1997 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1997 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 116th season of the franchise; the 111th in the National League. This was their 28th season at Three Rivers Stadium. The Pirates finished second in the National League Central with a record of 79–83.

1997 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record79–83 (.488)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
OwnersKevin McClatchy
General managersCam Bonifay
ManagersGene Lamont
Local televisionWPGH-TV & WPTT-TV
Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh
Local radioKDKA-AM
(Steve Blass, Greg Brown, Lanny Frattare, Bob Walk)
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Offseason

New stadium referendum

Perhaps the most interesting headline of the Pirates' 1997 season didn't occur on the field. In 1997 voters in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County and 10 surrounding counties were presented with a referendum, known as the Regional Renaissance Initiative, to raise their county sales tax by 1/2% for seven years to fund, among other things, new stadiums for the Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers. Both teams were playing in Three Rivers Stadium, which at the time was considered by many to be obsolete. The unexpected pennant drive provided a backdrop for the question as it was debated throughout the summer, given the concern that the Pirates might leave the city if a new stadium wasn't procured.

The referendum failed badly in all 11 counties. Only in Allegheny County was it close (58-42), while being rejected by 2-1 to 3-1 margins in other counties. The next year what became known as "Plan B" was pursued by local and state government officials which called again for two new stadiums as well as an expansion of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The new plan was eventually passed, this time without a referendum and despite polls showing the public was against this as well, resulting in the construction of PNC Park and Heinz Field, where both teams would start playing in 2001.

Regular season

The 1997 Pittsburgh Pirates were informally known as "The Freak Show,"[5] as the team of rookies and cheap veterans (the team only had a $9 million payroll) unexpectedly competed with the Houston Astros for the division title until the final week of the season.

Season standings
NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Houston Astros 8478 0.519 — 46–35 38–43
Pittsburgh Pirates 7983 0.488 5 43–38 36–45
Cincinnati Reds 7686 0.469 8 40–41 36–45
St. Louis Cardinals 7389 0.451 11 41–40 32–49
Chicago Cubs 6894 0.420 16 42–39 26–55

Game log
1997 Game Log (79–83)
April (12–13)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 1@ Giants5–2Ruebel (1–0)RodriguezEricks (1)41,9961–0
2April 3@ Giants5–7FernandezCooke (0–1)Beck8,0991–1
3April 4@ Dodgers3–5CandiottiWainhouse (0–1)Worrell37,2841–2
4April 5@ Dodgers3–1Cordova (1–0)ParkEricks (2)41,0992–2
5April 6@ Dodgers3–6DreifortRincon (0–1)Worrell37,4932–3
6April 7@ Padres2–3 (10)VerasRuebel (1–1)—29,8952–4
7April 8@ Padres2–0Cooke (1–1)BergmanEricks (3)14,2783–4
8April 9@ Padres4–2Loaiza (1–0)WorrellEricks (4)24,7354–4
9April 11Dodgers1–7MartinezCordova (1–1)—43,1264–5
10April 13Dodgers5–14NomoSchmidt (0–1)—14,8854–6
11April 15Padres3–2Ericks (1–0)Ashby—6,8515–6
12April 16Padres5–7ValenzuelaCooke (1–2)Hoffman6,7775–7
13April 17Reds3–2Loaiza (2–0)MorganEricks (5)6,0396–7
14April 18Reds1–6BurbaCordova (1–2)—9,0826–8
15April 19Reds6–5Rincon (1–1)Remlinger—11,4577–8
16April 20Reds5–3Lieber (1–0)MerckerEricks (6)14,5428–8
17April 21Phillies2–10SchillingCooke (1–3)—9,0158–9
18April 23Phillies3–2Rincon (2–1)Spradlin—8,8509–9
19April 24@ Cubs4–3Loiselle (1–0)Rojas—21,78710–9
20April 25@ Cubs1–11FosterLieber (1–1)—18,33310–10
21April 26@ Cubs6–7PattersonRincon (2–2)Rojas29,32310–11
22April 27@ Cubs7–0Schmidt (1–1)Telemaco—21,08311–11
23April 28@ Phillies9–4 (12)Wilkins (1–0)Mimbs—12,01712–11
24April 29@ Phillies2–8MaduroRuebel (1–2)—12,45312–12
25April 30Giants1–6GardnerLieber (1–2)—10,07312–13
May (14–14)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
26May 1Giants3–2Cooke (2–3)EstesRincon (1)10,50713–13
27May 2@ Braves3–2Peters (1–0)BieleckiLoiselle (1)37,57714–13
28May 3@ Braves3–0Loaiza (3–0)GlavineRincon (2)46,60215–13
29May 4@ Braves1–3WadeCordova (1–3)Wohlers42,03715–14
30May 5@ Marlins0–3HellingLieber (1–3)Nen16,61615–15
31May 6@ Marlins4–0Cooke (3–3)Fernandez—18,06316–15
32May 7@ Rockies14–3Wilkins (2–0)Thompson—48,05617–15
33May 8@ Rockies10–8Loaiza (4–0)WrightLoiselle (2)48,05018–15
34May 9Braves9–0Cordova (2–3)Wade—18,00619–15
35May 10Braves3–9NeagleLieber (1–4)—34,14319–16
36May 11Braves2–8SmoltzCooke (3–4)—29,89519–17
37May 12Braves2–10MadduxSchmidt (1–2)—12,11419–18
38May 14Rockies15–10Wilkins (3–0)Reed—11,84120–18
39May 15Rockies4–3Cordova (3–3)BaileyRincon (3)8,54821–18
40May 16Marlins1–3FernandezLieber (1–5)Nen17,15621–19
41May 17Marlins1–11RappCooke (3–5)—32,06621–20
42May 18Marlins3–5 (10)NenLoiselle (1–1)Stanifer28,70221–21
43May 20@ Cardinals1–3JacksonLoaiza (4–1)Eckersley25,99021–22
44May 21@ Cardinals3–2Ruebel (2–2)FossasLoiselle (3)34,73822–22
45May 22@ Expos9–3Lieber (2–5)PerezRincon (4)12,62023–22
46May 23@ Expos1–4MartinezCooke (3–6)—18,49923–23
47May 24@ Expos3–7JudenSchmidt (1–3)Urbina26,15423–24
48May 25@ Expos8–6Wilkins (4–0)DaalLoiselle (4)27,25324–24
49May 26Cubs1–2FosterCordova (3–4)Adams20,60924–25
50May 27Cubs7–8GonzalezLieber (2–6)Adams9,64124–26
51May 28Cubs4–1Cooke (4–6)Mulholland—10,19825–26
52May 30Expos10–2Peters (2–0)Juden—14,67626–26
53May 31Expos2–4HermansonLoaiza (4–2)Urbina14,62826–27
June (11–16)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
54June 1Expos11–2Cordova (4–4)Bullinger—25,75227–27
55June 2@ Cubs2–3MulhollandLieber (2–7)Adams21,77327–28
56June 3@ Cubs3–1Cooke (5–6)TrachselLoiselle (5)17,31728–28
57June 4Cardinals0–10BenesSchmidt (1–4)—19,18128–29
58June 5Cardinals9–3Loaiza (5–2)Stottlemyre—11,38229–29
59June 6Phillies5–4 (10)Wilkins (5–0)Spradlin—15,16530–29
60June 7Phillies9–2Lieber (3–7)Nye—25,66431–29
61June 8Phillies2–3SchillingCooke (5–7)Bottalico30,66731–30
62June 10@ Reds5–8RemlingerRincon (2–3)Shaw18,55631–31
63June 11@ Reds1–2TomkoLoaiza (5–3)Shaw20,85431–32
64June 13Royals5–3Cordova (5–4)WilliamsLoiselle (6)33,25332–32
65June 14Royals3–8BelcherLieber (3–8)Montgomery39,50932–33
66June 15Royals1–8AppierCooke (5–8)—35,77432–34
67June 16@ Twins8–6Schmidt (2–4)AldredLoiselle (7)16,00733–34
68June 17@ Twins1–13HawkinsLoaiza (5–4)—14,89433–35
69June 18@ Twins2–8RadkeCordova (5–5)—15,68833–36
70June 19@ Mets6–7FrancoRincon (2–4)—15,49233–37
71June 20@ Mets0–1JonesCooke (5–9)Franco18,73733–38
72June 21@ Mets2–3MlickiWilkins (5–1)McMichael32,90833–39
73June 22@ Mets9–12 (10)KashiwadaPeters (2–1)—23,24733–40
74June 23@ Astros6–0Cordova (6–5)Garcia—16,73834–40
75June 24@ Astros8–3Lieber (4–8)Wall—17,97235–40
76June 25@ Astros1–5KileSodowsky (0–1)—26,95435–41
77June 27Mets6–1Schmidt (3–4)Mlicki—18,10336–41
78June 28Mets3–8ReynosoLoaiza (5–5)—23,71136–42
79June 29Mets8–10JordanPeters (2–2)Franco26,49936–43
80June 30White Sox3–1Lieber (5–8)Darwin—28,07037–43
July (16–12)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
81July 1White Sox3–0Cooke (6–9)BaldwinLoiselle (8)22,16338–43
82July 2White Sox3–1Schmidt (4–4)Navarro—25,77239–43
83July 3@ Cardinals6–4Loaiza (6–5)ValenzuelaLoiselle (9)30,75340–43
84July 4@ Cardinals7–5 (10)Wilkins (6–1)EckersleyLoiselle (10)33,88541–43
85July 5@ Cardinals4–3Lieber (6–8)MorrisWilkins (1)39,59342–43
86July 6@ Cardinals6–3Cooke (7–9)Stottlemyre—29,29043–43
87July 10Astros0–7KileSchmidt (4–5)—17,33543–44
88July 11Astros0–10HamptonLoaiza (6–6)—21,91343–45
89July 12Astros3–0 (10)Rincon (3–4)Hudek—44,11944–45
90July 13Astros5–3Sodowsky (1–1)SpringerLoiselle (11)25,67545–45
91July 14Mets5–4Rincon (4–4)McMichaelLoiselle (12)12,79446–45
92July 15Mets4–3Christiansen (1–0)AcevedoLoiselle (13)12,24447–45
93July 16Reds3–7BurbaLoaiza (6–7)—30,69847–46
94July 17Reds5–9SmileyCordova (6–6)—19,71047–47
95July 18@ Phillies6–8LeiterLieber (6–9)Bottalico19,67647–48
96July 19@ Phillies13–3Cooke (8–9)Green—17,47248–48
97July 20@ Phillies1–4StephensonSchmidt (4–6)Bottalico20,43148–49
98July 21@ Phillies3–2Loaiza (7–7)SchillingLoiselle (14)19,30349–49
99July 22@ Padres2–3HoffmanLoiselle (1–2)—18,30649–50
100July 23@ Padres1–9SmithLieber (6–10)—16,15149–51
101July 24@ Padres6–8BruskeSodowsky (1–2)Hoffman18,71549–52
102July 25@ Giants5–2Schmidt (5–6)RueterLoiselle (15)14,23650–52
103July 26@ Giants10–3Loaiza (8–7)Creek—25,96251–52
104July 27@ Giants5–6 (13)HenryWilkins (6–2)—051–53
105July 27@ Giants10–7Cordova (7–6)VanLandingham—38,86652–53
106July 28@ Dodgers2–4ValdezLieber (6–11)Worrell53,50352–54
107July 29@ Dodgers1–3AstacioCooke (8–10)Worrell43,79152–55
108July 31Rockies4–1Schmidt (6–6)BaileyLoiselle (16)16,65453–55
August (15–14)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
109August 1Rockies6–7ReedRincon (4–5)Dipoto22,65753–56
110August 2Rockies6–5Cordova (8–6)SwiftLoiselle (17)32,38854–56
111August 3Rockies8–4Ruebel (3–2)Reed—24,98955–56
112August 4Braves0–6SmoltzCooke (8–11)—21,60955–57
113August 5Braves5–4Schmidt (7–6)GlavineLoiselle (18)20,06956–57
114August 6Marlins3–12BrownLoaiza (8–8)—32,59456–58
115August 7Marlins5–1Wilkins (7–2)Leiter—18,04257–58
116August 8@ Rockies3–5WrightLieber (6–12)Dipoto48,26257–59
117August 9@ Rockies7–8MunozRincon (4–6)—48,32357–60
118August 10@ Rockies7–8LeskanicWilkins (7–3)Dipoto48,01857–61
119August 12@ Braves5–2Sodowsky (2–2)WohlersLoiselle (19)42,43558–61
120August 13@ Braves2–1Lieber (7–12)SmoltzLoiselle (20)40,79359–61
121August 15@ Marlins5–6PowellLoiselle (1–3)—26,09259–62
122August 16@ Marlins10–5Cordova (9–6)Saunders—40,03160–62
123August 17@ Marlins2–10BrownCooke (8–12)—38,22160–63
124August 18@ Marlins7–2Loaiza (9–8)Alfonseca—30,20061–63
125August 19Padres5–3Lieber (8–12)SmithLoiselle (21)12,41162–63
126August 20Padres7–3Schmidt (8–6)Ashby—10,22263–63
127August 21Padres4–9HitchcockCordova (9–7)—13,12963–64
128August 22Giants3–2Cooke (9–12)RueterLoiselle (22)18,56264–64
129August 23Giants6–4Loaiza (10–8)DarwinLoiselle (23)42,50265–64
130August 24Giants9–6Christiansen (2–0)HenryWilkins (2)33,36366–64
131August 25Dodgers2–8MartinezSchmidt (8–7)Guthrie066–65
132August 25Dodgers4–3Wilkins (8–3)Worrell—14,01867–65
133August 26Dodgers4–6DreifortRincon (4–7)—13,68967–66
134August 27Dodgers5–9ReyesCooke (9–13)—48,03267–67
135August 29@ Brewers1–4KarlLoaiza (10–9)Jones17,53967–68
136August 30@ Brewers3–1Lieber (9–12)MercedesLoiselle (24)23,67368–68
137August 31@ Brewers2–3JonesWilkins (8–4)—32,54168–69
September (11–14)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
138September 1Indians5–7OgeaCooke (9–14)Mesa45,29868–70
139September 2Indians6–4Silva (1–0)WrightLoiselle (25)43,38069–70
140September 3Indians3–7HershiserLoaiza (10–10)—37,51369–71
141September 4@ Reds2–5MorganLieber (9–13)Shaw15,13669–72
142September 5@ Reds6–8SullivanWilkins (8–5)Shaw21,49269–73
143September 6@ Reds13–4Cordova (10–7)Remlinger—20,38370–73
144September 7@ Reds3–6BurbaSilva (1–1)Shaw19,68270–74
145September 9@ Expos4–5 (10)UrbinaLoiselle (1–4)—8,78270–75
146September 10@ Expos4–5MartinezLieber (9–14)Urbina10,13970–76
147September 12Cubs3–1Schmidt (9–7)BatistaLoiselle (26)13,83371–76
148September 13Cubs1–4TrachselCordova (10–8)Adams21,50571–77
149September 14Cubs2–3ClarkRincon (4–8)Adams20,12071–78
150September 15Expos5–4 (10)Wilkins (9–5)Telford—7,73672–78
151September 16Expos8–2Lieber (10–14)Johnson—8,01073–78
152September 17Astros4–8ReynoldsSchmidt (9–8)—27,42273–79
153September 18Astros12–3Cordova (11–8)Kile—14,85274–79
154September 19Cardinals5–6 (11)KingLoiselle (1–5)Eckersley16,23574–80
155September 20Cardinals10–1Loaiza (11–10)Beltran—21,05375–80
156September 21Cardinals14–2Lieber (11–14)Busby—26,24776–80
157September 22Cardinals3–1Schmidt (10–8)MorrisLoiselle (27)17,91977–80
158September 23@ Mets5–4Silva (2–1)LidleLoiselle (28)14,67078–80
159September 24@ Mets5–7CrawfordCooke (9–15)Rojas13,19578–81
160September 26@ Astros0–2GarciaLoaiza (11–11)Wagner37,85078–82
161September 27@ Astros1–8ReynoldsSchmidt (10–9)—36,17078–83
162September 28@ Astros5–4 (11)Christiansen (3–0)HenriquezLoiselle (29)30,60679–83
Legend:        = Win        = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

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

Detailed records

Roster
1997 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Opening Day lineup
Opening Day Starters
#NamePosition
5Tony Womack2B
46Jermaine AllensworthCF
28Al MartinLF
36Mark Johnson1B
10Kevin ElsterSS
18Jason KendallC
11José GuillénRF
16Joe Randa3B
47Jon LieberSP

Player stats
Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pitching

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Awards and honors

The Sporting News Executive of the Year Award

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Notable transactions

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Calgary Cannons Pacific Coast League Trent Jewett
AA Carolina Mudcats Southern League Marc Hill and Jeff Banister
A Lynchburg Hillcats Carolina League Jeff Banister and Jeff Richardson
A Augusta Greenjackets South Atlantic League Jeff Richardson and Scott Little
A-Short Season Erie SeaWolves New York–Penn League Marty Brown
Rookie GCL Pirates Gulf Coast League Woody Huyke

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Lynchburg

References
  1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Side in 1907.
  2. Dan Plesac at Baseball Reference
  3. Jay Bell page at Baseball References
  4. "Kevin Elster Stats".
  5. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Pirates' 'Freak Show' hit zenith with July no-hitter"
  6. "Major League Baseball Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates.
  7. "Major League Baseball Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates.
  8. Midre Cummings at Baseball Reference

Further reading
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