1997 Texas Rangers season
| 1997 Texas Rangers | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | The Ballpark in Arlington | |
| City | Arlington, Texas | |
| Record | 77–85 (.475) | |
| Divisional place | 3rd | |
| Owners | George W. Bush | |
| General managers | Doug Melvin | |
| Managers | Johnny Oates | |
| Television | KXTX-TV KXAS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Mark Holtz, Tom Grieve, Bill Jones) | |
| Radio | KRLD (Eric Nadel, Brad Sham ) KMRT (Luis Mayoral, Josue Perez) | |
| ||
The 1997 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing third in the American League West with a record of 77 wins and 85 losses. Despite not making the playoffs the club would set an all-time attendance record of over 2.945 million fans, which would be the franchise's best until 2011.
On a somber note, the club would lose long-time radio broadcaster Mark Holtz to leukemia during the season; however, in his final game in May the Rangers won, allowing him to sign off one final time with his trademark "Hello Win Column!".
Offseason
[edit]- December 10, 1996: Billy Ripken was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[1]
- December 16, 1996: Scott Bailes was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.[2]
- December 19, 1996: Mike Simms was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[3]
- March 27, 1997: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Rangers from the Seattle Mariners.[4]
Regular season
[edit]- June 12, 1997: The first interleague game took place as the Texas Rangers hosted the San Francisco Giants at The Ballpark in Arlington (now Globe Life Park).
Opening Day starters
[edit]Mark McLemore, 2B
Rusty Greer, LF
Dean Palmer, 3B
Lee Stevens, 1B
Mickey Tettleton, DH
Warren Newson, RF
Damon Buford, CF
Benji Gil, SS
Season standings
[edit]| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Mariners | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 45–36 | 45–36 |
| Anaheim Angels | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6 | 46–36 | 38–42 |
| Texas Rangers | 77 | 85 | .475 | 13 | 39–42 | 38–43 |
| Oakland Athletics | 65 | 97 | .401 | 25 | 35–46 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
[edit]Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Notable transactions
[edit]- April 16, 1997: Alex Diaz was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[5]
- June 20, 1997: Todd Van Poppel was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[6]
- July 29, 1997: Ken Hill was traded by the Rangers to the Anaheim Angels for Jim Leyritz and a player to be named later. The Angels completed the deal by sending Rob Sasser to the Rangers on October 31.[7]
Draft picks
[edit]- June 3, 1997: Mike Lamb was drafted by the Rangers in the 7th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 6, 1997.[8]
Roster
[edit]| 1997 Texas Rangers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
[edit]Batting
[edit]Starters by position
[edit]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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Iván Rodríguez | 150 | 597 | 187 | .313 | 20 | 77 |
| 1B | Will Clark | 110 | 393 | 128 | .326 | 12 | 51 |
| 2B | Mark McLemore | 89 | 349 | 91 | .261 | 1 | 25 |
| SS | Benji Gil | 110 | 317 | 71 | .224 | 5 | 31 |
| 3B | Dean Palmer | 94 | 355 | 87 | .245 | 14 | 55 |
| LF | Rusty Greer | 157 | 601 | 193 | .321 | 26 | 87 |
| CF | Damon Buford | 122 | 366 | 82 | .224 | 8 | 39 |
| RF | Warren Newson | 81 | 169 | 36 | .213 | 10 | 23 |
| DH | Juan González | 133 | 533 | 158 | .296 | 42 | 131 |
Other batters
[edit]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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Stevens | 137 | 426 | 128 | .300 | 21 | 74 |
| Domingo Cedeño | 113 | 365 | 103 | .282 | 4 | 36 |
| Fernando Tatis | 60 | 223 | 57 | .256 | 8 | 29 |
| Tom Goodwin | 53 | 207 | 49 | .237 | 0 | 17 |
| Billy Ripken | 71 | 203 | 56 | .276 | 3 | 24 |
| Mike Simms | 59 | 111 | 28 | .252 | 5 | 22 |
| Alex Diaz | 28 | 90 | 20 | .222 | 2 | 12 |
| Jim Leyritz | 37 | 85 | 24 | .282 | 0 | 14 |
| Mike Devereaux | 29 | 72 | 15 | .208 | 0 | 7 |
| Henry Mercedes | 23 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 0 | 4 |
| Mickey Tettleton | 17 | 44 | 4 | .091 | 3 | 4 |
| Marc Sagmoen | 21 | 43 | 6 | .140 | 1 | 4 |
| Hanley Frias | 14 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Brown | 4 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 1 | 1 |
| Dave Silvestri | 2 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
[edit]Starting pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Witt | 34 | 209.0 | 12 | 12 | 4.82 | 121 |
| Darren Oliver | 32 | 201.1 | 13 | 12 | 4.20 | 104 |
| John Burkett | 30 | 189.1 | 9 | 12 | 4.56 | 139 |
| Ken Hill | 19 | 111.0 | 5 | 8 | 5.19 | 68 |
| Roger Pavlik | 11 | 57.2 | 3 | 5 | 4.37 | 35 |
| Rick Helling | 10 | 55.0 | 3 | 3 | 4.58 | 46 |
Other pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julio Santana | 30 | 104.0 | 4 | 6 | 6.75 | 64 |
| Tanyon Sturtze | 9 | 32.2 | 1 | 1 | 8.27 | 18 |
| Terry Clark | 9 | 30.2 | 1 | 4 | 5.87 | 11 |
| Jose Alberro | 10 | 28.1 | 0 | 3 | 7.94 | 11 |
Relief pitchers
[edit]Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Wetteland | 61 | 7 | 2 | 31 | 1.94 | 63 |
| Eric Gunderson | 60 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3.26 | 31 |
| Danny Patterson | 54 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3.42 | 69 |
| Xavier Hernandez | 44 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.56 | 36 |
| Matt Whiteside | 42 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5.08 | 44 |
| Ed Vosberg | 42 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.61 | 29 |
| Scott Bailes | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.86 | 14 |
| Wilson Heredia | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.20 | 8 |
| Eric Moody | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.26 | 12 |
| Bryan Eversgerd | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20.25 | 2 |
Awards and honors
[edit]- Juan González, Silver Slugger Award
- Iván Rodríguez, C, Gold Glove
- Iván Rodríguez, Silver Slugger Award
Farm system
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Billy Ripken at Baseball Reference
- ^ "Scott Bailes Stats".
- ^ Mike Simms at Baseball Reference
- ^ Dave Silvestri at Baseball Reference
- ^ Alex Diaz at Baseball Reference
- ^ Todd Van Poppel at Baseball Reference
- ^ Ken Hill at Baseball Reference
- ^ Mike Lamb at Baseball Reference
- 1997 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference
- 1997 Texas Rangers at Baseball Almanac
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.