# 1898 Cleveland Spiders season

The 1898 Cleveland Spiders finished with an 81–68 record, good for fifth place in the National League. After the season, the team's owners, Frank and Stanley Robison, additionally purchased the St. Louis Browns from Chris von der Ahe. Claiming disappointment in attendance in Cleveland, they transferred many of the Spiders' better players to the St. Louis team, which they renamed the Perfectos. The Spiders would fold after the 1899 season.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 102 | 47 | .685 | — | 62‍–‍15 | 40‍–‍32 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 96 | 53 | .644 | 6 | 58‍–‍15 | 38‍–‍38 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 60 | .605 | 11½ | 58‍–‍28 | 34‍–‍32 |
| Chicago Orphans | 85 | 65 | .567 | 17½ | 58‍–‍31 | 27‍–‍34 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 81 | 68 | .544 | 21 | 36‍–‍19 | 45‍–‍49 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 78 | 71 | .523 | 24 | 49‍–‍31 | 29‍–‍40 |
| New York Giants | 77 | 73 | .513 | 25½ | 45‍–‍28 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 72 | 76 | .486 | 29½ | 39‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍41 |
| Louisville Colonels | 70 | 81 | .464 | 33 | 43‍–‍34 | 27‍–‍47 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 54 | 91 | .372 | 46 | 30‍–‍41 | 24‍–‍50 |
| Washington Senators | 51 | 101 | .336 | 52½ | 34‍–‍44 | 17‍–‍57 |
| St. Louis Browns | 39 | 111 | .260 | 63½ | 20‍–‍44 | 19‍–‍67 |

### Record vs. opponents

1898 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BLN | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | CLV | LOU | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | WHS |
| Baltimore | — | 5–7 | 8–5–1 | 9–5 | 8–6–1 | 8–6–1 | 9–5 | 10–3–1 | 10–3–1 | 10–4 | 12–2 | 7–7 |
| Boston | 7–5 | — | 11–2 | 9–5 | 9–4–1 | 6–7–1 | 8–6–1 | 10–4 | 10–4 | 9–5 | 12–2 | 11–3 |
| Brooklyn | 5–8–1 | 2–11 | — | 4–10 | 3–11 | 6–7 | 2–10–1 | 3–11 | 6–6 | 9–5–1 | 7–6–1 | 7–6 |
| Chicago | 5–9 | 5–9 | 10–4 | — | 6–8 | 7–7 | 9–5 | 9–5–1 | 6–7 | 7–4–1 | 10–4 | 11–3 |
| Cincinnati | 6–8–1 | 4–9–1 | 11–3 | 8–6 | — | 8–5–2 | 9–5 | 6–8–1 | 7–7 | 12–2 | 12–2 | 9–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–8–1 | 7–6–1 | 7–6 | 7–7 | 5–8–2 | — | 9–5 | 6–8 | 7–7 | 5–8 | 10–3–1 | 12–2–2 |
| Louisville | 5–9 | 6–8–1 | 10–2–1 | 5–9 | 5–9 | 5–9 | — | 6–8 | 4–10 | 4–9–1 | 10–4 | 10–4 |
| New York | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 11–3 | 5–9–1 | 8–6–1 | 8–6 | 8–6 | — | 6–7 | 5–9–1 | 10–3–2 | 9–4–1 |
| Philadelphia | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–7 | 7–7 | 10–4 | 7–6 | — | 6–8 | 9–5 | 12–2 |
| Pittsburgh | 4–10 | 5–9 | 5–9–1 | 4–7–1 | 2–12 | 8–5 | 9–4–1 | 9–5–1 | 8–6 | — | 9–4 | 9–5 |
| St. Louis | 2–12 | 2–12 | 6–7–1 | 4–10 | 2–12 | 3–10–1 | 4–10 | 3–10–2 | 5–9 | 4–9 | — | 4–10 |
| Washington | 7–7 | 3–11 | 6–7 | 3–11 | 5–9 | 2–12–2 | 4–10 | 4–9–1 | 2–12 | 5–9 | 10–4 | — |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Lou Criger | 84 | 287 | 80 | .279 | 1 | 32 |
| 1B | Patsy Tebeau | 131 | 477 | 123 | .258 | 1 | 63 |
| 2B | Cupid Childs | 110 | 413 | 119 | .288 | 1 | 31 |
| SS | Ed McKean | 151 | 604 | 172 | .285 | 9 | 94 |
| 3B | Bobby Wallace | 154 | 593 | 160 | .270 | 3 | 99 |
| OF | Jimmy McAleer | 106 | 366 | 87 | .238 | 0 | 48 |
| OF | Jesse Burkett | 150 | 624 | 213 | .341 | 0 | 42 |
| OF | Harry Blake | 136 | 474 | 116 | .245 | 0 | 58 |

#### 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 |
| Jack O'Connor | 131 | 478 | 119 | .249 | 1 | 56 |
| Emmet Heidrick | 19 | 76 | 23 | .303 | 0 | 8 |
| Louis Sockalexis | 21 | 67 | 15 | .224 | 0 | 10 |
| Chief Zimmer | 20 | 63 | 15 | .238 | 0 | 4 |
| Sport McAllister | 17 | 57 | 13 | .228 | 0 | 9 |
| Fred Frank | 17 | 53 | 11 | .208 | 0 | 3 |
| Jimmy Burke | 13 | 38 | 4 | .105 | 0 | 1 |
| Ossee Schrecongost | 10 | 35 | 11 | .314 | 0 | 10 |
| Ed Biecher | 8 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 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 |
| Cy Young | 46 | 377.2 | 25 | 13 | 2.53 | 101 |
| Jack Powell | 42 | 342.0 | 25 | 15 | 3.00 | 93 |
| Zeke Wilson | 33 | 254.2 | 13 | 18 | 3.60 | 45 |
| George Cuppy | 18 | 128.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.30 | 27 |
| Cowboy Jones | 9 | 72.0 | 4 | 4 | 3.00 | 26 |
| Sport McAllister | 9 | 65.1 | 3 | 4 | 4.55 | 9 |
| Chick Fraser | 6 | 42.0 | 2 | 3 | 5.57 | 19 |
| Frank Bates | 4 | 29.0 | 2 | 1 | 3.10 | 5 |
| Pete McBride | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.43 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| George Kelb | 3 | 16.1 | 0 | 1 | 4.41 | 8 |