1997 New York Mets season

1997 New York Mets
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1962)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1964)
New York (since 1962)
Other information
Owner(s)	Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General manager(s)	Joe McIlvaine, Steve Phillips
Manager(s)	Bobby Valentine
Local television	WWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York (Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Howie Rose, Gary Thorne)
Local radio	WFAN (Bob Murphy, Gary Cohen, Ed Coleman) WADO (spanish) (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa)
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The New York Mets' 1997 season was the 36th regular season for the Mets. They went 88-74 and finished 3rd in the NL East. They were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

Offseason

• November 25, 1996: Paul Byrd and a player to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Greg McMichael. The Mets completed the deal by sending Andy Zwirchitz (minors) to the Braves on May 25, 1997.^[1]
• November 27, 1996: Rico Brogna was traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ricardo Jordan and Toby Borland.^[2]
• December 20, 1996: Robert Person was traded by the Mets to the Toronto Blue Jays for John Olerud and cash.^[3]
• March 22, 1997: Héctor Ramírez was traded by the Mets to the Baltimore Orioles for Scott McClain and Manny Alexander.^[4]

Regular season

• April 15, 1997: The Mets hosted ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Shea Stadium.^[5] During the ceremonies, Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired by Major League Baseball.^[5] The Mets won the game 5-0.^[6]
• June 16, 1997: The first interleague game between the New York Mets and New York Yankees took place at Yankee Stadium. The Mets won the game by a score of 6-0.^[7]

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	101	61	0.623	—	50–31	51–30
Florida Marlins	92	70	0.568	9	52–29	40–41
New York Mets	88	74	0.543	13	50–31	38–43
Montreal Expos	78	84	0.481	23	45–36	33–48
Philadelphia Phillies	68	94	0.420	33	38–43	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1997 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Atlanta	—	9–2	9–2	5–6	4–8	7–4	6–5	10–2	5–7	10–2	5–6	8–3	7–4	8–3	7–5
Chicago	2–9	—	7–5	2–9	2–9	3–9	5–6	4–7	6–5	6–5	7–5	6–5	5–6	4–8	9–6
Cincinnati	2–9	5–7	—	5–6	5–6	5–7	6–5	6–5	2–9	8–3	8–4	5–6	4–7	6–6	9–6
Colorado	6–5	9–2	6–5	—	7–4	5–6	5–7	7–4	6–5	4–7	4–7	4–8	4–8	7–4	9–7
Florida	8–4	9–2	6–5	4–7	—	7–4	7–4	7–5	4–8	6–6	7–4	5–6	5–6	5–6	12–3
Houston	4–7	9–3	7–5	6–5	4–7	—	7–4	8–3	7–4	4–7	6–6	6–5	3–8	9–3	4–11
Los Angeles	5–6	6–5	5–6	7–5	4–7	4–7	—	7–4	6–5	10–1	9–2	5–7	6–6	5–6	9–7
Montreal	2–10	7–4	5–6	4–7	5–7	3–8	4–7	—	5–7	6–6	5–6	8–3	6–5	6–5	12–3
New York	7–5	5–6	9–2	5–6	8–4	4–7	5–6	7–5	—	7–5	7–4	5–6	3–8	9–2	7–8
Philadelphia	2-10	5–6	3–8	7–4	6–6	7–4	1–10	6–6	5–7	—	5–6	7–4	3–8	6–5	5–10
Pittsburgh	6–5	5–7	4–8	7–4	4–7	6–6	2–9	6–5	4–7	6–5	—	5–6	8–3	9–3	7–8
San Diego	3–8	5–6	6–5	8–4	6–5	5–6	7–5	3–8	6–5	4–7	6–5	—	4–8	5–6	8–8
San Francisco	4–7	6–5	7–4	8–4	6–5	8–3	6–6	5–6	8–3	8–3	3–8	8–4	—	3–8	10–6
St. Louis	3–8	8–4	6–6	4–7	6–5	3-9	6–5	5–6	2–9	5–6	3–9	6–5	8–3	—	8–7

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1997: 1997 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Garrett Atkins was drafted by the Mets in the 10th round, but did not sign.^[8]
  • Jeremy Guthrie was drafted by the Mets in the 15th round, but did not sign.^[9]
• August 8, 1997: Lance Johnson and players to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Chicago Cubs for Brian McRae, Mel Rojas and Turk Wendell. The Mets completed the deal by sending Mark Clark to the Cubs on August 11 and Manny Alexander to the Cubs on August 14.^[10]

Roster

1997 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers 39 Juan Acevedo 46 Brian Bohanon 43 Toby Borland 54 Mark Clark 49 Joe Crawford 31 John Franco 27 Pete Harnisch 44 Jason Isringhausen 28 Bobby Jones 48 Ricardo Jordan 18 Takashi Kashiwada 11 Cory Lidle 26 Barry Manuel 36 Greg McMichael 38 Dave Mlicki 25 Yorkis Pérez 35 Rick Reed 40 Armando Reynoso 51 Mel Rojas 50 Ricky Trlicek 99 Turk Wendell		Catchers 30 Alberto Castillo  9 Todd Hundley 43 Todd Pratt Infielders  6 Manny Alexander 13 Edgardo Alfonzo  8 Carlos Baerga 15 Matt Franco 12 Shawn Gilbert 19 Jason Hardtke 17 Luis López 10 Kevin Morgan  5 John Olerud  0 Rey Ordóñez 10 Roberto Petagine		Outfielders 29 Steve Bieser  3 Carl Everett 23 Bernard Gilkey 42 Butch Huskey  1 Lance Johnson 56 Brian McRae  6 Carlos Mendoza 22 Alex Ochoa 10 Gary Thurman 33 Andy Tomberlin		Manager  2 Bobby Valentine Coaches 34 Bob Apodaca (pitching) 20 Bruce Benedict (bench) 52 Randy Niemann (bullpen) 53 Tom Robson (hitting)  4 Cookie Rojas (third base) 51 Mookie Wilson (first base)

Player stats

Batting

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

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Carl Everett	142	443	110	.248	14	57
Kevin Morgan	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Greg McMichael	73	7	10	7	2.98	81
Ricardo Jordan	22	1	2	0	5.33	19

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Norfolk Tides	International League	Rick Dempsey
AA	Binghamton Mets	Eastern League	Rick Sweet
A	St. Lucie Mets	Florida State League	John Gibbons
A	Capital City Bombers	South Atlantic League	Doug Mansolino and John Stephenson
A-Short Season	Pittsfield Mets	New York–Penn League	Doug Davis
Rookie	Kingsport Mets	Appalachian League	Ken Berry
Rookie	GCL Mets	Gulf Coast League	Mickey Brantley and Doug Flynn

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Pittsfield, GCL Mets^[11]

References

1. Paul Byrd page at Baseball Reference
2. Rico Brogna page at Baseball Reference
3. John Olerud page at Baseball Reference
4. Scott McClain page at Baseball Reference
5. Smith, Claire (April 16, 1997). "A Grand Tribute to Robinson and His Moment". New York Times. p. A1.
6. Olney, Buster (April 16, 1997). "Mets' Own Melting Pot Provides Victory Blend". New York Times. p. B14.
7. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=199706160NYA
8. Garrett Atkins page at Baseball Reference
9. Jeremy Guthrie page at Baseball Reference
10. Brian McRae page at Baseball Reference
11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

External links

• 1997 New York Mets
• 1997 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com