1997 Los Angeles Dodgers season


The 1997 Los Angeles Dodgers season, under manager Bill Russell, was a season in American baseball. It was 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 Western Division of the National League. The edition of the Dodgers had, for the second time in team history, 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.

Offseason

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Notable Transactions

Starting Pitchers stats

Relief Pitchers stats

Batting Stats

1997 Awards

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

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-------

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