1998 Arizona Diamondbacks season

1998 Arizona Diamondbacks
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1998)
Western Division (since 1998)
Location
BankOne Ballpark (since 1998)
Phoenix, Arizona (since 1998)
Other information
Owner(s)	Jerry Colangelo Ken Kendrick
General manager(s)	Joe Garagiola, Jr.
Manager(s)	Buck Showalter
Local television	FSN Arizona KTVK (3TV) (Thom Brennaman, Greg Schulte, Bob Brenly, Joe Garagiola, Al McCoy)
Local radio	KTAR (620 AM) (Thom Brennaman, Rod Allen, Greg Schulte) KSUN (Spanish) (Jose Tolentino, Ivan Lara)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks season was the Diamondbacks' inaugural season. They looked to contend in what was a strong National League Western Division. They finished the season 33 games behind the National League Champion San Diego Padres with a record of 65-97, last in the division. However, they would improve in 1999, finishing with a record of 100-62 and winning 35 games more than the previous year.

Jeff Suppan was the last player from the inaugural team still active in Major League Baseball (as of the 2012 season).

Offseason

• February 7, 1997: Mark Davis was signed as a Free Agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[1]
• August 14, 1997: Mark Davis was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers by the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a conditional deal.^[1]
• November 17, 1997: Jay Bell signed as a Free Agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[2]
• November 18, 1997: Devon White was traded by the Florida Marlins to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jesus Martinez (minors).^[3]
• November 18, 1997: Travis Fryman was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Gabe Alvarez, Joe Randa, and Matt Drews (minors).^[4]
• December 1, 1997: Matt Williams was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Travis Fryman, Tom Martin, and cash.^[5]
• January 8, 1998: Andy Stankiewicz signed as a Free Agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[6]
• January 11, 1998: Mark Davis was signed as a Free Agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[1]

Expansion Draft

Round 1

Pick	Player	Position	From	To
2	Brian Anderson	LHP	Cle	Ari
3	Jeff Suppan	RHP	Bos	Ari
5	Gabe Alvarez	3B	SD	Ari
7	Jorge Fábregas	C	CWS	Ari
9	Karim García	OF	LA	Ari
11	Edwin Diaz	IF	Tex	Ari
13	Cory Lidle	RHP	NYM	Ari
15	Joel Adamson	LHP	Mil	Ari
17	Ben Ford	RHP	NYY	Ari
19	Yamil Benitez	OF	KC	Ari
21	Neil Weber	LHP	Mon	Ari
23	Jason Boyd	RHP	Phi	Ari
25	Brent Brede	OF	Min	Ari
27	Tony Batista	IF	Oak	Ari

Round 2

Pick	Player	Position	From	To
29	Tom Martin	LHP	Hou	Ari
31	Omar Daal	LHP	Tor	Ari
33	Scott Winchester	RHP	Cin	Ari
35	Clint Sodowsky	RHP	Pit	Ari
37	Danny Klassen	IF	Mil	Ari
39	Matt Drews	RHP	Det	Ari
41	Todd Erdos	RHP	SD	Ari
43	Chris Clemons	RHP	CWS	Ari
45	David Dellucci	OF	Bal	Ari
47	Damian Miller	C	Min	Ari
49	Héctor Carrasco	RHP	KC	Ari
51	Hanley Frias	SS	Tex	Ari
53	Bob Wolcott	RHP	Sea	Ari
55	Mike Bell	3B	Ana	Ari

Round 3

Pick	Player	Position	From	To
57	Joe Randa	3B	Pit	Ari
59	Jesus Martinez	LHP	LA	Ari
61	Russ Springer	RHP	Hou	Ari
63	Bryan Corey	RHP	Det	Ari
65	Kelly Stinnett	C	Mil	Ari
67	Chuck McElroy	LHP	CWS	Ari
69	Marty Janzen	RHP	Tor	Ari

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Jay Bell
• Andy Benes
• Brent Brede
• Edwin Diaz
• Jorge Fábregas
• Karim García
• Travis Lee
• Devon White
• Matt Williams

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Diego Padres	98	64	0.605	—	54–27	44–37
San Francisco Giants	89	74	0.546	9½	49–32	40–42
Los Angeles Dodgers	83	79	0.512	15	48–33	35–46
Colorado Rockies	77	85	0.475	21	42–39	35–46
Arizona Diamondbacks	65	97	0.401	33	34–47	31–50

Record vs. opponents

1998 National League Records Sources:
Team	ARI	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MIL	MON	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

• June 23, 1998: Alan Embree was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Russ Springer.^[7]
• June 26, 1998: Aaron Small was selected off waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Oakland Athletics.^[8]

Roster

1998 Arizona Diamondbacks
Roster
Pitchers 38 Joel Adamson 34 Brian Anderson 46 Willie Banks 40 Andy Benes 19 Willie Blair 46 Scott Brow 57 Bobby Chouinard 49 Bryan Corey 37 Omar Daal 32 Alan Embree 50 Ben Ford 39 Barry Manuel 48 Chris Michalak 67 Vladimir Núñez 30 Gregg Olson 57 Ricky Pickett 47 Félix Rodríguez 31 Aaron Small 36 Clint Sodowsky 31 Russ Springer 20 Jeff Suppan 44 Amaury Telemaco 58 Efrain Valdez 66 Neil Weber 29 Bob Wolcott		Catchers 12 Jorge Fábregas 26 Damian Miller 35 Kelly Stinnett Infielders 10 Tony Batista 33 Jay Bell 41 Edwin Díaz  6 Andy Fox  2 Hanley Frias  7 Danny Klassen 16 Travis Lee  5 Andy Stankiewicz  9 Matt Williams		Outfielders 43 Yamil Benítez 15 Brent Brede 25 David Dellucci 24 Karim García 23 Bernard Gilkey 18 Chris Jones 29 Hensley Meulens 22 Devon White Other batters 51 Mike Robertson	Manager 11 Buck Showalter Coaches 55 Brian Butterfield (3rd Base) 52 Mark Connor (Pitching) 21 Dwayne Murphy (1st Base) 17 Jim Presley (Hitting) 53 Glenn Sherlock (Bullpen) 14 Carlos Tosca (Bench)

Game log

1998 Game Log (65–97)
April (7–18) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 1 March 31 Rockies 9-2 L D. Kile A. Benes 47,484 0-1 Loss 1 2 April 1 Rockies 6-0 L J. Thompson W. Blair 43,758 0-2 Loss 2 3 April 2 Rockies 6-4 L P. Astacio B. Anderson 42,876 0-3 Loss 3 4 April 3 Giants 8-3 L M. Gardner J. Suppan 45,590 0-4 Loss 4 5 April 4 Giants 5-3 L D. Darwin G. Olson 47,047 0-5 Loss 5 6 April 5 Giants 3-2 W A. Benes S. Estes 47,593 1-5 Win 1 7 April 7 @Dodgers 9-1 L C. Park W. Blair 52,424 1-6 Loss 1 8 April 8 @Dodgers 3-0 W B. Anderson H. Nomo 37,016 2-6 Win 1 9 April 9 @Dodgers 7-2 L I. Valdez J. Suppan 39,541 2-7 Loss 1 10 April 10 @Padres 6-4 L D. Mecili F. Rodriguez 27,246 2-8 Loss 2 11 April 11 @Padres 7-0 L P. Smith J. Adamson 37,753 2-9 Loss 3 12 April 12 @Padres 4-2 L J. Hamilton W. Blair 26,217 2-10 Loss 4 13 April 13 @Padres 1-0 L A. Ashby B. Anderson 36,278 2-11 Loss 5 14 April 14 @Cardinals 15-5 L M. Bushy C. Sudowsky 31,477 2-12 Loss 6 15 April 16(1) @Cardinals 5-4 L T. Stottlmyrer J. Adamson N/A 2-13 Loss 7 16 April 16(2) @Cardinals 8-2 W A. Benes D. Osborne 32,039 3-13 Win 1 17 April 17 Marlins 7-5 W R. Springer V. Darensbourgh 47,401 4-13 Win 2 18 April 18 Marlins 7-5 W B. Manuel A. Alfonseca 49,910 5-13 Win 3 19 April 19 Marlins 4-3 L B. Meadows J. Suppan 47,339 5-14 Loss 1 20 April 20 Marlins 15-4 W C. Sodowsky L. Hernandez 45,256 6-14 Win 1 21 April 22 @Braves 5-2 L J. Smoltz A. Benes 30,952 6-15 Loss 1 22 April 23 @Braves 3-1 L T. Glavine W. Blair 33,013 6-16 Loss 2 23 April 24 @Braves 6-5 L K. Ligtenberg R. Springer 41,514 6-17 Loss 3 24 April 25 @Marlins 4-3(11) W S. Brow V. Darensbourogh 28,710 7-17 Win 1 25 April 26 @Marlins 12-6 L E. Ludwick J. Adamson 24,782 7-18 Loss 1
May # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
June # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
July # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105
August # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134
September # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161
October # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 162
Legend:           = Win           = Loss           = Postponement

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	HR	RBI	Avg.
C	Kelly Stinnett	92	274	71	11	34	.259
1B	Travis Lee	146	562	151	22	72	.269
2B	Andy Fox	139	502	139	9	44	.277
3B	Matt Williams	135	510	136	20	71	.267
SS	Jay Bell	155	549	138	20	67	.251
LF	David Dellucci	124	416	108	5	51	.260
CF	Devon White	146	563	157	22	85	.279
RF	Karim García	113	333	74	9	43	.222

^[9]

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	HR	RBI	Avg.
Tony Batista	106	293	80	18	41	.273
Brent Brede	98	212	48	2	17	.226
Jorge Fábregas	50	151	30	1	15	.199
Bernard Gilkey	29	101	25	1	5	.248
Hensley Meulens	7	15	1	1	1	.067
Andy Stankiewicz	77	145	30	0	8	.207

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO	BB
Brian Anderson	32	208.0	12	13	4.33	95	24
Andy Benes	34	231.1	14	13	3.97	164	74
Willie Blair	23	146.7	4	15	5.34	71	51
Omar Daal	33	162.7	8	12	2.88	132	51
Jeff Suppan	13	66.0	6	9	6.68	39	21
Amaury Telemaco	27	121.0	1	7	3.94	60	33

^[9]

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO	BB
Joel Adamson	5	23.0	0	3	8.22	14	11
Scott Brow	17	21.3	1	0	7.17	13	14
Bobby Chouinard	26	38.3	0	2	4.23	26	11
Ben Ford	8	10.0	0	0	9.90	5	3
Aaron Small	23	31.7	3	1	3.69	14	8
Russ Springer	26	32.7	4	3	4.13	37	14
Bob Wolcott	6	33.0	1	3	7.09	21	13

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO	BB
Willie Banks	33	43.7	1	2	1	3.09	32	25
Alan Embree	35	35.0	3	2	1	4.11	24	13
Gregg Olson	64	68.7	3	4	30	3.01	55	25
Felix Rodriguez	43	44.0	0	2	5	6.14	36	29
Clint Sodowsky	45	77.7	3	6	0	5.68	42	39

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Sidewinders	Pacific Coast League	Chris Speier
A	High Desert Mavericks	California League	Don Wakamatsu
A	South Bend Silver Hawks	Midwest League	Roly de Armas
Rookie	AZL Diamondbacks	Arizona League	Mike Brumley
Rookie	Lethbridge Black Diamonds	Pioneer League	Joe Almaraz

^[10][11]

References

1. http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/davisma01.shtml
2. Jay Bell Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
3. Devon White Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
4. Travis Fryman Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
5. Matt Williams Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
6. Andy Stankiewicz Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
7. Alan Embree Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
8. http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smallaa01.shtml
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ARI/1998.shtml
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
11. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/affiliate.cgi?id=ARI&year=1998

External links

• Arizona Diamondbacks official web site
• Arizona on Baseball Reference
• 1998 Arizona Diamondbacks team page at www.baseball-almanac.com