The 1998 Women's Pro Fastpitch season was the second season of professional softball for the Women's Pro Fastpitch (WPF). The 66-game season was divided into two-halves, with the winner of each half meeting in a championship series.[1]
| 1998 WPF Season | |
| Color: | red |
| Color Text: | white |
| League: | Women's Pro Fastpitch |
| Sport: | softball |
| Duration: | May 29, 1998 - September 5, 1998 |
| No Of Teams: | 6 |
| Tv: | ESPN2 |
| Draft: | 1998 WPF Draft |
| Draft Link: | 1998 WPF Draft |
| Top Pick: | Desarie Knipfer Cal Poly-SLO |
| Season: | Regular Season |
| Season Champs: | 1st Half: Carolina Diamonds 2nd Half: Orlando Wahoos |
| Season Champ Name: | Regular Season Champions |
| Mvp: | Crystl Bustos Orlando Wahoos |
| Finals: | WPF Championship |
| Finals Champ: | Orlando Wahoos |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Carolina Diamonds |
| Finals Mvp: | Alleah Poulson Orlando Wahoos |
| Seasonslist: | WPF Seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | WPF |
| Prevseason Year: | 1997 |
| Nextseason Year: | 1999 |
| Team | City | Stadium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Diamonds | Sims Legion Park[2] | ||
| Durham Dragons | Durham, North Carolina | Durham Athletic Park[3] | |
| Georgia Pride | Columbus, Georgia | South Commons Softball Complex[4] | |
| Orlando Wahoos | Winter Park, Florida | Alfond Stadium at Rollins College[5] | |
| Tampa Bay FireStix | Red McEwen Field [6] | ||
| Virginia Roadsters | Hampton, Virginia | War Memorial Stadium[7] |
Two WPF teams announced that they would play their games in different stadiums during the 1998 season: the Carolina Diamonds moved to Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina, and the Georgia Pride announced that they would play their home games at South Commons Softball Stadium in Columbus, Georgia.
Changes for 1998 included a revision of the playing rules (43-foot pitching distance, 60-foot base distances), an expanded national television schedule (eight games on ESPN2), and the league's first all-star game, to be played at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio on July 14.[8]
The 10-round 1998 WPF Draft was held December 6, 1997 in Palm Springs, CA. Georgia Pride selected pitcher Desarie Knipfer of Cal Poly as the first overall pick.[9] [10]
Source:[11]
| Team | GP | W | L | Pct. | GB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando Wahoos | 66 | 42 | 24 | .626 | - | 2nd Half Champion |
| Georgia Pride | 66 | 36 | 30 | .545 | 6 | |
| Carolina Diamonds | 65 | 34 | 31 | .523 | 7.5 | 1st Half Champion |
| Durham Dragons | 63 | 31 | 32 | .492 | 9.5 | |
| Tampa Bay FireStix | 66 | 27 | 39 | .409 | 15 | |
| Virginia Roadsters | 64 | 25 | 39 | .391 | 16 | |
Sources:[12]
The 1998 WPF Championship Series was held at Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina September 4–5. The winners of each half of the season met in a best-of-three series to determine the champion.
| 1998 WPF Championship Series Orlando Wahoos defeat Carolina Diamonds 2–0 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Score | Series | ||||
| 1 | September 4 | Orlando Wahoos 8, Carolina Diamonds 0 | 1–0 | ||||
| 2 | September 5 | Orlando Wahoos 8, Carolina Diamonds 2 | 2–0 | ||||
Sources:
| Award | Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player | Crystl Bustos | Orlando Wahoos | |
| Hitter of the Year | Crystal Boyd | Georgia Pride | |
| Home Run Champions | Monica Armendarez | Carolina Diamonds | |
| Crystal Boyd | Georgia Pride | ||
| Crystl Bustos | Orlando Wahoos | ||
| Pitcher of the Year | Kaci Clark | Orlando Wahoos | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Shama Wilson | Georgia Pride | |
| Coach of the Year | Sharron Backus | Orlando Wahoos | |
| General Manager of the Year | Lorie Baran | Carolina Diamonds |
After the completion of the 1997 WPF season, the league circulated a questionnaire to players. At the suggestion of players on that questionnaire, the league scheduled an All-Star Game for the 1998 season.[13]
The game was played on July 14 in Akron, OH at Firestone Stadium, televised on July 20 on ESPN2. The game was contested by a "Stars" team that played a "Stripes" team. The Stars team included players from the Diamonds, Dragons and Roadsters, while the Stripes were composed of players from the Pride, FireStix and Wahoos.[14] The Stars beat the Stripes by an 8-1 score, in front of a crowd of 3,873.[15]
Following is an incomplete listing of the All-Star rosters:
| 1998 WPF STARS All-STARS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | WPF Team | Position | |
| COACHES | |||
| All-Star Head Coach | |||
| 1998 WPF STRIPES ALL-STARS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | WPF Team | Position | |
| Dee Dee Weiman-Garcia | Tampa Bay FireStix | P | |
| Amy Putnam | Georgia Pride | C | |
| Crystal Bustos | Orlando Wahoos | ||
| Chelo Lopez | Georgia Pride | ||
| Jennifer Parker | Tampa Bay FireStix | OF | |
| COACHES | |||
| All-Star Head Coach | |||