1997 Seattle Mariners season

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.

1997 Seattle Mariners
AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record90–72 (.556)
Divisional place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Hiroshi Yamauchi
(represented by John Ellis)
General manager(s)Woody Woodward
Manager(s)Lou Piniella
Local televisionKIRO-TV 7
Fox Sports Northwest
Local radioKIRO 710 AM
(Dave Niehaus, Chip Caray,
Rick Rizzs, Ron Fairly,
Dave Valle, Dave Henderson)
< Previous season     Next season >

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.

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 nineteen 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 nineteen 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
  • Jay Buhner
  • Joey Cora
  • Russ Davis
  • Jeff Fassero
  • Ken Griffey, Jr.
  • Edgar Martínez
  • Alex Rodriguez
  • Paul Sorrento
  • Lee Tinsley
  • Dan Wilson[12]

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Seattle Mariners 9072 0.556 — 45–36 45–36
Anaheim Angels 8478 0.519 6 46–36 38–42
Texas Rangers 7785 0.475 13 39–42 38–43
Oakland Athletics 6597 0.401 25 35–46 30–51

Record vs. opponents
1997 American League Records

Sources:
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim —4–76–56–57–45–66–57–44–74–711–16–68–46–54–12
Baltimore 7–4—5–75–66–56–67–45–610–18–48–37–410–16–68–7
Boston 5–67–5—3–86–55–73–88–38–34–87–47–43–86–66–9
Chicago 5–66–58–3—5–74–711–14–76–62–98–35–63–85–68–7
Cleveland 4–75–65–67–5—6–58–38–48–45–67–43–85–66–59–6
Detroit 6–56–67–57–45–6—6–54–74–72–107–44–77–46–68–7
Kansas City 5–64–78–31–113–85–6—6–67–53–83–85–66–55–66–9
Milwaukee 4–76–53–87–44–87–46–6—5–74–75–65–67–47–48–7
Minnesota 7–41–103–86–64–87–45–77–5—3–87–45–63–83–87–8
New York 7–44–88–49–26–510–28–37–48–3—6–54–77–47–55–10
Oakland 1–113–84–73–84–74–78–36–54–75–6—5–75–76–57–9
Seattle 6–64–74–76–58–37–46–56–56–57–47–5—8–48–37–9
Texas 4–81–108–38–36–54–75–64–78–34–77–54–8—4–710–6
Toronto 5–66–66–66–55–66–66–54–78–35–75–63–87–4—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
  • 23 José Cruz, Jr.
 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CDan Wilson146508137.2701574
1BPaul Sorrento146457123.2693180
2BJoey Cora149574172.3001154
SSAlex Rodriguez141587176.3002384
3BRuss Davis119420114.2712063
LFJosé Cruz Jr.4918349.2681234
CFKen Griffey Jr.157608185.30456147
RFJay Buhner157540131.24340109
DHEdgar Martínez155542179.33028108

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 Amaral8919054.284121
Brent Gates6515136.238320
Mike Blowers6815044.293520
Rob Ducey7614341.287510
Lee Tinsley4912224.19706
Roberto Kelly3012136.298722
Andy Sheets328922.24749
John Marzano398725.287110
Álvaro Espinoza337213.18107
Raúl Ibañez11264.15414
Rick Wilkins5123.25014
Dan Rohrmeier793.33302
Giomar Guevara540.00000
Brian Raabe230.00000

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 Fassero35234.11693.61189
Randy Johnson302132042.28291
Jamie Moyer30188.21753.86113
Bob Wolcott19100566.0358
Omar Olivares1362.1145.4929
Ken Cloude1051425.1246
Dennis Martínez949157.7117

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 Sanders3365.1366.4762
Derek Lowe1253246.9639
Felipe Lira818.2049.169

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 Charlton7138147.2755
Bobby Ayala7110583.8292
Bob Wells462025.7551
Greg McCarthy371105.4634
Heathcliff Slocumb2704104.1328
Mike Timlin263213.869
Paul Spoljaric200004.7627
Josías Manzanillo160105.4018
Mark Holzemer140016.007
Edwin Hurtado131209.0010
Mike Maddux610010.137
Rafael Carmona40003.186
Tim Davis20006.7510
Salomón Torres200027.000

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 001 044 000 9130
Seattle 000 100 101 371
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 010 020 240 9140
Seattle 200 000 100 390
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 001 010 002 4110
Baltimore 000 000 002 250
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 010 000 000 120
Baltimore 200 010 00X 370
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. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jordari02.shtml
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leachja01.shtml
  5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/silveda01.shtml
  6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/manzajo01.shtml
  7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maynebr01.shtml
  8. "Rob Ducey: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  9. Mike Blowers Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/martide01.shtml
  11. "The Ballplayers – Randy Johnson | BaseballLibrary.com". Archived from the original on February 9, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
  12. 1997 Seattle Mariners Roster by Baseball Almanac
  13. 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
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