The 1997 Boston Red Sox season was the 97th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses, 20 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. It was the last time the Red Sox had a losing record until 2012. The Red Sox had 5,781 at bats, a single-season major league record.[1]
1997 Boston Red Sox | ||
---|---|---|
League | American League | |
Division | East | |
Ballpark | Fenway Park | |
City | Boston, Massachusetts | |
Record | 78–84 (.481) | |
Divisional place | 4th | |
Owners | JRY Trust | |
President | John Harrington | |
General manager | Dan Duquette | |
Manager | Jimy Williams | |
Television | WABU (Sean McDonough, Jerry Remy) NESN (Bob Kurtz, Jerry Remy) | |
Radio | WEEI (Jerry Trupiano, Joe Castiglione) WROL (Bobby Serrano, Hector Martinez) | |
Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |
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Offseason
edit- December 9, 1996: Bret Saberhagen was signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.[2]
- January 22, 1997: Steve Avery was signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.[3]
- January 27, 1997: José Canseco was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Oakland Athletics for John Wasdin and cash.
- January 31, 1997: Mike Benjamin was signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.[4]
Regular season
editSeason standings
editTeam | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baltimore Orioles | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 46–35 | 52–29 |
New York Yankees | 96 | 66 | .593 | 2 | 47–33 | 49–33 |
Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 19 | 42–39 | 37–44 |
Boston Red Sox | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 39–42 | 39–42 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 76 | 86 | .469 | 22 | 42–39 | 34–47 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [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 |
Team | ATL | FLA | MON | NYM | PHI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
Notable Transactions
edit- July 31, 1997: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek.
- August 30, 1997: Curtis Pride was signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox.[5]
Opening Day lineup
edit5 | Nomar Garciaparra | SS |
13 | John Valentin | 2B |
42 | Mo Vaughn | 1B |
20 | Mike Stanley | DH |
11 | Tim Naehring | 3B |
12 | Wil Cordero | LF |
44 | Rudy Pemberton | RF |
37 | Bill Haselman | C |
24 | Shane Mack | CF |
36 | Tom Gordon | P |
Roster
editWally the Green Monster
editWally the Green Monster is the official mascot for the Boston Red Sox. His name is derived from the Green Monster nickname of the 37-foot wall in left field at Fenway Park. Wally debuted in 1997 to the chagrin of many older Red Sox fans. Although he was a hit with children, the older fans did not immediately adopt him as part of the franchise. According to the Red Sox promotions department, Wally was a huge Red Sox fan who decided to move inside the left field wall of Fenway Park since it "eats up" hits that would easily be home runs at other parks in 1947. Apparently, he was very shy and lived the life of a hermit for 50 years. On the 50th anniversary of the Green Monster in 1997, he came out of the manual scoreboard and has been interacting with players and fans ever since.[6] Thanks to former Red Sox second baseman and broadcaster Jerry Remy, those older fans have adored him.
Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Scott Hatteberg | 114 | 350 | 97 | .277 | 10 | 44 | 0 |
1B | Mo Vaughn | 141 | 527 | 166 | .315 | 35 | 96 | 2 |
2B | John Valentin | 143 | 575 | 176 | .306 | 18 | 77 | 7 |
SS | Nomar Garciaparra | 153 | 684 | 209 | .306 | 30 | 98 | 22 |
3B | Tim Naehring | 70 | 259 | 74 | .286 | 9 | 40 | 1 |
LF | Wil Cordero | 140 | 570 | 160 | .281 | 18 | 72 | 1 |
CF | Darren Bragg | 153 | 513 | 132 | .257 | 9 | 57 | 10 |
RF | Troy O'Leary | 146 | 499 | 154 | .309 | 15 | 80 | 0 |
DH | Reggie Jefferson | 136 | 489 | 156 | .319 | 13 | 67 | 1 |
Other batters
editNote: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jeff Frye | 127 | 404 | 126 | .312 | 3 | 51 | 19 |
Mike Stanley | 97 | 260 | 78 | .300 | 13 | 53 | 0 |
Bill Haselman | 67 | 212 | 50 | .236 | 6 | 26 | 0 |
Shane Mack | 60 | 130 | 41 | .315 | 3 | 17 | 2 |
Mike Benjamin | 49 | 116 | 27 | .233 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
Jesus Tavarez | 42 | 69 | 12 | .174 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Rudy Pemberton | 27 | 63 | 15 | .238 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
Michael Coleman | 8 | 24 | 4 | .167 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Arquimedez Pozo | 4 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Jose Malave | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Walt McKeel | 5 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Curtis Pride | 2 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Jason Varitek | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
editNote: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Starting pitchers
editPlayer | G | GS | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tim Wakefield | 35 | 29 | 201.1 | 12 | 15 | 0 | 4.25 | 151 |
Tom Gordon | 42 | 25 | 182.2 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 3.74 | 159 |
Aaron Sele | 33 | 33 | 177.1 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 5.38 | 122 |
Jeff Suppan | 23 | 22 | 112.1 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5.69 | 67 |
Steve Avery | 22 | 18 | 96.2 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 6.42 | 51 |
Main relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heathcliff Slocumb | 49 | 0 | 46.2 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 5.79 | 36 |
John Wasdin | 53 | 7 | 124.2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4.40 | 84 |
Butch Henry | 36 | 5 | 84.1 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 3.52 | 51 |
Jim Corsi | 52 | 0 | 57.2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3.43 | 40 |
Kerry Lacy | 33 | 0 | 45.2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6.11 | 18 |
Other pitchers and secondary relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Hammond | 29 | 8 | 65.1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5.92 | 48 |
Vaughn Eshelman | 21 | 6 | 42.2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6.33 | 18 |
Mark Brandenburg | 31 | 0 | 41.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.49 | 34 |
Joe Hudson | 26 | 0 | 35.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.53 | 14 |
Bret Saberhagen | 6 | 6 | 26.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.58 | 14 |
Ron Mahay | 28 | 0 | 25.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.52 | 22 |
Ricky Trlicek | 18 | 0 | 23.1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4.63 | 10 |
Derek Lowe | 8 | 0 | 16.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.38 | 13 |
Rich Garcés | 12 | 0 | 13.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.61 | 12 |
Robinson Checo | 5 | 2 | 13.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.38 | 14 |
Pat Mahomes | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 5 |
Toby Borland | 3 | 0 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |
Ken Grundt | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |
Brian Rose | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 3 |
Mike Benjamin | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Game log
editRed Sox Win | Red Sox Loss | Game Postponed |
1997 Boston Red Sox Season Game Log: 78–84 (Home: 39–42; Away: 39–42) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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April: 13–12
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May: 9–17
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June: 14–15
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July: 15–13
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August: 16–13
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September: 11–14
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Reference:[7] |
Awards and honors
edit- Nomar Garciaparra, reserve SS
Farm system
editThis was the first season that the Red Sox fielded their own team in the Dominican Summer League.
References
edit- ^ "Team Batting Season Finder: For Single Seasons, from 1871 to 2018, At Bats>=5750, Standard statistics, Sorted by greatest At Bats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ Bret Saberhagen Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Steve Avery Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Mike Benjamin Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Curtis Pride Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ "The Official Site of The Boston Red Sox: Community: Wally". Archived from the original on October 20, 2006. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
- ^ "1997 Boston Red Sox Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
- ^ Boston Red Sox Media Guide. 1997. p. 260. Retrieved March 14, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.