1997 Oakland Athletics season
The Oakland Athletics' 1997 season was the team's 30th in Oakland, California. It was also the 97th season in franchise history. The team finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 65-97.
The Athletics, coming off a surprising 78-84 campaign, hoped to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1992. With this in mind, the team traded for slugger Jose Canseco. Canseco, who had played for the Athletics from 1985 to 1992, was reunited with fellow superstar Mark McGwire. In addition to McGwire and Canseco, Oakland's impressive collection of power hitters included Jason Giambi, Gerónimo Berroa, and Matt Stairs.
Little was done, however, to shore up the Athletics' abysmal 1996 pitching staff. Ariel Prieto, owner of a 4.41 career ERA, was named the Opening Day starter; a succession of poorly regarded players filled out the rest of the starting rotation and bullpen. While optimism remained high for the team's offense, great concern remained for its pitching staff.
In the end, Oakland's offense and pitching both fared terribly. For the second consecutive year, no Athletics pitcher won ten or more games; even worse, no starter won more than six. None of the team's top four starters finished the season with an ERA of less than 5.00; the Athletics, as a team, finished with an earned run average of 5.48. All told, the A's allowed a season total of 946 runs. This remains the worst such figure in Oakland history.
More puzzling was the fate of the offense. Oakland, as expected, remained one of the league's best power-hitting teams. The Athletics' sluggers hit a total of 197 home runs. Oakland's home runs failed to generate much offense, however, as a low team batting average negated most of the team's other advantages. Oakland scored a total of 764 runs in 1997.
These awful performances quickly removed the A's from contention. On May 31, they were already nine games out of first place; their position steadily worsened throughout the summer. In light of this, General Manager Sandy Alderson traded Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals for T.J. Matthews, Blake Stein, and Eric Ludwick. McGwire would finish the season with 58 home runs. The trade was a disaster on the Athletics' end, as none of the three players received in the trade remained on the team by 2000. The A's ultimately finished twenty-five games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners. Their 65-97 finish led to the removal of Sandy Alderson as General Manager on October 17; he was replaced by Billy Beane. Manager Art Howe, however, was retained for the 1998 season.
The 1997 season would ultimately prove to be the Athletics' nadir. The continued rise of Jason Giambi, the debuts of Ben Grieve and Miguel Tejada, the acquisition of Tim Hudson in the 1997 MLB draft, and the ascension of Billy Beane to the position of general manager paved the way for a lengthy period of success from 1999 onwards.
Offseason
- October 2, 1996: Dane Johnson was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Toronto Blue Jays.
- November 19, 1996: Mike Oquist was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.
- December 9, 1996: Frank Catalanotto was drafted by the Oakland Athletics from the Detroit Tigers in the 1996 rule 5 draft.
- January 27, 1997: John Wasdin was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Boston Red Sox for Jose Canseco.
- March 21, 1997: Frank Catalanotto was returned by the Oakland Athletics to the Detroit Tigers.
- March 27, 1997: Scott Service was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Cincinnati Reds.
Regular season
- Ben Grieve had five RBI's in his major league debut.
Transactions
- April 4, 1997: Scott Service was selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds from the Oakland Athletics.
- April 8, 1997: Brent Mayne was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.
- June 3, 1997: Tim Hudson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 6th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 13, 1997.
- July 31, 1997 – Mark McGwire was traded by Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T. J. Mathews, and Blake Stein. McGwire had 34 home runs and 81 RBIs with Oakland at the time of the trade, which reunited him with former Athletics manager Tony La Russa.
- August 8, 1997: Tilson Brito was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Roster
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen BasesPos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
C | Brent Mayne | 85 | 256 | 29 | 74 | .289 | 6 | 22 | 1 |
1B | Mark McGwire | 105 | 366 | 48 | 104 | .284 | 34 | 81 | 1 |
2B | Scott Spiezio | 147 | 538 | 58 | 131 | .243 | 14 | 65 | 9 |
3B | Scott Brosius | 129 | 479 | 59 | 97 | .203 | 11 | 41 | 9 |
SS | Rafael Bournigal | 79 | 222 | 29 | 62 | .279 | 1 | 20 | 2 |
LF | Jason Giambi | 142 | 519 | 66 | 152 | .293 | 20 | 81 | 0 |
CF | Damon Mashore | 92 | 279 | 55 | 69 | .247 | 3 | 18 | 5 |
RF | Matt Stairs | 133 | 352 | 62 | 105 | .298 | 27 | 73 | 3 |
DH | Jose Canseco | 108 | 388 | 56 | 91 | .235 | 23 | 74 | 8 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen BasesPlayer | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
Tony Batista | 68 | 188 | 22 | 38 | .202 | 4 | 18 | 2 |
Mark Bellhorn | 68 | 224 | 33 | 51 | .228 | 6 | 19 | 7 |
Gerónimo Berroa | 73 | 261 | 40 | 81 | .310 | 16 | 42 | 3 |
Tilson Brito | 17 | 46 | 8 | 13 | .283 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Ben Grieve | 24 | 93 | 12 | 29 | .312 | 3 | 24 | 0 |
Patrick Lennon | 56 | 116 | 14 | 34 | .293 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
Brian Lesher | 46 | 131 | 17 | 30 | .229 | 4 | 16 | 4 |
Dave Magadan | 128 | 271 | 38 | 82 | .303 | 4 | 30 | 1 |
Jason McDonald | 78 | 236 | 47 | 62 | .263 | 4 | 14 | 13 |
Izzy Molina | 48 | 111 | 6 | 22 | .198 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
Mike Oquist | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Brad Rigby | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scott Sheldon | 13 | 24 | 2 | 6 | .250 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Miguel Tejada | 26 | 99 | 10 | 20 | .202 | 2 | 10 | 2 |
George Williams | 76 | 201 | 30 | 58 | .289 | 3 | 22 | 0 |
Ernie Young | 71 | 175 | 22 | 39 | .223 | 5 | 15 | 1 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on Balls; SO = StrikeoutsPlayer | G | IP | W | L | ERA | BB | SO |
Steve Karsay | 24 | 132.2 | 3 | 12 | 5.77 | 47 | 92 |
Ariel Prieto | 27 | 125 | 6 | 8 | 5.04 | 70 | 90 |
2 | 10.1 | 0 | 2 | 7.84 | 1 | 5 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = StrikeoutsPlayer | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = StrikeoutsPlayer | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
Buddy Groom | 78 | 73 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5.15 | 45 |
Billy Taylor | 72 | 73 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 3.82 | 66 |
Awards and records
- Mark McGwire, Major League record, 1st player to lead the Major Leagues in Home Runs but not lead the American League or National League in home runs
Farm system