1998 Astrology Awards Recap
View the 1998 FABL Lineups Here!
Lots of people remember the 1998 season for the historic and cinematic chase of the single season home run record, between Mark McGwire (3,284 / 21.2) and Sammy Sosa (3,278 / 20.6) - who were incidentally the top two Fantasy point scorers in the Astrology Baseball League that year. But more impactful league-wide was that ’98 also saw the debuts of MLB’s two newest franchises in Arizona and Tampa Bay. Other significant individual accomplishments include the end of the all-time consecutive games streak by Cal Ripken Jr. (1,437 / 8.9), a 40-40 season for Alex Rodriguez (3,091 / 19.2), and the first year in the storied tenure of commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig.
The next bit of trivia is difficult to express, due to the reverse-chronological nature of this project. But the information from 1998 tells us this: by the year 2000, Scorpio had scored the most points in the league for at least three years in a row. It could be longer, depending on how 1997 shakes out, but from 1998-2000, the Stingers were king. Speaking of 2000, that year featured the same Positive Polarity Cy Young Award winner as 1998, although Aries ace Greg Maddux (2,932 / 86.2) had a better fantasy season this time around. But despite the excellence of “The Professor,” he wasn’t the top-scoring pitcher in 1998: Pisces Kevin Brown (3,011 / 83.6) broke the 3,000-point barrier for the real-life World Series-losing Padres.
Back to the FABL MVP’s, Mark McGwire (Libra, Positive Polarity) and Sammy Sosa (Scorpio, Negative Polarity) took the baseball world by storm, as they EACH broke the single season home run record set by Virgo Roger Maris 37 years earlier in 1961. At the time, I recall that McGwire’s steroid use was somewhat of an open secret, while Sosa has deflected, maintining that he has “never taken illegal performance enhancing drugs.” Of course, PED’s weren’t technically prohibited by MLB’s official policy until several years after this historic home run chase… and Sosa also had an embarrassing incident with a corked bat. But either way, that ‘98 season sure was exciting, wasn’t it?
Who wants to see this Libra sock a few dingers?
Moving to the Reliable Reliever award, it’s curious that the two winners share the signs of the two sluggers who led us on that ever so exciting home run battle. And these two closers also had a fun year-over-year competition involving the (at the time) consecutive saves record. Scorpio has Tom Gordon (2,314 / 31.7), who managed to save a record 42 games in a row in 1998. And for Libra, we have the legendary Trevor Hoffman (2,603 / 39.4), who barely missed out on accomplishing that same feat the year later.
The Rookies of the Year in 1998 had fairly similar “debut” seasons, statistics-wise, but wildly different career paths. Leo first baseman Todd Helton (2,037 / 13.4) became one of the most accomplished hitters of his generation, Coors Field effect aside, with five consecutive All-Star appearances between 2000 and 2004. Meanwhile, Taurus outfielder Ben Grieve (1,977 / 12.8) ended up with fewer career bWAR (8.4) than Helton accrued in his Positive Polarity MVP-winning 2000 season alone (8.9).
OUTRO