The Seattle Mariners 1997 season was their 21st season, and the team won their second American League West with a record of 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 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, as he would later be traded to Houston midway through the 1998 season.
Offseason October 3, 1996: Ricky Jordan was released by the Mariners. November 12, 1996: Jalal Leach was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. November 15, 1996: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Mariners from the Montreal Expos. December 21, 1996: Josías Manzanillo was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. January 10, 1997: Brent Mayne was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. January 22, 1997: Rob Ducey was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. January 24, 1997: Mike Blowers was signed as a free agent with the Mariners.Mike Blowers Statistics Baseball-Reference.com February 20, 1997: Dennis Martínez was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. March 27, 1997: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Texas Rangers from the Mariners. March 28, 1997: Brent Mayne was released by the Mariners.
Regular season
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. On August 8 he matched the feat by setting down 19 Chicago White Sox. 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.
Opening Day starters Jay Buhner Joey Cora Russ Davis Jeff Fassero Ken Griffey Jr. Edgar Martínez Alex Rodriguez Paul Sorrento Lee Tinsley Dan Wilson1997 Seattle Mariners Roster by Baseball Almanac
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 8, 1997: Steve Decker was signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners.Steve Decker Statistics Baseball-Reference.com May 24, 1997: Dennis Martínez was released by the Seattle Mariners. July 17, 1997: Josías Manzanillo was released by the Seattle Mariners. 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.Paul Spoljaric Statistics Baseball-Reference.com 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.
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 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
Game 1 October 1, Kingdome Team123456789RHEBaltimore0010440009130Seattle000100101371W: Mike Mussina (1-0) L: Randy Johnson (0-1) SV: NoneHR: BAL – Gerónimo Berroa (1) Chris Hoiles (1) SEA – Edgar Martínez (1) Jay Buhner (1) Alex Rodriguez (1)
Game 2 October 2, Kingdome Team123456789RHEBaltimore0100202409140Seattle200000100390W: Scott Erickson (1-0) L: Jamie Moyer (0-1) SV: NoneHR: BAL – Harold Baines (1) Brady Anderson (1) SEA – None
Game 3 October 4, Oriole Park at Camden Yards Team123456789RHESeattle0010100024110Baltimore000000002250W: Jeff Fassero (1-0) L: Jimmy Key (0-1) SV: NoneHR: BAL – None SEA – Jay Buhner (2) Paul Sorrento (1)
Game 4 October 5, Oriole Park at Camden Yards Team123456789RHESeattle010000000120Baltimore20001000X370W: 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 264Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.380, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
External links 1997 Seattle Mariners at Baseball Reference 1997 Seattle Mariners team page at www.baseball-almanac.com