1997 Montreal Expos season

The 1997 Montreal Expos season was the 29th season of the franchise. They finished 78–84, 23 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and 14 games back of the Florida Marlins in the Wild Card. They played the Toronto Blue Jays in Interleague play for the first time during the season.

1997 Montreal Expos
Pedro Martínez wins the Cy Young
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record78–84
Divisional place4th
Other information
OwnersClaude Brochu
General managersJim Beattie
ManagersFelipe Alou
Local televisionThe Sports Network
(Dave Van Horne, Ken Singleton)
TQS
(Michel Villeneuve, Marc Griffin)
SRC
(Claude Raymond, Rene Pothier)
RDS Network
(Denis Casavant, Rodger Brulotte)
Local radioCIQC
(Dave Van Horne, Elliott Price, Joe Cannon, Gary Carter)
CKAC (AM)
(Jacques Doucet, Rodger Brulotte,Alain Chantelois)
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Offseason
  • October 28, 1996: John Habyan was released by the Montreal Expos.[1]
  • November 15, 1996: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Seattle Mariners from the Montreal Expos.[2]
  • December 17, 1996: Torey Lovullo was signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos.[3]
  • January 21, 1997: Lee Smith signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos.[4]
  • January 28, 1997: Yamil Benitez was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Kansas City Royals for Melvin Bunch.[5]
  • March 26, 1997: Cliff Floyd was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Florida Marlins for Dustin Hermanson and Joe Orsulak.[6]
  • March 31, 1997: Rico Rossy was signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos.[7]

Spring training

The Expos held spring training at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida – a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves – for the last time in 1997. It was their 21st season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972 and since 1981. In the final spring training game at Municipal Stadium, held on March 26, 1997, the Expos defeated the Braves 2-0.[8] The following season, the Expos moved their spring training activities to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.

Regular season

In 1997, Pedro Martínez posted a 17-8 record for the Expos, and led the league in half a dozen pitching categories, including a 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts and 13 complete games pitched, and won the National League Cy Young Award. Pedro Martínez was also the first right-handed pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts with an ERA under 2.00 since Walter Johnson in 1912.

The 13 complete games were tied for the second-highest single-season total in all of baseball since Martínez's career began (Curt Schilling had 15 in 1998; Chuck Finley and Jack McDowell also reached 13 in a year). However, this 1997 total is by far the highest in Martínez's career, as he has only completed more than 5 games in one other season (7, in 2000).

  • May 7, 1997 – The Expos set a team record (never broken) in runs scored in one inning as they score 13 runs off of Julián Tavárez, Jim Poole, and Joe Roa of the San Francisco Giants at 3Com Park. The Expos would go on to defeat the Giants 19 to 3. The only non-pitcher on the Expos to not register a hit was Sherman Obando who went 0 for 1. An up-and-coming prospect named Vladimir Guerrero hit his first career double and was struck by his second career pitch. A crowd of 9,958 were on hand to witness it in San Francisco.

Opening Day starters

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 record

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
Expos vs. American League
Team AL East
BAL BOS DET NYY TOR
Montreal 2–1 3–0 3–0 2–1 2–1

Notable transactions
  • May 20, 1997: Torey Lovullo was released by the Montreal Expos.[3]
  • July 25, 1997: Omar Daal was selected off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Montreal Expos.[9]
  • July 31, 1997: Jeff Juden was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Cleveland Indians for Steve Kline.[10]
  • September 25, 1997: Lee Smith was released by the Montreal Expos.[4]

Roster
1997 Montreal Expos
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Interleague Play
  • June 30 – The first interleague game between the Montreal Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays took place at SkyDome. The Expos won the game by a score of 2-1.[11]

Expos vs. Jays

June 30, SkyDome, Toronto, Ontario

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Montreal 010 001 000 260
Toronto 000 000 100 130
W: Pedro Martínez (10-3)  L: Pat Hentgen (8-5)
Home Runs: Vladimir Guerrero (4), Carlos Delgado (15) Attendance: 37,430 Time: 2:03

Batting
Montreal Expos AB R H RBI Toronto Blue Jays AB R H RBI
Grudzielanek, ss 3 1 1 0 Nixon cf 4 0 1 0
Lansing 2b 4 0 0 0 Merced dh 4 0 0 0
Santangelo 3b 4 0 0 0 Carter lf 4 0 0 0
Segui 1b 3 0 2 1 Delgado 1b 2 1 1 1
Rodriguez lf 4 0 0 0 Sprague 3b 3 0 0 0
Orsulak lf 0 0 0 0 Green rf 3 0 0 0
Guerrero rf 4 1 2 1 Santiago c 3 0 0 0
McGuire dh 3 0 0 0 Gonzalez ss 3 0 1 0
White cf 3 0 0 0 Garcia 2b 3 0 0 0
Widger c 3 0 1 0 NONE 0 0 0 0
Totals 31 2 6 2 Totals 29 1 3 1

Pitching
Montreal Expos IP H R ER BB SO
Martinez W (10-3) 9.0 3 1 1 1 10
Totals 9.0 3 1 1 1 10
Toronto Blue Jays IP H R ER BB SO
Hentgen L (8-5) 9.0 6 2 2 1 3
Totals 9.0 6 2 2 1 3

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
CChris Widger9127865.234737
1BDavid Segui125459141.3072168
2BMike Lansing144572161.2812070
SSMark Grudzielanek156649177.273451
3BDoug Strange11832784.2571247
LFHenry Rodriguez132476116.2442683
CFRondell White151592160.2702882
RFVladimir Guerrero9032598.3021140

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
F.P. Santangelo13035087.249531
Darrin Fletcher9631086.2771755
Ryan McGuire8419951.256317
José Vidro6716942.249217
Joe Orsulak10615034.22717
Andy Stankiewicz7610724.22415
Shane Andrews186413.20349
Sherman Obando41476.12829
Brad Fullmer194012.30038
Raúl Chávez13267.26902
Hensley Meulens16247.29226
Orlando Cabrera16184.22202

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
Pedro Martínez31241.11781.90305
Carlos Pérez33206.212133.88110
Dustin Hermanson32158.1883.69136
Jeff Juden22130.01154.22107
Mike Johnson1150.0255.9428
Rhéal Cormier11.10133.750

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
Jim Bullinger36155.17125.5687
Marc Valdes4895.0443.1354
José Paniagua918.01212.008
Mike Thurman511.2105.408

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
Ugueth Urbina6358273.7884
Anthony Telford654613.2461
Dave Veres532313.4847
Omar Daal331219.7916
Steve Kline261306.1520
Lee Smith250155.8215
Rick DeHart232105.5229
Shayne Bennett160103.188
Salomón Torres120007.2511
Steve Falteisek50003.382
Everett Stull301016.202

Award winners

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

  • Pedro Martínez, pitcher, reserve

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Ottawa Lynx International League Pat Kelly
AA Harrisburg Senators Eastern League Rick Sofield
A West Palm Beach Expos Florida State League Doug Sisson
A Cape Fear Crocs South Atlantic League Phil Stephenson
A-Short Season Vermont Expos New York–Penn League Kevin Higgins
Rookie GCL Expos Gulf Coast League Luis Dorante

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Harrisburg[12]

References
  1. "John Habyan Stats".
  2. "Dave Silvestri Stats".
  3. "Torey Lovullo Stats".
  4. Lee Smith Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  5. "Yamil Benitez Stats".
  6. Cliff Floyd Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  7. "Rico Rossy Stats".
  8. "Around the NL". St. Petersburg Times. March 27, 1997. p. 5C.
  9. "Omar Daal Stats".
  10. Jeff Juden Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  11. "1997 Toronto Blue Jays Schedule by Baseball Almanac".
  12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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