1998 New York Yankees
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50 free 1998 New York Yankees trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The 1998 New York Yankees won 114 games in the regular season and 125 counting October, then swept the San Diego Padres in the World Series. They are widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in baseball history. This quiz covers the whole year: the perfect game in May, the rookie who fled his homeland by boat and was starting playoff games ten months later, the brawl, the falling beam, the trades that built the roster, and each round of the postseason. You will also meet the opponents, from the hitters who gave New York its only scare to the stars on the other side of the Series. It suits Yankees fans who lived through that summer, younger fans who know the names from highlight reels, and anyone who enjoys baseball history. The questions run from easy openers to a few deep cuts, and every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Yankees left-hander retired all 27 batters he faced at Yankee Stadium on May 17, 1998?
David Wells
David Wells threw the 15th perfect game in major league history, and the first by a Yankee in the regular season.
Q 02The Yankees pitcher who threw a perfect game in May 1998 later said he did it in what condition?
With a hangover
With a hangover, by his own account: he made the claim in his 2003 autobiography, a book whose remarks earned him a $100,000 fine from the Yankees.
Q 03Yankees rookie Orlando Hernández, El Duque, fled which country by boat on Christmas Day 1997?
Cuba
Cuba had banned him from baseball after his half-brother defected; ten months after his own escape he started a World Series game.
Q 04Which ballpark hosted a Yankees home game in April 1998 after a 500-pound beam fell in the Bronx?
Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium took the third game of the Angels series after the support beam landed on a seat before a game; the first two games were postponed.
Q 05Yankees slugger Darryl Strawberry missed the 1998 World Series after which diagnosis during the ALDS?
Colon cancer
Colon cancer was found on October 1, and he had surgery two days later; the club still issued him a championship ring.
Q 06Which Yankees closer threw 13⅓ scoreless innings and saved six games during the 1998 postseason?
Mariano Rivera
Mariano Rivera saved three of those six in the World Series, in the season he made the cutter one of his primary pitches.
Q 07Whose streak of 2,632 straight games ended when he sat out against the Yankees in September 1998?
Cal Ripken Jr.
Cal Ripken Jr. took himself out of the lineup before the game; Ryan Minor replaced him at third base and New York won 5–4.
Q 08The pitcher of the Yankees' 1998 perfect game idolized which legend, whose 1934 cap he bought for $35,000?
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth was why the Yankees were his favorite team; he wore the cap on the mound in June 1997 and has a tattoo of the slugger.
Q 09Which Padres great hit his first postseason home run off Yankee Stadium's upper deck in October 1998?
Tony Gwynn
Tony Gwynn, never a power hitter, put San Diego ahead in Game 1 with a two-run shot, but New York scored seven runs in the seventh to win 9–6.
Q 10Which Brooklyn-born manager guided the 1998 Yankees to 114 wins and was named AL Manager of the Year?
Joe Torre
Joe Torre was in his third year in the Bronx; his team started 46–13 and never looked back.
Q 11Which Yankees third baseman, acquired as a player to be named later, was the 1998 World Series MVP?
Scott Brosius
Scott Brosius hit .471 with two home runs in the sweep, a year after finishing last among qualified hitters in batting average.
Q 12Which Yankee led the American League with 127 runs in 1998 and finished third in the MVP vote?
Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter did it on a salary of $750,000, then hit .353 in the World Series.
Q 13Which Yankee won the 1998 AL batting title at .339 and is also a classically trained guitarist?
Bernie Williams
Bernie Williams became the first player to win a batting title, a Gold Glove and a World Series ring in the same year.
Q 21Which visiting club was on the wrong end of the Yankees' perfect game in May 1998, losing 4–0?
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins sent 27 men to the plate in front of 49,820 fans, in a game that lasted two hours and 40 minutes.
Q 22The Yankees' 1998 perfect-game pitcher went to the same high school as which earlier Yankee who threw one?
Don Larsen
Don Larsen pitched his in the 1956 World Series; both men graduated from Point Loma High School in San Diego.
Q 23Which Yankees catcher, in his first season of regular playing time, caught the May 1998 perfect game?
Jorge Posada
Jorge Posada hit 17 home runs that year; Joe Girardi, who shared the job, caught the club's next perfect game in 1999.
Q 14Which Yankees first baseman hit an upper-deck grand slam in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series?
Tino Martinez
Tino Martinez connected one pitch after a borderline 2–2 delivery was called a ball, turning a 5–5 tie into a 9–5 lead.
Q 15Which team did the 1998 Yankees sweep in the AL Division Series, allowing one run in three games?
Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers hitters had scored 940 runs that season, yet managed only five hits in each of the first two games.
Q 16Which AL East rival won 92 games in 1998 yet finished 22 games behind the Yankees?
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox still reached the postseason as the wild card, then lost their Division Series to Cleveland.
Q 17Which expansion team joined the Yankees in the American League East for the 1998 season?
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays arrived as Detroit moved to the Central; New York beat them 8–3 on the final day for win number 114.
Q 18The Yankees' 24th title in 1998 tied which NHL club for the most by a major North American franchise?
Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens teams had won 24 Stanley Cups; New York passed them by sweeping another World Series the very next October.
Q 19Which reigning Cy Young winner did the Yankees get in 1999 by trading away their 1998 perfect-game pitcher?
Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens had asked Toronto for a move to a contender; the Blue Jays also received Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd in the deal.
Q 20Which former intern, aged 30, became Yankees general manager in February 1998 when Bob Watson resigned?
Brian Cashman
Brian Cashman had joined the club as an intern in 1986 while in college; the first team he ran as GM won 114 games.
Q 24Which future Yankees slugger's two-out single in the seventh spoiled the team's second perfect-game bid of 1998?
Jason Giambi
Jason Giambi's hit came on September 1; the left-hander on the mound settled for a two-hit shutout and a 7–0 win.
Q 25Which club traded the eventual 1998 World Series MVP to the Yankees in exchange for pitcher Kenny Rogers?
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics had drafted him in the 20th round in 1987 and used him at third base and in the outfield.
Q 26Which Yankees outfielder hit three grand slams in ten days in September 1998, then homered twice in the ALDS?
Shane Spencer
Shane Spencer, a 26-year-old rookie drafted in the 28th round, hit 10 home runs in only 67 at-bats that season and made the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Q 27Which Yankees second baseman argued with an umpire while the ball rolled free in Game 2 of the 1998 ALCS?
Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch wanted an interference call as the go-ahead run scored from first in the 12th inning; Cleveland won 4–1 to level the series.
Q 28Which 1998 Yankees starter became the first Japanese-born player to win a World Series ring?
Hideki Irabu
Hideki Irabu was the American League's Pitcher of the Month for May 1998 and finished with a career-best 13 wins.
Q 29Which former Yankee, a 1996 no-hit pitcher, started Game 4 of the 1998 ALCS for Cleveland against El Duque?
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden gave up a first-inning home run to Paul O'Neill and lost 4–0 as the rookie threw seven shutout innings.
Q 30Which Cleveland slugger hit four home runs, including a Game 6 grand slam, against the Yankees in the 1998 ALCS?
Jim Thome
Jim Thome's slam cut a 6–1 deficit to 6–5 in the Bronx, but New York pulled away to win 9–5 and take the pennant.