1997 New York Mets season

The New York Mets' 1997 season was the 36th regular season for the Mets. They went 88-74 and finished 3rd in the NL East. They were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

1997 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General manager(s)Joe McIlvaine, Steve Phillips
Manager(s)Bobby Valentine
Local televisionWWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York
(Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Howie Rose, Gary Thorne)
Local radioWFAN
(Bob Murphy, Gary Cohen, Ed Coleman)
WADO (spanish)
(Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa)
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Offseason

Regular season

For the first time since 1990 the Mets finished the regular season with a winning record. Their offensive output was led by their corner infielders, the 23-year old third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo and the two-time former world champion first baseman John Olerud, the latter of whom was acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. Alfonzo, in his first full season as a starter, led the team with a .315 average and 163 hits while Olerud notched a .294 average and drove in 102 runs to lead the Mets in that category. Catcher Todd Hundley, a year removed from his record setting 1996 campaign, led the team in home runs with thirty and added 86 RBI, one of five Mets to record 70 or more (joining Alfonzo, Olerud, Bernard Gilkey, and Butch Huskey).

After a year out of baseball, Rick Reed joined the Mets' starting rotation and led them with a 2.89 ERA. Bobby Jones led with fifteen wins, with Reed recording thirteen. John Franco saved 36 games, his most since 1988.

Jackie Robinson tribute

On April 15 the Mets hosted ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Shea Stadium.[5] The ceremony was attended by President Bill Clinton and commissioner Bud Selig announced that Robinson's jersey number, 42, would be retired permanently across baseball.[5] The Mets won the game 5-0.[6]

Subway Series

Interleague play was brought to MLB in 1997 and the Mets played New York Yankees in June as part of the first ever regular season games that counted in the standings between the two teams (they had previously an exhibition game until 1983 during the season). The series took place at Yankee Stadium, and Mets won the first game by a score of 6-0.[7]

Season standings
NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 10161 0.623 — 50–31 51–30
Florida Marlins 9270 0.568 9 52–29 40–41
New York Mets 8874 0.543 13 50–31 38–43
Montreal Expos 7884 0.481 23 45–36 33–48
Philadelphia Phillies 6894 0.420 33 38–43 30–51

Record vs. opponents
1997 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LA MTL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL AL
Atlanta—9–29–25–64–87–46–510–25–710–25–68–37–48–37–5
Chicago2–9—7–52–92–93–95–64–76–56–57–56–55–64–89–6
Cincinnati2–95–7—5–65–65–76–56–52–98–38–45–64–76–69–6
Colorado 6–59–26–5—7–45–65–77–46–54–74–74–84–87–49–7
Florida8–49–26–54–7—7–47–47–54–86–67–45–65–65–612–3
Houston4–79–37–56–54–7—7–48–37–44–76–66–53–89–34–11
Los Angeles 5–66–55–67–54–74–7—7–46–510–19–25–76–65–69–7
Montreal2–107–45–64–75–73–84–7—5–76–65–68–36–56–512–3
New York7–55–69–25–68–44–75–67–5—7–57–45–63–89–27–8
Philadelphia2-105–63–87–46–67–41–106–65–7—5–67–43–86–55–10
Pittsburgh6–55–74–87–44–76–62–96–54–76–5—5–68–39–37–8
San Diego3–85–66–58–46–55–67–53–86–54–76–5—4–85–68–8
San Francisco4–76–57–48–46–58–36–65–68–38–33–88–4—3–810–6
St. Louis3–88–46–64–76–53-96–55–62–95–63–96–58–3—8–7

Notable transactions

Roster
1997 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

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

Other batters
Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Carl Everett142443110.2481457
Kevin Morgan110.00000

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers
Player G W L SV ERA SO
Greg McMichael7371072.9881
Ricardo Jordan221205.3319

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Norfolk Tides International League Rick Dempsey
AA Binghamton Mets Eastern League Rick Sweet
A St. Lucie Mets Florida State League John Gibbons
A Capital City Bombers South Atlantic League Doug Mansolino and John Stephenson
A-Short Season Pittsfield Mets New York–Penn League Doug Davis
Rookie Kingsport Mets Appalachian League Ken Berry
Rookie GCL Mets Gulf Coast League Mickey Brantley and Doug Flynn

League champions: Pittsfield, GCL Mets[11]

References
  1. Paul Byrd page at Baseball Reference
  2. Rico Brogna page at Baseball Reference
  3. John Olerud page at Baseball Reference
  4. Scott McClain page at Baseball Reference
  5. Smith, Claire (April 16, 1997). "A Grand Tribute to Robinson and His Moment". New York Times. p. A1.
  6. Olney, Buster (April 16, 1997). "Mets' Own Melting Pot Provides Victory Blend". New York Times. p. B14.
  7. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=199706160NYA
  8. Garrett Atkins page at Baseball Reference
  9. Jeremy Guthrie page at Baseball Reference
  10. Brian McRae page at Baseball Reference
  11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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