1997 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1997 Baltimore Orioles season saw the Orioles finishing first in the American League East Division with a record of 98 wins and 64 losses. They met the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS, and beat them in four games. However, in the ALCS, they would play the Cleveland Indians, where they would fall in six games. It was the final season for Davey Johnson as manager, as a disagreement with ownership drove him out. It would be their last winning season until 15 years later.

1997 Baltimore Orioles
American League East Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkOriole Park at Camden Yards
CityBaltimore, Maryland
Record98–64 (.605)
Divisional place1st
OwnersPeter Angelos
General managersPat Gillick
ManagersDavey Johnson
TelevisionWJZ-TV/WNUV/WBDC
Home Team Sports
(Jim Palmer, Mike Flanagan, Michael Reghi)
RadioWBAL (AM)
(Chuck Thompson, Fred Manfra, Jim Hunter)
← 1996Seasons1998 →

Offseason

  • December 10, 1996: Jimmy Key was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[1]
  • December 13, 1996: Mike Bordick was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[2]
  • December 18, 1996: Jerome Walton was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[3]
  • December 19, 1996: Eric Davis was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[4]
  • March 22, 1997: Scott McClain was traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Manny Alexander to the New York Mets for Hector Ramirez.[5]

Roster

1997 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Regular season

Season standings

AL EastWLPct.GBHomeRoad
Baltimore Orioles98640.60546–3552–29
New York Yankees96660.593247–3349–33
Detroit Tigers79830.4881942–3937–44
Boston Red Sox78840.4812039–4239–42
Toronto Blue Jays76860.4692242–3934–47

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
TeamANABALBOSCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTORNL 
Anaheim4–76–56–57–45–66–57–44–74–711–16–68–46–54–12
Baltimore7–45–75–66–56–67–45–610–18–48–37–410–16–68–7
Boston5–67–53–86–55–73–88–38–34–87–47–43–86–66–9
Chicago5–66–58–35–74–711–14–76–62–98–35–63–85–68–7
Cleveland4–75–65–67–56–58–38–48–45–67–43–85–66–59–6
Detroit6–56–67–57–45–66–54–74–72–107–44–77–46–68–7
Kansas City5–64–78–31–113–85–66–67–53–83–85–66–55–66–9
Milwaukee4–76–53–87–44–87–46–65–74–75–65–67–47–48–7
Minnesota7–41–103–86–64–87–45–77–53–87–45–63–83–87–8
New York7–44–88–49–26–510–28–37–48–36–54–77–47–55–10
Oakland1–113–84–73–84–74–78–36–54–75–65–75–76–57–9
Seattle6–64–74–76–58–37–46–56–56–57–47–58–48–37–9
Texas4–81–108–38–36–54–75–64–78–34–77–54–84–710–6
Toronto5–66–66–66–55–66–66–54–78–35–75–63–87–44–11


Game log

1997 Game Log
April (16–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 2Royals7 – 4Key (1–0)Walker (0–1)Myers (1)46,5881–0
2April 3Royals6 – 4Rhodes (1–0)Montgomery (0–1)Myers (2)43,0312–0
3April 4@Rangers5 – 4Erickson (1–0)Patterson (0–1)Benítez (1)26,0583–0
4April 5@Rangers9 – 7Rhodes (2–0)Oliver (0–1)Myers (3)39,0734–0
5April 6@Rangers9 – 3Pavlik (1–0)Mussina (0–1)36,1564–1
6April 7@Royals6 – 5Walker (1–1)Benítez (0–1)40,0524–2
7April 9@Royals4 – 2 (11)Mills (1–0)Bevil (0–1)Myers (4)12,0365–2
8April 11Rangers9 – 3Mussina (1–1)Burkett (0–1)40,5756–2
9April 13Rangers9 – 0Key (2–0)Pavlik (1–1)44,1547–2
10April 14Twins4 – 2Erickson (2–0)Tewksbury (0–2)Myers (5)36,2888–2
11April 15Twins3 – 1Kamieniecki (1–0)Aldred (0–2)Myers (6)40,1969–2
12April 16@White Sox9 – 3Drabek (1–1)Boskie (0–1)14,0619–3
13April 17@White Sox1 – 0Mussina (2–1)Darwin (0–1)Myers (7)14,67410–3
14April 20@Red Sox11 – 1Key (3–0)Gordon (1–2)32,29011–3
15April 21@Red Sox4 – 2Sele (3–0)Erickson (2–1)Slocumb (3)33,60811–4
16April 22White Sox3 – 2Mussina (3–1)Darwin (0–2)Myers (8)38,39212–4
17April 23White Sox11 – 9 (11)Castillo (2–2)Benítez (0–2)Hernandez (3)42,90212–5
18April 24Red Sox2 – 1 (11)Trlicek (3–4)Mathews (0–1)Henry (4)40,00012–6
19April 25Red Sox2 – 0Erickson (3–1)Gordon (1–3)Myers (9)45,22713–6
20April 26Red Sox14 – 5Key (4–0)Sele (3–1)Johnson (1)47,72714–6
21April 27Red Sox13 – 7Henry (1–0)Rhodes (2–1)47,30714–7
22April 29Twins6 – 4Boskie (1–1)Swindell (1–1)Myers (10)11,36815–7
23April 30Twins12 – 3Kamieniecki (2–0)Tewksbury (1–4)Benítez (2)12,68616–7
May (20–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
24May 1Twins3–2Erickson (4–1)Aldred (1–3)Myers (11)11,67817–7
25May 2Athletics7–1Key (5–0)Karsay (0–3)46,18118–7
26May 3Athletics4–3Small (4–0)Myers (0–1)Taylor (6)45,78018–8
27May 4Athletics11–0Coppinger (1–0)Prieto (2–2)Johnson (2)47,00119–8
28May 5Angels7–2Dickson (5–1)Kamieniecki (2–1)James (3)41,29619–9
29May 6Angels8–4Erickson (5–1)Finley (0–2)Myers (12)37,15020–9
30May 7Angels3–0Key (6–0)Watson (0–2)Myers (13)43,85821–9
31May 8Mariners13–3Mussina (4–1)Johnson (4–1)45,02622–9
32May 9Mariners8–2Moyer (2–0)Coppinger (1–1)47,25722–10
33May 10Mariners3 – 2 (11)Charlton (2–1)Myers (0–2)47,34022–11
34May 11Mariners9–5Erickson (6–1)Martínez (1–3)47,45123–11
35May 12Athletics5–1Key (7–0)Karsay (0–4)Benítez (3)11,35224–11
36May 13Athletics7–3Mussina (5–1)Mohler (0–5)14,85425–11
37May 14Angels6–5Springer (1–1)Boskie (1–2)Holtz (1)15,78025–12
38May 15Angels3–2Dickson (6–1)Kamieniecki (2–2)James (5)15,96625–13
39May 16Mariners6–3Erickson (7–1)Martínez (1–4)39,45526–13
40May 17Mariners4–3Key (8–0)Sanders (0–5)Benítez (4)57,30427–13
41May 18Mariners8–7Orosco (1–0)Charlton (2–3)Benítez (5)57,43228–13
42May 20Tigers4–3Kamieniecki (3–2)Olivares (2–3)Myers (14)48,00329–13
43May 21Tigers2–0Erickson (8–1)Thompson (4–3)Myers (15)47,87730–13
44May 23Indians6–1Ogea (5–3)Key (8–1)41,15430–14
45May 24Indians8–3Mussina (6–1)Kline (3–1)41,04031–14
46May 25Indians7–6Nagy (6–2)Rhodes (2–2)Morman (2)42,94431–15
47May 26Yankees8–6Boskie (2–2)Pettittie (6–3)Myers (16)40,29632–15
48May 27Yankees10–6Kamieniecki (2–2)Rogers (6–3)Benítez (6)29,39233–15
49May 28Yankees8–1Key (9–1)Moehler (3–4)Boskie (1)10,69234–15
50May 30Indians3–0Mussina (7–1)Nagy (6–3)47,75835–15
51May 31Indians8–5Boskie (3–2)Mesa (0–3)Myers (17)47,73936–15
June (15–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
52June 3Yankees7–5Myers (1–2)Mecir (0–3)47,57737–15
53June 4Yankees9–7Orosco (2–0)Nelson (2–5)Myers (18)47,74838–15
54June 6@ White Sox7–3Drabek (5–4)Erickson (8–2)R. Hernandez (12)21,30438–16
55June 7@ White Sox1 – 0 (11)R. Hernández (4–1)Myers (1–3)31,54838–17
56June 8@ White Sox2–1Key (10–1)Darwin (2–3)Myers (19)24,08939–17
57June 9@ White Sox10–2Mussina (8–1)Baldwin (3–8)23,46440–17
58June 10@ Red Sox7–2Erickson (9–2)Eshelman (0–1)41–17
59June 10@ Red Sox4–2Rhodes (3–2)Wakefield (2–5)Myers (20)30,99542–17
60June 11@ Red Sox10–1Gordon (4–6)Johnson (0–1)26,47942–18
61June 12@ Red Sox9–5Sele (7–5)Kamieniecki (4–3)24,97042–19
62June 13@ Braves4 – 3Key (11–1)Maddux (7–3)Myers (21)48,33443–19
63June 14@ Braves6 – 4 (12)Rhodes (4–2)Borowski (2–2)Myers (22)26,96444–19
64June 15@ Braves5 – 3 (10)Mathews (1–1)Wohlers (2–2)Myers (23)48,08845–19
65June 16Expos6 – 4Hermanson (3–4)Boskie (3–3)Urbina (12)47,55745–20
66June 17Expos5 – 4Kamieniecki (5–3)Bullinger (4–6)Myers (24)47,79346–20
67June 18Expos1 – 0C. Perez (8–4)Key (11–2)47,44846–21
68June 20@ Blue Jays3 – 0Hentgen (8–3)Mussina (8–2)30,26646–22
69June 21@ Blue Jays5 – 1Erickson (10–2)Plesac (0–3)40,13947–22
70June 22@ Blue Jays5 – 2Kamieniecki (6–3)Person (2–5)Myers (25)35,10648–22
71June 23@ Brewers5 – 0D'Amico (5–3)Key (11–3)16,30448–23
72June 24@ Brewers6 – 2Boskie (4–3)Karl (2–9)Rhodes (1)14,00749–23
73June 25@ Brewers9 – 1Mussina (9–2)Eldred (7–8)21,04250–23
74June 26Blue Jays3 – 0Clemens (12–2)Erickson (10–3)Timlin (7)47,61750–24
75June 27Blue Jays2 – 1Person (3–5)Kamieniecki (6–4)Spoljaric (2)47,90050–25
76June 28Blue Jays5 – 2W. Williams (3–7)Key (11–4)Timlin (8)47,68750–26
77June 29Blue Jays3 – 2Escobar (1–0)Benítez (0–3)Timlin (9)47,76350–27
78June 30Phillies8 – 1Mussina (10–2)Maduro (3–7)47,83751–27
July (16-11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
79July 1Phillies4 – 1Erickson (11–3)Beech (0–4)Myers (26)47,61052–27
80July 2Phillies10 – 6Rhodes (5–2)Spradlin (1–4)47,78553–27
81July 3@ Tigers10 – 1Key (12–4)Lira (5–5)13,20954–27
82July 4@ Tigers4 – 3Rhodes (6–2)Keagle (0–1)Myers (27)30,10055–27
83July 4@ Tigers11 – 8Bautista (2–2)Mills (1–1)T. Jones (12)30,10055–28
84July 5@ Tigers6 – 5Miceli (2–1)Orosco (2–1)T. Jones (13)37,07455–29
85July 6@ Tigers14 – 9Blair (6–4)Erickson (11–4)18,19755–30
86July 11Brewers3 – 1McDonald (8–6)Key (12–5)D. Jones (21)47,91955–31
87July 12Brewers3 – 2Eldred (9–8)Erickson (11–5)D. Jones (22)47,60655–32
88July 13Brewers6 – 4D'Amico (7–4)Mussina (10–3)D. Jones (23)47,44855–33
89July 14Blue Jays9 – 5Mathews (2–1)Person (3–6)47,04256–33
90July 15Blue Jays8 – 4Boskie (5–3)Guzmán (3–6)47,06257–33
91July 16Red Sox4 – 1Avery (3–2)Key (12–6)Slocumb (12)47,71257–34
92July 17Red Sox12 – 9Mahay (1–0)Orosco (2–2)Slocumb (13)47,91257–35
93July 18White Sox3 – 0Baldwin (7–9)Mussina (10–4)R. Hernández (24)47,75957–36
94July 19White Sox8 – 3Rhodes (7–2)Simas (3–1)Benítez (7)47,85758–36
95July 20White Sox10 – 2Navarro (8–8)Boskie (5–4)47,80058–37
96July 21@ Rangers5 – 1Key (13–6)Oliver (6–10)35,84259–37
97July 22@ Rangers9 – 3Erickson (12–5)Burkett (7–9)43,42160–37
98July 23@ Rangers3 – 2Myers (2–3)Patterson (6–4)40,83461–37
99July 25@ Twins5 – 2Radke (14–5)Kamieniecki (6–5)21,52461–38
August (18-10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
September (13-16)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

PosPlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBI
CChris Hoiles993204583.2591249
1BRafael Palmeiro15861495156.25438110
2BRoberto Alomar11241264137.3331460
3BCal Ripken Jr.16261579166.2701784
SSMike Bordick15350955120.236746
LFB. J. Surhoff14752880150.2841888
CFBrady Anderson15159097170.2881873
RFJeffrey Hammonds11839771105.2642155

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Lenny Webster9825966.255737
Jeff Reboulet9922854.237427
Tony Tarasco10016634.205726
Eric Davis4215848.304825
Pete Incaviglia4813834.246512
Harold Baines4413439.291415
Aaron Ledesma438831.352211
Jerome Walton266820.29439
David Dellucci17276.22213
Tim Laker7140.00001
Melvin Rosario430.00000
Danny Clyburn230.00000
Charlie Greene520.00001

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Mike Mussina33224.21583.20218
Scott Erickson33221.21673.69131
Jimmy Key34212.116103.43141
Scott Kamieniecki30179.11064.01109
Rick Krivda1050.0426.3029

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Shawn Boskie2877.0666.4350
Mike Johnson1439.2017.9429
Nerio Rodríguez622.0214.9111
Rocky Coppinger520.0116.3022
Esteban Yan39.20115.834

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLSVERASO
Randy Myers6159.223451.5156
Arthur Rhodes5395.110313.02102
Armando Benítez7173.14592.45106
Terry Mathews5763.14414.4139
Jesse Orosco7150.16302.3246
Alan Mills3938.22304.8932
Brian Williams1324.00003.0014

ALDS

Game 1

October 1, Kingdome

Team123456789RHE
Baltimore0010440009130
Seattle000100101371
W: Mike Mussina (1-0)   L: Randy Johnson (0-1)  SV: None
HR: BALGerónimo Berroa (1)   Chris Hoiles (1)   SEAEdgar Martínez (1)   Jay Buhner (1)   Alex Rodriguez (1)

Game 2

October 2, Kingdome

Team123456789RHE
Baltimore0100202409140
Seattle200000100390
W: Scott Erickson (1-0)   L: Jamie Moyer (0-1)  SV: None
HR: BALHarold Baines (1)   Brady Anderson (1)   SEA – None

Game 3

October 4, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Team123456789RHE
Seattle0010100024110
Baltimore000000002250
W: Jeff Fassero (1-0)   L: Jimmy Key (0-1)  SV: None
HR: BAL – None   SEAJay Buhner (2)   Paul Sorrento (1)

Game 4

October 5, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Team123456789RHE
Seattle010000000120
Baltimore20001000X370
W: Mike Mussina (2-0)   L: Randy Johnson (0-2)  SV: Randy Myers (1)
HR: BALJeff Reboulet (1)   Gerónimo Berroa (2)   SEAEdgar Martínez (2)

ALCS

Game 1

October 8, Camden Yards

Team123456789RHE
Cleveland000000000041
Baltimore10200000X361
WP: Scott Erickson (1-0)  LP: Chad Ogea (0-1)  SV: Randy Myers (1)
HRs: BALBrady Anderson (1) Roberto Alomar (1)

Game 2

October 9, Camden Yards

Team123456789RHE
Cleveland200000030563
Baltimore020002000481
WP: Paul Assenmacher (1-0)  LP: Armando Benítez (0-1)  SV: José Mesa (1)
HRs: CLEManny Ramírez (1) Marquis Grissom (1)   BALCal Ripken (1)

Game 3

October 11, Jacobs Field

Team123456789101112RHE
Baltimore000000001000181
Cleveland000000100001260
WP: Eric Plunk (1-0)  LP: Randy Myers (0-1)  
HRs: None

Game 4

October 12, Jacobs Field

Team123456789RHE
Baltimore0140001017122
Cleveland0201400018130
WP: José Mesa (1-0)  LP: Alan Mills (0-1)  
HRs: CLESandy Alomar Jr. (1) Manny Ramírez (2)   BALBrady Anderson (2) Harold Baines (1) Rafael Palmeiro (1)

Game 5

October 13, Jacobs Field

Team123456789RHE
Baltimore0020000024100
Cleveland000000002281
WP: Scott Kamieniecki (1-0)  LP: Chad Ogea (0-2)  
HRs: BALEric Davis (1)

Game 6

October 15, Camden Yards

Team1234567891011RHE
Cleveland00000000001130
Baltimore000000000000100
WP: Brian Anderson (1-0)  LP: Armando Benítez (0-2)  S: José Mesa (1)
HRs: CLE: – Tony Fernández (1)

Awards and honors

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

  • Roberto Alomar, starter
  • Cal Ripken Jr., starter

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAARochester Red WingsInternational LeagueMarv Foley
AABowie BaysoxEastern LeagueJoe Ferguson
AFrederick KeysCarolina LeagueDave Hilton
ADelmarva ShorebirdsSouth Atlantic LeagueTommy Shields and Tom Trebelhorn
RookieBluefield OriolesAppalachian LeagueBobby Dickerson
RookieGCL OriolesGulf Coast LeagueButch Davis

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Delmarva, Bluefield[8]

References