1997 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1997 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 108th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 40th season in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers were competitive all season long before finally fading down the stretch; the Dodgers finished in second place behind their longtime rivals, San Francisco Giants, in the National League West. The edition of the Dodgers had, for the second time in team history (and for the first time since 1977), four players crack the 30 home run barrier: Mike Piazza led the team with 40, Eric Karros and Todd Zeile hit 31 each, and Raul Mondesi hit 30.

1997 Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Record	88–74 (.543)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Peter O'Malley
General managers	Fred Claire
Managers	Bill Russell
Television	Fox Sports West 2; KTLA (5)
Radio	KABC Vin Scully, Ross Porter, Rick Monday KWKW Jaime Jarrín, René Cárdenas
← 1996 Seasons 1998 →

Offseason

• December 9, 1996: Acquired Jeff Berblinger from the Detroit Tigers for Deivi Cruz and Juan Hernaiz

Regular season

Tommy Lasorda's number 2 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1997.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	90	72	.556	—	48‍–‍33	42‍–‍39
Los Angeles Dodgers	88	74	.543	2	47‍–‍34	41‍–‍40
Colorado Rockies	83	79	.512	7	47‍–‍34	36‍–‍45
San Diego Padres	76	86	.469	14	39‍–‍42	37‍–‍44

Record vs. opponents

1997 National League record Source: MLB Standings Grid – 1997 v t e
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MTL	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	8–7
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

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Brett Butler	Center fielder
Wilton Guerrero	Second baseman
Raúl Mondesí	Right fielder
Mike Piazza	Catcher
Eric Karros	First baseman
Todd Zeile	Third baseman
Todd Hollandsworth	Left fielder
Greg Gagne	Shortstop
Ramón Martínez	Starting pitcher

Notable Transactions

• August 9, 1997: Acquired Hal Garrett from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Eddie Williams.
• August 12, 1997: Acquired Otis Nixon from the Toronto Blue Jays for Bobby Cripps.^[1]
• August 18, 1997: Acquired Eric Young from the Colorado Rockies for Pedro Astacio.
• August 27, 1997: Acquired Darren Lewis from the Chicago White Sox for Chad Fonville.
• September 3, 1997: Chip Hale was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[2]

Roster

1997 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 56 Pedro Astacio 49 Tom Candiotti 37 Darren Dreifort 55 Rick Gorecki 44 Mark Guthrie 52 Darren Hall 50 Mike Harkey 60 Mike Judd 48 Ramón Martínez 16 Hideo Nomo 13 Antonio Osuna 61 Chan Ho Park 36 Scott Radinsky 57 Dennys Reyes 59 Ismael Valdez 38 Todd Worrell		Catchers 31 Mike Piazza 15 Tom Prince Infielders 54 Henry Blanco 25 Juan Castro 41 Tripp Cromer  3 Chad Fonville  7 Greg Gagne 30 Wilton Guerrero  5 Chip Hale 23 Eric Karros 66 Paul Konerko 46 Nelson Liriano 51 Adam Riggs 26 Eric Young 27 Todd Zeile		Outfielders 29 Eric Anthony 21 Billy Ashley 22 Brett Butler 45 Roger Cedeño 12 Karim García 28 Todd Hollandsworth 56 Garey Ingram 35 Wayne Kirby 20 Darren Lewis 43 Raúl Mondesí 10 Otis Nixon Other batters 33 Eddie Murray 26 Eddie Williams		Manager 18 Bill Russell Coaches  8 Joey Amalfitano (third base) 58 Mark Cresse (bullpen) 11 Manny Mota 14 Mike Scioscia (bench)  9 Reggie Smith (hitting/1st base) 17 Dave Wallace (pitching)

Starting Pitchers stats

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games

Name	G	GS	IP	W/L	ERA	BB	SO	CG
Hideo Nomo	33	33	207.1	14-12	4.25	92	233	1
Ismael Valdez	30	30	196.2	10-11	2.65	47	140	0
Chan Ho Park	32	29	192.0	14-8	3.38	70	166	2
Pedro Astacio	26	24	153.2	7-9	4.10	47	115	2
Ramón Martínez	22	22	133.2	10-5	3.64	68	120	1

Relief Pitchers stats

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves

Name	G	GS	IP	W/L	ERA	BB	SO	SV
Todd Worrell	65	0	59.2	2-6	5.28	23	61	35
Scott Radinsky	75	0	62.1	5-1	2.89	21	44	3
Darren Hall	63	0	54.2	3-2	2.30	26	39	2
Mark Guthrie	62	0	69.1	1-4	5.32	30	42	1
Darren Dreifort	48	0	63.0	5-2	2.86	34	63	4
Tom Candiotti	41	18	135.0	10-7	3.60	40	90	0
Antonio Osuna	48	0	61.2	3-4	2.19	19	68	0
Dennys Reyes	14	5	47.0	2-3	3.83	18	36	0
Mike Harkey	10	0	14.2	1-0	4.30	5	6	0
Rick Gorecki	4	1	6.0	1-0	15.00	6	6	0
Mike Judd	1	0	2.2	0-0	0.00	0	4	0

Batting Stats

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; Avg. = Batting average; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Name	Pos	G	AB	Avg.	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
Mike Piazza	C	152	556	.362	104	201	40	124	5
Tom Prince	C	47	100	.220	17	22	3	14	0
Eric Karros	1B	162	628	.266	86	167	31	104	15
Wilton Guerrero	2B/SS	111	357	.291	39	104	4	32	6
Greg Gagne	SS	144	514	.251	49	129	9	57	2
Todd Zeile	3B	160	575	.268	89	154	31	90	8
Eric Young	2B	37	154	.273	28	42	2	16	13
Nelson Liriano	2B/SS/3B/1B	76	88	.227	10	20	1	11	0
Tripp Cromer	2B/SS	28	86	.291	8	25	4	20	0
Juan Castro	SS/2B/3B	40	75	.147	3	11	0	4	0
Adam Riggs	2B	9	20	.200	3	4	0	1	1
Chad Fonville	2B	9	14	.143	1	2	0	1	0
Chip Hale	3B	14	12	.083	0	1	0	0	0
Paul Konerko	1B/3B	6	7	.143	0	1	0	0	0
Eddie Murray	1B	9	7	.286	0	2	0	3	0
Eddie Williams	1B	8	7	.143	0	1	0	1	0
Henry Blanco	1B	3	5	.400	1	2	1	1	0
Raúl Mondesí	RF	159	616	.310	95	191	30	87	32
Roger Cedeño	CF/LF/RF	80	194	.273	31	53	3	17	9
Todd Hollandsworth	LF/CF/RF	106	296	.247	39	73	4	31	5
Brett Butler	CF/LF	105	343	.283	52	97	0	18	15
Otis Nixon	CF	42	175	.274	30	48	1	18	12
Billy Ashley	LF	71	131	.244	12	32	6	19	0
Darren Lewis	LF/CF/RF	26	77	.299	7	23	1	10	3
Eric Anthony	LF/RF	47	74	.243	8	18	2	5	2
Wayne Kirby	CF/LF/RF	46	65	.169	6	11	0	4	0
Karim García	LF/RF	15	39	.128	5	5	1	8	0
Garey Ingram	LF/CF	12	9	.444	2	4	0	1	1

1997 Awards

• 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Mike Piazza starter
• Gold Glove Award
  • Raúl Mondesí
• Silver Slugger Award
  • Mike Piazza
• TSN National League All-Star
  • Mike Piazza
• NL Player of the Month
  • Mike Piazza (July 1997)
  • Mike Piazza (August 1997)
• NL Player of the Week
  • Mike Piazza (Aug. 25–31)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Albuquerque Dukes	Pacific Coast League	Glenn Hoffman
AA	San Antonio Missions	Texas League	Ron Roenicke
High A	San Bernardino Stampede	California League	Del Crandall Dino Ebel
High A	Vero Beach Dodgers	Florida State League	John Shoemaker
A	Savannah Sand Gnats	South Atlantic League	John Shelby
A-Short Season	Yakima Bears	Northwest League	Joe Vavra
Rookie	Great Falls Dodgers	Pioneer League	Mickey Hatcher
Rookie	DSL Dodgers DSL Dodgers 2	Dominican Summer League
Rookie	Adelaide Giants	Australian Baseball League

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball draft

Main article: 1997 Major League Baseball draft

The Dodgers selected 71 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball. They received an extra supplemental pick in the second round as a result of losing free agent Delino DeShields.

The first round pick was first baseman Glenn Davis from Vanderbilt University. In eight seasons in the minors, he never advanced past AA. He hit .242 in 802 minor league games with 108 homers and 431 RBI. With their second round pick, the Dodgers picked shortstop Chase Utley from Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California. However, Utley refused to sign and went to college instead. He was eventually a first round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2000 and became a multi-time All-Star.

None of the players signed by the Dodgers in this draft class had a significant major league career.

1997 draft picks

Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Glenn Davis 1B Vanderbilt University Yes 1997–2004 AA 2 Chase Utley SS Polytechnic High School No Phillies-2000 2000–2018 MLB 2s Steve Colyer LHP Fort Zumwalt South High School Yes 1998–2007 MLB 3 Ricky Bell SS Moeller High School Yes 1997–2006 AAA 4 John Hernandez C Nogales High School Yes 1997–2010 AAA 5 Kip Harkrider SS University of Texas at Austin Yes 1997–2007 AA 6 Will McCrotty C Russellville High School Yes 1997–2003 AA 7 Miles Durham OF Cooper High School No Tigers-2000 2000–2002 A 8 Beau Parker RHP Prairie High School Yes 1997–1999 A- 9 Jaime Goudie SS Hardaway High School Yes 1997–2001 AA 10 Joe Patterson OF Ontario High School No 11 Cory Vance LHP Butler High School No Rockies-2000 2000–2005 MLB 12 David Lamberth SS Macon County High School No 13 Matt Bornyk RHP Esquimalt High School Yes 1997–1998 A- 14 Brent Husted RHP University of Nevada, Reno Yes 1997–2002 AAA 15 David Mittauer RHP Dade Christian High School No 16 Scott Walter C Loyola High School No Royals-2000 2000–2005 AAA 17 Chad Cislak RHP Sabino High School No Indians-2000 2000–2001 Rookie 18 Mike Balbuena 3B Key West High School Yes 1997–1998 A- 19 Shane Allen OF Glenns Ferry High School Yes 1997–1999 A- 20 Pete Zamora 1B University of California, Los Angeles Yes 1997–2005 AAA 21 Steve Verigood LHP Spartanburg Methodist College Yes 1997–1998 A- 22 Matt Montgomery RHP California State University, Long Beach Yes 1997–2006 AAA 23 Jared Moon RHP Redondo Beach High School Yes 1997–1999 A- 24 Mike Rawls LHP Bethune-Cookman University Yes 1997 A- 25 Dave Detienne 3B Auburn Drive High School Yes 1998–2008 AAA 26 Bill Everly RHP West Virginia Wesleyan College Yes 1997–2000 AAA 27 Aaron Dean 1B Lamar University Yes 1997–2005 A+ 28 Richard Bell LHP California Lutheran University No 1998–2005 AAA 29 Darin Schmalz RHP University of Notre Dame Yes 1997 A- 30 Sam Lopez SS Dinuba High School No Mets-1999 1999 A- 31 Wayne Slater OF Bethune-Cookman University Yes 1997–1998 A- 32 Shaylar Hatch RHP No 33 Shaun Benzor LHP Redlands High School No 34 Blake McGinley LHP North Bakersfield High School No Mets-2001 2001–2007 AAA 35 Adam Thomas OF Hazel Park High School No 36 Jesús Feliciano OF Academia Discipulos de Cristo Yes 1998–2013 MLB 37 Tyler Renwick RHP New Mexico Junior College No Blue Jays-1998 1998–2001 AAA 38 Eliot Joynet OF Mt. San Jacinto College No 39 Jahseam George LHP Dr. Floyd B. Buchanan High School No Indians-2002 2002 A- 40 John Nelson SS Denton High School No Cardinals-2001 2001–2008 MLB 41 Ryan Beaver RHP Millikan High School No 42 Carlos Orozco OF Montgomery High School No 43 Michael Hernandez LHP Carson High School No - 44 Graig Merritt C College of Southern Idaho No Devil Rays-2001 2001–2005 AA 45 Shane Youman LHP New Iberia High School No Pirates-2002 2002–2016 MLB 46 Ryan Kellner C Spartanburg Methodist College Yes 1998–2005 AAA 47 Jean Emard LHP Ployvalente Edouard Montpetit No 48 Luis DeJesus C Miguel de Cervantes High School No 49 Lance Warren C Richmond High School Yes 1997–1998 A+ 50 Chris Howay RHP New Westminster High School No Athletics-2002 2001–2004 A- 51 Eric Burris 1B Los Angeles Harbor College No 52 Russell Ivory OF Grossmont College No 53 Ismael Garcia 2B Mt. San Antonio College Yes 1998–2003 A- 54 Michael Ford OF Elk Grove High School No 55 Melvin Anderson 3B North Iverville High School No Phillies-2000 2000–2003 A 56 Reggie Laplante RHP Polyvalente Edouard Montpetit No Yankees-1999 1999–2003 A 57 George Bailey 3B Indian River Community College No 2000 Ind 58 James Howard RHP Allen D Nease High School No 59 Joshua Ridgway SS Delta Secondary School No 60 Jason Ware 1B Long Beach City College No 61 Javier Gonzalez RHP Mt. San Antonio College No 62 Steve Holm SS McClatchy High School No Giants-2001 2001–2012 MLB 63 Cedric Herbert RHP Grayson County College No 64 Jeremy Loftice RHP Truett-McConnell College No 65 Luis Fontanez C Juano Colon High School No 66 John Castellano C Indian River Community College Yes 1998–2006 AAA 67 Cory Stephen C Martin Collegiate Institute No 68 Matt Ybarra C Encinal High School No 69 Luis Medina C Pedro Casa Blanca High School No 70 Ryan Withey OF Seminole Community College No Angels-2000 2000–2001 A [3]