Headline events of the year
Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Vaughn all hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break (the first time four players had done so in the same season) and engage in a historic chase for Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 home runs. While Griffey (56) and Vaughn (50) would fall short of the record, both Sosa (66) and McGwire (70) shattered Maris's record in an exciting late-season chase that culminated in a final week that saw record-setting performances by McGwire, Sosa, Tom Gordon, Dennis Eckersley, Trevor Hoffman and Jason Kendall. The New York Yankees won a major league record 125 games (114 regular season games and 11 postseason games).
Champions
Major League Baseball
World Series: New York Yankees over San Diego Padres (4-0); Scott Brosius, MVP
American League Championship Series MVP: David Wells
American League Division Series
National League Championship Series MVP: Sterling Hitchcock
National League Division Series
All-Star Game, July 7 at Coors Field: American League, 13–8; Roberto Alomar, MVP
Other champions
Baseball World Cup: Cuba
Caribbean World Series: Águilas Cibaeñas (Dominican Republic) College World Series: USC Cuban National Series: Pinar del Río over Santiago de Cuba Japan Series: Yokohama BayStars over Seibu Lions (4-2) Korean Series: Hyundai Unicorns over LG Twins Big League World Series: Thousand Oaks, California Junior League World Series: Mission Viejo, California Little League World Series: Toms River, New Jersey Senior League World Series: Diamond Bar, California Taiwan Series: Wei Chuan Dragons over Sinon Bulls
Awards and honors
Baseball Hall of Fame
George Davis
Larry Doby
Lee MacPhail
Bullet Rogan
Don Sutton
Most Valuable Player
Juan González, Texas Rangers, OF (AL) Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, OF (NL) Cy Young Award Roger Clemens, Toronto Blue Jays (AL) Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves (NL) Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve, Oakland Athletics, OF (AL) Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs, P (NL) Manager of the Year Award Joe Torre, New York Yankees (AL) Larry Dierker, Houston Astros (NL) Gold Glove Award Rafael Palmeiro (1B) (AL) Roberto Alomar (2B) (AL) Robin Ventura (3B) (AL) Omar Vizquel (SS) (AL) Jim Edmonds (OF) (AL) Ken Griffey Jr. (OF) (AL) Bernie Williams (OF) (AL) Iván Rodríguez (C) (AL) Mike Mussina (P) (AL) J. T. Snow (1B) (NL) Bret Boone (2B) (NL) Scott Rolen (3B) (NL) Rey Ordóñez (SS) (NL) Barry Bonds (OF) (NL) Andruw Jones (OF) (NL) Larry Walker (OF) (NL) Charles Johnson (C) (NL) Greg Maddux (P) (NL)
MLB statistical leaders
Major League Baseball final standings
The asterisk denotes the club that won the wild card for its respective league. The Chicago Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-3 in a one-game playoff to determine the NL wild card.
Events
January
January 5 – Don Sutton, a 324-game winner, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his fifth try. Sutton, who missed election by nine votes in 1997, is named on 81.6% of the ballots. January 8 – The New York Yankees sign Darryl Strawberry as a free agent.
February
February 2 – New York Yankees general manager Bob Watson announces his resignation. He is replaced by 30-year-old Brian Cashman. February 6 – The Minnesota Twins trade Chuck Knoblauch to the New York Yankees in exchange for Cristian Guzman, Brian Buchanan, Eric Milton, Danny Mota and cash considerations. February 18 – The New York Mets sign Nelson Cruz as an amateur free agent.