Regular season

Before the 1998 regular season began, two new teams—the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays—were added by Major League Baseball. This resulted in the American League and National League having fifteen teams. However, in order for MLB officials to continue primarily intraleague play, both leagues would need to carry a number of teams that was divisible by two, so the decision was made to move one club from the AL Central to the NL Central.
This realignment was widely considered to have great financial benefit to the club moving. However, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Commissioner (then club owner) Bud Selig decided another team should have the first chance to switch leagues. The choice was offered to the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately decided to stay in the American League and bypassing the opportunity to build a full-time rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals. The choice then fell to the Brewers, who, on November 6, 1997, elected to move to the National League. Had the Brewers elected not to move to the National League, the Minnesota Twins would have been offered the opportunity to switch leagues.

### 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 |

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | Avg. | Slg. | SB |
| C | Mike Sweeney | 92 | 282 | 32 | 73 | 8 | 35 | .259 | .408 | 2 |
| 1B | Jeff King | 131 | 486 | 83 | 128 | 24 | 93 | .263 | .451 | 10 |
| 2B | José Offerman | 158 | 607 | 102 | 191 | 7 | 66 | .315 | .438 | 45 |
| 3B | Dean Palmer | 152 | 572 | 84 | 159 | 34 | 119 | .278 | .510 | 8 |
| SS | Mendy López | 74 | 206 | 18 | 50 | 1 | 15 | .243 | .325 | 5 |
| LF | Jeff Conine | 93 | 309 | 30 | 79 | 8 | 43 | .256 | .417 | 3 |
| CF | Johnny Damon | 161 | 642 | 104 | 178 | 18 | 66 | .277 | .439 | 26 |
| RF | Larry Sutton | 111 | 310 | 29 | 76 | 5 | 42 | .245 | .352 | 3 |
| DH | Terry Pendleton | 79 | 237 | 17 | 61 | 3 | 29 | .257 | .338 | 1 |

### Other batters

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 |
| Hal Morris | 127 | 472 | 146 | .309 | 1 | 40 |
| Larry Sutton | 111 | 310 | 76 | .245 | 5 | 42 |
| Sal Fasano | 74 | 216 | 49 | .227 | 8 | 31 |
| Shane Mack | 66 | 207 | 58 | .280 | 6 | 29 |
| Shane Halter | 86 | 204 | 45 | .221 | 2 | 13 |
| Luis Rivera | 42 | 89 | 22 | .247 | 0 | 7 |
| Félix Martínez | 34 | 85 | 11 | .129 | 0 | 5 |
| Jermaine Allensworth | 30 | 73 | 15 | .205 | 0 | 3 |
| Jeremy Giambi | 18 | 58 | 13 | .224 | 2 | 8 |
| Carlos Beltrán | 14 | 58 | 16 | .276 | 0 | 7 |
| Ernie Young | 25 | 53 | 10 | .189 | 1 | 3 |
| Scott Leius | 17 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 0 | 4 |
| Tim Spehr | 11 | 25 | 6 | .240 | 1 | 2 |
| Carlos Febles | 11 | 25 | 10 | .400 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris Hatcher | 8 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 1 |
| Mike Macfarlane | 3 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Turner | 4 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Vitiello | 3 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Héctor Ortiz | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jed Hansen | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dee Brown | 5 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Tim Belcher | 34 | 234.0 | 14 | 14 | 4.27 | 130 |
| Pat Rapp | 32 | 188.1 | 12 | 13 | 5.30 | 132 |
| José Rosado | 38 | 174.2 | 8 | 11 | 4.69 | 135 |
| Glendon Rusch | 29 | 154.2 | 6 | 15 | 5.88 | 94 |
| Brian Barber | 8 | 42.0 | 2 | 4 | 6.00 | 24 |
| Kevin Appier | 3 | 15.0 | 1 | 2 | 7.80 | 9 |

#### Other 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 |
| Hipólito Pichardo | 27 | 112.1 | 7 | 8 | 5.13 | 55 |
| Chris Haney | 33 | 97.1 | 6 | 6 | 7.03 | 51 |
| Jamie Walker | 6 | 17.1 | 0 | 1 | 9.87 | 15 |
| Jeff Suppan | 4 | 12.2 | 0 | 0 | 0.71 | 12 |

##### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Jeff Montgomery | 56 | 2 | 5 | 36 | 4.98 | 54 |
| Scott Service | 73 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3.48 | 95 |
| Matt Whisenant | 70 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4.90 | 45 |
| Jim Pittsley | 39 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.59 | 44 |
| Brian Bevil | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6.30 | 47 |
| Ricky Bones | 32 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.04 | 38 |
| Bart Evans | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 7 |
| Allen McDill | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.50 | 3 |
| Danny Rios | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.14 | 6 |
| Tim Byrdak | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 1 |
| José Santiago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 |
| Shane Halter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | Pacific Coast League | Ron Johnson |
| AA | Wichita Wranglers | Texas League | John Mizerock |
| A | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Carolina League | Darrell Evans, Kevin Long and Brian Poldberg |
| A | Lansing Lugnuts | Midwest League | Bob Herold |
| A-Short Season | Spokane Indians | Northwest League | Jeff Garber |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Andre David |