1997 Detroit Tigers season
The 1997 Detroit Tigers finished in third place in the American League Eastern Division with a record of 79-83 (.488), an improvement of 26 games over the previous season. They were outscored by their opponents 790 to 784. The Tigers drew 1,365,157 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1997, ranking 13th of the 14 teams in the American League.
1997 Detroit Tigers | |
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Major League affiliations | |
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Other information | |
Owners | Mike Ilitch |
General managers | Randy Smith |
Managers | Buddy Bell |
Local television | WKBD (Ernie Harwell, Al Kaline, Jim Price) PASS (Ernie Harwell, Jim Price, Fred McLeod) |
Local radio | WJR (Frank Beckmann, Lary Sorensen) |
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This was the Tigers' final year in the AL East. To make room for the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the team moved from the AL East to the AL Central. On July 27, 1997, the Detroit Tigers retired pitcher Hal Newhouser's number 16.
Offseason
- January 9, 1997: Vince Coleman signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.[1]
Regular season
Season standings
AL East | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Baltimore Orioles | 98 | 64 | 0.605 | — | 46–35 | 52–29 |
New York Yankees | 96 | 66 | 0.593 | 2 | 47–33 | 49–33 |
Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 19 | 42–39 | 37–44 |
Boston Red Sox | 78 | 84 | 0.481 | 20 | 39–42 | 39–42 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 76 | 86 | 0.469 | 22 | 42–39 | 34–47 |
Record vs. opponents
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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 |
Transactions
Roster
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
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Game log
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April
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May
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June
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July
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August
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September
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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 |
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C | Raul Casanova | 101 | 304 | 74 | .243 | 5 | 24 |
1B | Tony Clark | 159 | 580 | 160 | .276 | 32 | 117 |
2B | Damion Easley | 151 | 527 | 139 | .264 | 22 | 72 |
3B | Travis Fryman | 154 | 595 | 163 | .274 | 22 | 102 |
SS | Deivi Cruz | 147 | 436 | 105 | .241 | 2 | 40 |
LF | Bobby Higginson | 146 | 546 | 163 | .299 | 27 | 101 |
CF | Brian Hunter | 162 | 658 | 177 | .269 | 4 | 45 |
RF | Melvin Nieves | 116 | 359 | 82 | .228 | 20 | 64 |
DH | Bob Hamelin | 110 | 318 | 86 | .270 | 18 | 52 |
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 |
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Phil Nevin | 93 | 251 | 59 | .235 | 9 | 35 |
Curtis Pride | 79 | 162 | 34 | .210 | 2 | 19 |
Brian Johnson | 45 | 139 | 33 | .237 | 2 | 18 |
Matt Walbeck | 47 | 137 | 38 | .277 | 3 | 10 |
Bubba Trammell | 44 | 123 | 28 | .228 | 4 | 13 |
Jody Reed | 52 | 112 | 22 | .196 | 0 | 8 |
Orlando Miller | 50 | 111 | 26 | .234 | 2 | 10 |
Juan Encarnación | 11 | 33 | 7 | .212 | 1 | 5 |
Frank Catalanotto | 13 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 0 | 3 |
Jimmy Hurst | 13 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 1 | 1 |
Vince Coleman | 6 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 0 |
Marcus Jensen | 8 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
Kimera Bartee | 12 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
Joe Hall | 2 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 3 |
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 |
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Justin Thompson | 32 | 223.1 | 15 | 11 | 3.02 | 151 |
Brian Moehler | 31 | 175.1 | 11 | 12 | 4.67 | 97 |
Willie Blair | 29 | 175.0 | 16 | 8 | 4.17 | 90 |
Omar Olivares | 19 | 115.0 | 5 | 6 | 4.70 | 74 |
Felipe Lira | 20 | 92.0 | 5 | 7 | 5.77 | 64 |
Scott Sanders | 14 | 74.1 | 3 | 8 | 5.33 | 58 |
Greg Keagle | 11 | 45.1 | 3 | 5 | 6.55 | 33 |
Tim Pugh | 2 | 9.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | 4 |
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 |
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Glenn Dishman | 7 | 29.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.28 | 20 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
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Todd Jones | 68 | 70.0 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 3.09 | 70 |
Mike Myers | 88 | 53.2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5.70 | 50 |
Dan Miceli | 71 | 82.2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5.01 | 79 |
Doug Brocail | 61 | 78.0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3.23 | 60 |
A. J. Sager | 38 | 84.0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4.18 | 53 |
José Bautista | 21 | 40.1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6.69 | 19 |
Kevin Jarvis | 17 | 41.2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5.40 | 27 |
John Cummings | 19 | 24.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.47 | 8 |
Eddie Gaillard | 16 | 20.1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.31 | 12 |
Roberto Duran | 13 | 10.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.59 | 11 |
Fernando Hernández | 2 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.50 | 2 |
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Glenn Ezell and Gene Roof |
AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Dave Anderson |
A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Mark Meleski |
A | West Michigan Whitecaps | Midwest League | Bruce Fields |
A-Short Season | Jamestown Jammers | New York–Penn League | Dwight Lowry and Matt Martin |
Rookie | GCL Tigers | Gulf Coast League | Kevin Bradshaw |
References
- "Vince Coleman Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- "Bob Hamelin Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007