1997 Los Angeles Dodgers season explained

Los Angeles Dodgers
Season:	1997
League:	National League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Dodger Stadium
City:	Los Angeles
Record:	88–74 (.543)
Divisional Place:	2nd
Owners:	Peter O'Malley
General Managers:	Fred Claire
Managers:	Bill Russell
Television:	Fox Sports West 2 KTLA (5)
Radio:	KABC Vin Scully, Ross Porter, Rick Monday KWKW Jaime Jarrín, René Cárdenas

The 1997 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 108th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 40th season in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers were competitive all season long before finally fading down the stretch; the Dodgers finished in second place behind their longtime rivals, San Francisco Giants, in the National League West. The edition of the Dodgers had, for the second time in team history (and for the first time since 1977), four players crack the 30 home run barrier: Mike Piazza led the team with 40, Eric Karros and Todd Zeile hit 31 each, and Raul Mondesi hit 30.

Offseason

• December 9, 1996: Acquired Jeff Berblinger from the Detroit Tigers for Deivi Cruz and Juan Hernaiz

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters

Name	Position
	Center fielder
	Second baseman
	Right fielder
Mike Piazza	Catcher
	First baseman
Todd Zeile	Third baseman
	Left fielder
	Shortstop
	Starting pitcher

Notable Transactions

• August 9, 1997: Acquired Hal Garrett from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Eddie Williams.
• August 12, 1997: Acquired Otis Nixon from the Toronto Blue Jays for Bobby Cripps.^[1]
• August 18, 1997: Acquired Eric Young from the Colorado Rockies for Pedro Astacio.
• August 27, 1997: Acquired Darren Lewis from the Chicago White Sox for Chad Fonville.
• September 3, 1997: Chip Hale was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[2]

Roster

1997 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		Manager Coaches (third base) (bullpen) (bench) (hitting/1st base) (pitching)

Starting Pitchers stats

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games

Name	G	GS	IP	W/L	ERA	BB !	SO	CG
Hideo Nomo	33	33	207.1	14-12	4.25	92	233	1
Ismael Valdez	30	30	196.2	10-11	2.65	47	140	0
Chan Ho Park	32	29	192.0	14-8	3.38	70	166	2
Pedro Astacio	26	24	153.2	7-9	4.10	47	115	2
Ramón Martínez	22	22	133.2	10-5	3.64	68	120	1

Relief Pitchers stats

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves

Name	G	GS	IP	W/L	ERA	BB	SO	SV
Todd Worrell	65	0	59.2	2-6	5.28	23	61	35
	75	0	62.1	5-1	2.89	21	44	3
	63	0	54.2	3-2	2.30	26	39	2
		62	0	69.1	1-4	5.32	30	42	1
	48	0	63.0	5-2	2.86	34	63	4
	41	18		135.0	10-7	3.60	40	90	0
	48	0	61.2	3-4	2.19	19	68	0
	14	5	47.0	2-3	3.83	18	36	0
	10	0	14.2	1-0	4.30	5	6	0
	4	1	6.0	1-0	15.00	6	6	0
	1	0	2.2	0-0	0.00	0	4	0

Batting Stats

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

Name	Pos	G	AB	Avg.	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
Mike Piazza	C	152	556	.362	104	201	40	124	5
	C	47	100	.220	17	22	3	14	0
Eric Karros	1B	162	628	.266	86	167	31	104	15
Wilton Guerrero	2B/SS	111	357	.291	39	104	4	32	6
Greg Gagne	SS	144	514	.251	49	129	9	57	2
Todd Zeile	3B	160	575	.268	89	154	31	90	8
	2B	37	154	.273	28	42	2	16	13
	2B/SS/3B/1B	76	88	.227	10	20	1	11	0
	2B/SS	28	86	.291	8	25	4	20	0
	SS/2B/3B	40	75	.147	3	11	0	4	0
	2B	9	20	.200	3	4	0	1	1
	2B	9	14	.143	1	2	0	1	0
	3B	14	12	.083	0	1	0	0	0
	1B/3B	6	7	.143	0	1	0	0	0
	1B	9	7	.286	0	2	0	3	0
	1B	8	7	.143	0	1	0	1	0
	1B	3	5	.400	1	2	1	1	0
Raúl Mondesí	RF	159	616	.310	95	191	30	87	32
Roger Cedeño	CF/LF/RF	80	194	.273	31	53	3	17	9
Todd Hollandsworth	LF/CF/RF	106	296	.247	39	73	4	31	5
	CF/LF	105	343	.283	52	97	0	18	15
	CF	42	175	.274	30	48	1	18	12
	LF	71	131	.244	12	32	6	19	0
	LF/CF/RF	26	77	.299	7	23	1	10	3
	LF/RF	47	74	.243	8	18	2	5	2
	CF/LF/RF	46	65	.169	6	11	0	4	0
	LF/RF	15	39	.128	5	5	1	8	0
	LF/CF	12	9	.444	2	4	0	1	1

1997 Awards

• 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Mike Piazza starter
• Gold Glove Award
  • Raúl Mondesí
• Silver Slugger Award
  • Mike Piazza
• TSN National League All-Star
  • Mike Piazza
• NL Player of the Month
  • Mike Piazza (July 1997)
  • Mike Piazza (August 1997)
• NL Player of the Week
  • Mike Piazza (Aug. 25–31)

Farm system

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball Draft

See main article: 1997 Major League Baseball draft.

The Dodgers selected 71 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They received an extra supplemental pick in the second round as a result of losing free agent Delino DeShields.

The first round pick was first baseman Glenn Davis from Vanderbilt University. In eight seasons in the minors, he never advanced past AA. He hit .242 in 802 minor league games with 108 homers and 431 RBI. With their second round pick, the Dodgers picked shortstop Chase Utley from Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California. However, Utley refused to sign and went to college instead. He was eventually a first round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2000 and became a multi-time All-Star.

None of the players signed by the Dodgers in this draft class had a significant major league career.

External links

• 1997 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site
• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

Notes and References

1. Web site: Otis Nixon Stats.
2. Web site: Chip Hale Stats.
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=franch_year&team_ID=LAD&year_ID=1997&draft_type=junreg& 1997 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft