| 1998 Oakland Athletics | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | Network Associates Coliseum | |
| City | Oakland, California | |
| Record | 74–88 (.457) | |
| Divisional place | 4th | |
| Owners | Stephen Schott Ken Hofmann | |
| General managers | Billy Beane | |
| Managers | Art Howe | |
| Television | KRON-TV Fox Sports Bay Area (Ray Fosse, Greg Papa, Ken Wilson) | |
| Radio | KNEW (Bill King, Ken Korach, Ray Fosse) | |
| ||
The Oakland Athletics' 1998 season saw the A's finish with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. The campaign was the first of the Billy Beane era. While the Athletics finished a distant fourth in the American League West, they improved upon the prior year's dismal output of 65–97.
The strong play of Jason Giambi, Matt Stairs and Kenny Rogers highlighted an otherwise forgettable campaign. Rogers' performance was particularly impressive; in arguably the finest season of his career, he won 16 games and posted a 3.17 earned run average (both were the best full-season marks by an Athletics starter since 1992). Additionally, the 1998 season marked Rickey Henderson's fourth (and final) stint with the Athletics. Henderson, at the age of 39, stole a total 66 bases; this total lead the league in that category. Lastly, rookie Ben Grieve collected a Rookie of the Year (ROY) award for his solid debut season. The award was the Athletics' first since Walt Weiss received one in 1988.
The Athletics posted a winning record in 1999. The organization, under Beane, would not post another losing season until 2007.