1997 American League

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The 1997 season of the American League was the ninety-seventh season of the league.

BR page

Season summary[edit]

Standings[edit]

An asterisk (*) indicates the team won its league's wild card, Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
Central Division
1 Cleveland Indians 161 86 75 0 .534 -.- 868 (5.39) 815 (5.06) 0.286 0.357 0.467 4.73 0.983
2 Chicago White Sox 161 80 81 0 .497 6.0 779 (4.84) 833 (5.17) 0.273 0.341 0.417 4.74 0.978
3 Milwaukee Brewers 161 78 83 0 .484 8.0 681 (4.23) 742 (4.61) 0.260 0.321 0.398 4.22 0.980
4 Minnesota Twins 162 68 94 0 .420 18.5 772 (4.77) 861 (5.31) 0.270 0.329 0.409 5.02 0.983
5 Kansas City Royals 161 67 94 0 .416 19.0 747 (4.64) 820 (5.09) 0.264 0.331 0.407 4.71 0.985
Eastern Division
1 Baltimore Orioles 162 98 64 0 .605 -.- 812 (5.01) 681 (4.20) 0.268 0.338 0.429 3.91 0.984
2 New York Yankees* 162 96 66 0 .593 2.0 891 (5.50) 688 (4.25) 0.287 0.362 0.436 3.84 0.983
3 Detroit Tigers 162 79 83 0 .488 19.0 784 (4.84) 790 (4.88) 0.258 0.329 0.415 4.56 0.985
4 Boston Red Sox 162 78 84 0 .481 20.0 851 (5.25) 857 (5.29) 0.291 0.349 0.463 4.87 0.978
5 Toronto Blue Jays 162 76 86 0 .469 22.0 654 (4.04) 694 (4.28) 0.244 0.305 0.389 3.92 0.983
Western Division
1 Seattle Mariners 162 90 72 0 .556 -.- 925 (5.71) 833 (5.14) 0.280 0.353 0.485 4.79 0.980
2 Anaheim Angels 162 84 78 0 .519 6.0 829 (5.12) 794 (4.90) 0.272 0.344 0.416 4.52 0.980
3 Texas Rangers 162 77 85 0 .475 13.0 807 (4.98) 823 (5.08) 0.274 0.333 0.438 4.68 0.981
4 Oakland Athletics 162 65 97 0 .401 25.0 764 (4.72) 946 (5.84) 0.260 0.336 0.423 5.49 0.980

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Brian Hunter
Cal Ripken
Detroit Tigers
Baltimore Orioles
162
At Bats Nomar Garciaparra Boston Red Sox 684
Runs Scored Ken Griffey Seattle Mariners 125
Hits Nomar Garciaparra Boston Red Sox 209
Doubles John Valentin Boston Red Sox 47
Triples Nomar Garciaparra Boston Red Sox 11
Home Runs Ken Griffey Seattle Mariners 56
Total Bases Ken Griffey Seattle Mariners 393
Runs Batted In Ken Griffey Seattle Mariners 147
Stolen Bases Brian Hunter Detroit Tigers 74
Caught Stealing Brian Hunter Detroit Tigers 18
Walks Jim Thome Cleveland Indians 120
Intentional Base-on-Balls Ken Griffey Seattle Mariners 23
Hit by Pitch Brady Anderson Baltimore Orioles 19
Strikeouts Jay Buhner Seattle Mariners 175
Sacrifice Hits Omar Vizquel Cleveland Indians 16
Sacrifice Flies Tino Martinez New York Yankees 13
Grounded into Double Plays Albert Belle Chicago White Sox 26
Batting Average Frank Thomas Chicago White Sox 0.347
On-Base Percentage Frank Thomas Chicago White Sox 0.456
Slugging Percentage Ken Griffey Seattle Mariners 0.646
On-Base plus Slugging Frank Thomas Chicago White Sox 1.067
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Frank Thomas Chicago White Sox 181

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays 21
Losses James Baldwin
Cal Eldred
Tim Wakefield
Chicago White Sox
Milwaukee Brewers
Boston Red Sox
15
Win-Loss Percentage Randy Johnson Seattle Mariners 0.833
Appearances Mike Myers Detroit Tigers 88
Games Started Jeff Fassero
Pat Hentgen
Andy Pettitte
Brad Radke
Seattle Mariners
Toronto Blue Jays
New York Yankees
Minnesota Twins
35
Complete Games Roger Clemens
Pat Hentgen
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
9
Shutouts Roger Clemens
Pat Hentgen
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
3
Games Finished Doug Jones Milwaukee Brewers 73
Saves Randy Myers Baltimore Orioles 45
Innings Pitched Roger Clemens
Pat Hentgen
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
264.0
Batters Faced Pat Hentgen Toronto Blue Jays 1085
Hits Allowed Jaime Navarro Chicago White Sox 267
Home Runs Allowed Allen Watson Anaheim Angels 37
Base-on-Balls Allowed Ken Hill Texas Rangers/Anaheim Angels 95
Intentional Base-on-Balls Jeff Nelson New York Yankees 12
Hit Batsmen Tim Wakefield Boston Red Sox 16
Strikeouts Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays 292
Wild Pitches Kevin Appier
James Baldwin
David Cone
Jaime Navarro
Kansas City Royals
Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees
Chicago White Sox
14
Balks James Baldwin
LaTroy Hawkins
Hideki Irabu
Paul Spoljaric
Chicago White Sox
Minnesota Twins
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays/Seattle Mariners
3
Runs Allowed Jaime Navarro Chicago White Sox 155
Earned Runs Allowed Jaime Navarro Chicago White Sox 135
Earned Run Average Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays 2.05
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
Roger Clemens Toronto Blue Jays 1.030

All-Star Game[edit]

The American League won the sixty-eighth midsummer classic at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OH on Tuesday, July 8, 1997 by a score of 3 to 1. The league's manager was Joe Torre.

Postseason[edit]

The 1997 American League playoffs featured the champions of the league's three divisions along with a wild card team. The teams competed in a best-of-five Division Series, followed by a best-of-seven League Championship Series. The winner of the League Championship Series represented the league in the World Series.

  Division Series Championship Series
                 
Cent.  Cleveland Indians 3  
WC  New York Yankees 2  
    Cent.  Cleveland Indians 4
  East.  Baltimore Orioles 2
East.  Baltimore Orioles 3
West.  Seattle Mariners 1  

In the World Series, the American League champion Cleveland Indians were defeated by the National League's Florida Marlins, 4 games to 3.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Ken Griffey (griffke02), an outfielder with the Seattle Mariners. In the award's voting, he had 392 out of a possible 392 points and 28 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Cy Young Award, given its best pitcher, was Roger Clemens of the Toronto Blue Jays. In the award's voting, he had 134 out of a possible 140 points and 25 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Rookie of the Year Award, given its best rookie player, was Nomar Garciaparra, a shortstop with the Boston Red Sox. In the award's voting, he had 140 out of a possible 140 points and 28 first place votes.

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players won the Gold Glove Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by its managers and coaches, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
P Mike Mussina Baltimore Orioles
C Ivan Rodriguez Texas Rangers
1B Rafael Palmeiro Baltimore Orioles
2B Chuck Knoblauch Minnesota Twins
3B Matt Williams Cleveland Indians
SS Omar Vizquel Cleveland Indians
OF Ken Griffey, Jr. Seattle Mariners
Jim Edmonds Anaheim Angels
Bernie Williams New York Yankees

Silver Sluggers[edit]

The following players won the Silver Slugger Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by its managers and coaches, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
C Ivan Rodriguez Texas Rangers
1B Tino Martinez New York Yankees
2B Chuck Knoblauch Minnesota Twins
3B Matt Williams Cleveland Indians
SS Nomar Garciaparra Boston Red Sox
OF Juan Gonzalez Texas Rangers
Ken Griffey, Jr. Seattle Mariners
David Justice Cleveland Indians
DH Edgar Martinez Seattle Mariners

Monthly Awards[edit]

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The fifty-first annual Hall of Fame Game was played on August 4 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The game did not feature an American League Team.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]