1997 Seattle Mariners season

1997 Seattle Mariners
American League West Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkKingdome
CitySeattle, Washington
Record90–72 (.556)
Divisional place1st
OwnersHiroshi Yamauchi
(represented by John Ellis)
General managersWoody Woodward
ManagersLou Piniella
TelevisionKIRO-TV 7
Fox Sports Northwest
RadioKIRO 710 AM
(Dave Niehaus, Chip Caray,
Rick Rizzs, Ron Fairly,
Dave Valle, Dave Henderson)
← 1996 Seasons 1998 →

The Seattle Mariners 1997 season was their 21st season, and the team won their second American League West title,[1] with a record of 90–72 (.556), six games ahead of the runner-up Anaheim Angels. For the second straight year, they led the AL in runs scored (925) and shattered the all-time record for most home runs hit by a team in one season (set at 257 by the Baltimore Orioles the year before) with 264. Five Mariners scored at least 100 runs and six hit at least 20 home runs. In addition, the Seattle pitching staff led the league with 1,207 strikeouts. In the postseason, the Mariners lost the ALDS to the Baltimore Orioles in 4 games.

The Mariners drew over three million in home attendance for the first time in franchise history,[2] in the penultimate full season at the Kingdome. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a franchise record 56 home runs and won the Most Valuable Player award in the American League. This would be Randy Johnson's final full year in a Mariners uniform, he would be traded to Houston midway through the 1998 season.

Offseason

  • October 3, 1996: Ricky Jordan was released by the Mariners.[3]
  • November 12, 1996: Jalal Leach was signed as a free agent with the Mariners.[4]
  • November 15, 1996: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Mariners from the Montreal Expos.[5]
  • December 21, 1996: Josías Manzanillo was signed as a free agent with the Mariners.[6]
  • January 10, 1997: Brent Mayne was signed as a free agent with the Mariners.[7]
  • January 22, 1997: Rob Ducey was signed as a free agent with the Mariners.[8]
  • January 24, 1997: Mike Blowers was signed as a free agent with the Mariners.[9]
  • February 20, 1997: Dennis Martínez was signed as a free agent with the Mariners.[10]
  • March 27, 1997: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Texas Rangers from the Mariners.[5]
  • March 28, 1997: Brent Mayne was released by the Mariners.[7]

Regular season

Ken Griffey Jr., pictured in August 1997, won the Most Valuable Player award in 1997

In 1997, Randy Johnson set an American League record for left-handers by striking out 19 batters in a 4–1 loss to the Oakland A's on June 24.[11] On August 8 he matched the feat by setting down 19 Chicago White Sox.[11] Johnson posted a 20–4 record with 291 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.28. He finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Toronto's Roger Clemens.[11]

Opening Day starters

Season standings

AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Seattle Mariners 90 72 .556 — 45‍–‍36 45‍–‍36
Anaheim Angels 84 78 .519 6 46‍–‍36 38‍–‍42
Texas Rangers 77 85 .475 13 39‍–‍42 38‍–‍43
Oakland Athletics 65 97 .401 25 35‍–‍46 30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

1997 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim — 4–7 6–5 6–5 7–4 5–6 6–5 7–4 4–7 4–7 11–1 6–6 8–4 6–5 4–12
Baltimore 7–4 — 5–7 5–6 6–5 6–6 7–4 5–6 10–1 8–4 8–3 7–4 10–1 6–6 8–7
Boston 5–6 7–5 — 3–8 6–5 5–7 3–8 8–3 8–3 4–8 7–4 7–4 3–8 6–6 6–9
Chicago 5–6 6–5 8–3 — 5–7 4–7 11–1 4–7 6–6 2–9 8–3 5–6 3–8 5–6 8–7
Cleveland 4–7 5–6 5–6 7–5 — 6–5 8–3 8–4 8–4 5–6 7–4 3–8 5–6 6–5 9–6
Detroit 6–5 6–6 7–5 7–4 5–6 — 6–5 4–7 4–7 2–10 7–4 4–7 7–4 6–6 8–7
Kansas City 5–6 4–7 8–3 1–11 3–8 5–6 — 6–6 7–5 3–8 3–8 5–6 6–5 5–6 6–9
Milwaukee 4–7 6–5 3–8 7–4 4–8 7–4 6–6 — 5–7 4–7 5–6 5–6 7–4 7–4 8–7
Minnesota 7–4 1–10 3–8 6–6 4–8 7–4 5–7 7–5 — 3–8 7–4 5–6 3–8 3–8 7–8
New York 7–4 4–8 8–4 9–2 6–5 10–2 8–3 7–4 8–3 — 6–5 4–7 7–4 7–5 5–10
Oakland 1–11 3–8 4–7 3–8 4–7 4–7 8–3 6–5 4–7 5–6 — 5–7 5–7 6–5 7–9
Seattle 6–6 4–7 4–7 6–5 8–3 7–4 6–5 6–5 6–5 7–4 7–5 — 8–4 8–3 7–9
Texas 4–8 1–10 8–3 8–3 6–5 4–7 5–6 4–7 8–3 4–7 7–5 4–8 — 4–7 10–6
Toronto 5–6 6–6 6–6 6–5 5–6 6–6 6–5 4–7 8–3 5–7 5–6 3–8 7–4 — 4–11


Notable transactions

  • April 8, 1997: Steve Decker was signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners.[13]
  • May 24, 1997: Dennis Martínez was released by the Seattle Mariners.[10]
  • July 17, 1997: Josías Manzanillo was released by the Seattle Mariners.[6]
  • July 31, 1997: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek.
  • July 31, 1997: Paul Spoljaric was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Mike Timlin to the Seattle Mariners for Jose Cruz.[14]
  • August 20, 1997: Roberto Kelly was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Seattle Mariners for players to be named later. The Seattle Mariners sent Joe Mays (October 9, 1997) and Jeromy Palki (minors) (October 9, 1997) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade.
  • September 2, 1997: Steve Decker was released by the Seattle Mariners.[13]

Roster

1997 Seattle Mariners
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Dan Wilson 146 508 137 .270 15 74
1B Paul Sorrento 146 457 123 .269 31 80
2B Joey Cora 149 574 172 .300 11 54
SS Alex Rodriguez 141 587 176 .300 23 84
3B Russ Davis 119 420 114 .271 20 63
LF José Cruz Jr. 49 183 49 .268 12 34
CF Ken Griffey Jr. 157 608 185 .304 56 147
RF Jay Buhner 157 540 131 .243 40 109
DH Edgar Martínez 155 542 179 .330 28 108

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Rich Amaral 89 190 54 .284 1 21
Brent Gates 65 151 36 .238 3 20
Mike Blowers 68 150 44 .293 5 20
Rob Ducey 76 143 41 .287 5 10
Lee Tinsley 49 122 24 .197 0 6
Roberto Kelly 30 121 36 .298 7 22
Andy Sheets 32 89 22 .247 4 9
John Marzano 39 87 25 .287 1 10
Álvaro Espinoza 33 72 13 .181 0 7
Raúl Ibañez 11 26 4 .154 1 4
Rick Wilkins 5 12 3 .250 1 4
Dan Rohrmeier 7 9 3 .333 0 2
Giomar Guevara 5 4 0 .000 0 0
Brian Raabe 2 3 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jeff Fassero 35 234.1 16 9 3.61 189
Randy Johnson 30 213.0 20 4 2.28 291
Jamie Moyer 30 188.2 17 5 3.86 113
Bob Wolcott 19 100.0 5 6 6.03 58
Omar Olivares 13 62.1 1 4 5.49 29
Ken Cloude 10 51.0 4 2 5.12 46
Dennis Martínez 9 49.0 1 5 7.71 17

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Scott Sanders 33 65.1 3 6 6.47 62
Derek Lowe 12 53.0 2 4 6.96 39
Felipe Lira 8 18.2 0 4 9.16 9

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Norm Charlton 71 3 8 14 7.27 55
Bobby Ayala 71 10 5 8 3.82 92
Bob Wells 46 2 0 2 5.75 51
Greg McCarthy 37 1 1 0 5.46 34
Heathcliff Slocumb 27 0 4 10 4.13 28
Mike Timlin 26 3 2 1 3.86 9
Paul Spoljaric 20 0 0 0 4.76 27
Josías Manzanillo 16 0 1 0 5.40 18
Mark Holzemer 14 0 0 1 6.00 7
Edwin Hurtado 13 1 2 0 9.00 10
Mike Maddux 6 1 0 0 10.13 7
Rafael Carmona 4 0 0 0 3.18 6
Tim Davis 2 0 0 0 6.75 10
Salomón Torres 2 0 0 0 27.00 0

ALDS

Main article: 1997 American League Division Series

Game 1

October 1, Kingdome

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Baltimore 0 0 1 0 4 4 0 0 0 9 13 0
Seattle 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 7 1
W: Mike Mussina (1-0)   L: Randy Johnson (0-1)  SV: None
HR: BAL – Gerónimo Berroa (1)   Chris Hoiles (1)   SEA – Edgar Martínez (1)   Jay Buhner (1)   Alex Rodriguez (1)

Game 2

October 2, Kingdome

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Baltimore 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 4 0 9 14 0
Seattle 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 9 0
W: Scott Erickson (1-0)   L: Jamie Moyer (0-1)  SV: None
HR: BAL – Harold Baines (1)   Brady Anderson (1)   SEA – None

Game 3

October 4, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Seattle 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 11 0
Baltimore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 0
W: Jeff Fassero (1-0)   L: Jimmy Key (0-1)  SV: None
HR: BAL – None   SEA – Jay Buhner (2)   Paul Sorrento (1)

Game 4

October 5, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Seattle 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Baltimore 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X 3 7 0
W: Mike Mussina (2-0)   L: Randy Johnson (0-2)  SV: Randy Myers (1)
HR: BAL – Jeff Reboulet (1)   Gerónimo Berroa (2)   SEA – Edgar Martínez (2)

Awards and honors

  • The Mariners led the American League in home runs with 264[15]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Rainiers Pacific Coast League Dave Myers
AA Memphis Chicks Southern League Dave Brundage
A Lancaster JetHawks California League Rick Burleson
A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Midwest League Gary Varsho
A-Short Season Everett AquaSox Northwest League Orlando Gómez
Rookie AZL Mariners Arizona League Darrin Garner

[16]

References

  1. ^ Cour, Jim (September 24, 1997). "Mariners wrap up AL West title with win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1C.
  2. ^ "Griffey fails to homer as Angeles thump M's". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 25, 1997. p. C4.
  3. ^ "Ricky Jordan Stats".
  4. ^ "Jalal Leach Stats".
  5. ^ a b "Dave Silvestri Stats".
  6. ^ a b "Josias Manzanillo Stats".
  7. ^ a b "Brent Mayne Stats".
  8. ^ "Rob Ducey: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  9. ^ Mike Blowers Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  10. ^ a b "Dennis Martinez Stats".
  11. ^ a b c "Randy Johnson | baseballbiography.com". Retrieved August 12, 2008.
  12. ^ 1997 Seattle Mariners Roster by Baseball Almanac
  13. ^ a b Steve Decker Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  14. ^ Paul Spoljaric Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  15. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.380, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  16. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007