1997 Detroit Tigers season

1997 Detroit Tigers
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkTiger Stadium
CityDetroit, Michigan
OwnersMike Ilitch
General managersRandy Smith
ManagersBuddy Bell
TelevisionWKBD
(Ernie Harwell, Al Kaline, Jim Price)
PASS
(Ernie Harwell, Jim Price, Fred McLeod)
RadioWJR
(Frank Beckmann, Lary Sorensen)
← 1996 Seasons 1998 →

The 1997 Detroit Tigers finished in third place in the American League East with a record of 79–83 (.488), an improvement of 26 games over the previous season. They were outscored by their opponents 790 to 784. The Tigers drew 1,365,157 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1997, ranking 13th of the 14 teams in the American League.

This was the Tigers' final year in the AL East. To make room for the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the team moved from the AL East to the AL Central. On July 27, 1997, the Detroit Tigers retired pitcher Hal Newhouser's number 16.

Offseason

  • January 9, 1997: Vince Coleman signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.[1]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 98 64 .605 — 46‍–‍35 52‍–‍29
New York Yankees 96 66 .593 2 47‍–‍33 49‍–‍33
Detroit Tigers 79 83 .488 19 42‍–‍39 37‍–‍44
Boston Red Sox 78 84 .481 20 39‍–‍42 39‍–‍42
Toronto Blue Jays 76 86 .469 22 42‍–‍39 34‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1997 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team ANA BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR NL 
Anaheim — 4–7 6–5 6–5 7–4 5–6 6–5 7–4 4–7 4–7 11–1 6–6 8–4 6–5 4–12
Baltimore 7–4 — 5–7 5–6 6–5 6–6 7–4 5–6 10–1 8–4 8–3 7–4 10–1 6–6 8–7
Boston 5–6 7–5 — 3–8 6–5 5–7 3–8 8–3 8–3 4–8 7–4 7–4 3–8 6–6 6–9
Chicago 5–6 6–5 8–3 — 5–7 4–7 11–1 4–7 6–6 2–9 8–3 5–6 3–8 5–6 8–7
Cleveland 4–7 5–6 5–6 7–5 — 6–5 8–3 8–4 8–4 5–6 7–4 3–8 5–6 6–5 9–6
Detroit 6–5 6–6 7–5 7–4 5–6 — 6–5 4–7 4–7 2–10 7–4 4–7 7–4 6–6 8–7
Kansas City 5–6 4–7 8–3 1–11 3–8 5–6 — 6–6 7–5 3–8 3–8 5–6 6–5 5–6 6–9
Milwaukee 4–7 6–5 3–8 7–4 4–8 7–4 6–6 — 5–7 4–7 5–6 5–6 7–4 7–4 8–7
Minnesota 7–4 1–10 3–8 6–6 4–8 7–4 5–7 7–5 — 3–8 7–4 5–6 3–8 3–8 7–8
New York 7–4 4–8 8–4 9–2 6–5 10–2 8–3 7–4 8–3 — 6–5 4–7 7–4 7–5 5–10
Oakland 1–11 3–8 4–7 3–8 4–7 4–7 8–3 6–5 4–7 5–6 — 5–7 5–7 6–5 7–9
Seattle 6–6 4–7 4–7 6–5 8–3 7–4 6–5 6–5 6–5 7–4 7–5 — 8–4 8–3 7–9
Texas 4–8 1–10 8–3 8–3 6–5 4–7 5–6 4–7 8–3 4–7 7–5 4–8 — 4–7 10–6
Toronto 5–6 6–6 6–6 6–5 5–6 6–6 6–5 4–7 8–3 5–7 5–6 3–8 7–4 — 4–11


Transactions

  • April 8, 1997: Bob Hamelin was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.[2]
  • April 16, 1997: Vince Coleman was released by the Detroit Tigers.[1]

Roster

1997 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Game log

Legend
Tigers win Tigers loss Game postponed
Game log
April
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1 April 1 at Minnesota Twins 7-5 Naulty Miceli Aguilera 43,216 0-1
2 April 3 at Minnesota Twins 7-6 Aguilera Jones 10,827 0-2
3 April 3 at Minnesota Twins 10-6 Ritchie Blair Naulty 11,533 0-3
4 April 4 at Boston Red Sox 8-7 Jones Levine Sager 38,560 1-3
5 April 5 at Boston Red Sox 15-12 Blair Castillo Jones 21,956 2-3
6 April 6 at Boston Red Sox 5-3 Navarro Brocail Hernandez 19,259 2-4
7 April 7 Minnesota Twins 10-4 Thompson Rodriguez 42,749 3-4
8 April 9 Minnesota Twins 10-5 Cummings Ritchie 6,477 4-4
9 April 10 Minnesota Twins 7-3 Aldred Blair 6,381 4-5
10 April 11 Boston Red Sox 5-4 Olivares Drabek Jones 7,598 5-5
11 April 13 Boston Red Sox 11-8 Hernandez Lira 0 5-6
12 April 13 Boston Red Sox 4-2 Sager Hernandez 10,818 6-6
13 April 14 at Milwaukee Brewers 7-0 Eldred Moehler 6,079 6-7
14 April 15 at Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 Blair Karl Jones 5,891 7-7
15 April 16 Seattle Mariners 7-3 Johnson Sager 8,090 7-8
16 April 17 Seattle Mariners 8-6 Fassero Bautista Charlton 8,973 7-9
17 April 18 Oakland Athletics 9-5 Groom Myers 7,748 7-10
18 April 19 Oakland Athletics 7-1 Adams Thompson 10,592 7-11
19 April 20 Oakland Athletics 9-2 Moehler Karsay 9,281 8-11
20 April 21 at Texas Rangers 7-6 Sager Vosberg Miceli 21,562 9-11
21 April 23 at Texas Rangers 2-1 Wetteland Brocail 35,230 9-12
22 April 24 at Texas Rangers 4-2 Pavlik Thompson Wetteland 31,902 9-13
23 April 25 at Anaheim Angels 8-3 Dickson Lira 30,464 9-14
24 April 26 at Anaheim Angels 2-0 Moehler Finley 30,872 10-14
25 April 27 at Anaheim Angels 6-5 James Myers 16,409 10-15
26 April 29 Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Eldred Olivares Jones 8,195 10-16
27 April 30 Milwaukee Brewers 8-4 Thompson Karl 12,888 11-16
May
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
28 May 3 at Cleveland Indians 7-6 Plunk Brocail 42,469 11-17
29 May 4 at Cleveland Indians 2-0 Blair Nagy Brocail 42,387 12-17
30 May 5 at Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Clemens Olivares 27,169 12-18
31 May 6 at Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 Crabtree Jones 26,294 12-19
32 May 7 Kansas City Royals 12-3 Lira Pittsley 7,949 13-19
33 May 8 Kansas City Royals 4-0 Belcher Moehler 16,243 13-20
34 May 9 Cleveland Indians 5-0 Nagy Sager 20,393 13-21
35 May 10 Cleveland Indians 6-0 Olivares Colon 30,578 14-21
36 May 11 Cleveland Indians 11-3 Thompson Hershiser 19,869 15-21
37 May 13 Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Lira Guzman 9,992 16-21
38 May 14 Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 Belcher Moehler 11,788 16-22
39 May 15 at Kansas City Royals 10-9 Nagy Sager 18,160 16-23
40 May 16 at Kansas City Royals 10-2 Olivares Colon 17,787 17-23
41 May 17 at Kansas City Royals 9-2 Thompson Hershiser 22,891 18-23
42 May 18 at Kansas City Royals 6-5 Lira Guzman 15,333 19-23
43 May 20 at Baltimore Orioles 4-3 Hentgen Moehler 48,003 19-24
44 May 21 at Baltimore Orioles 2-0 Erickson Thompson Myers 47,877 19-25
45 May 23 Texas Rangers 7-1 Moehler Oliver 16,017 20-25
46 May 24 Texas Rangers 8-4 Hill Pugh 10,797 20-26
47 May 25 Texas Rangers 13-5 Lira Witt Sager 13,451 21-26
48 May 26 Anaheim Angels 6-0 Olivares Finley 12,562 22-26
49 May 27 Anaheim Angels 6-2 Thompson Perisho Myers 8,042 23-26
50 May 28 Baltimore Orioles 8-1 Key Moehler Boskie 10,692 23-27
51 May 30 at Seattle Mariners 5-2 Lira Fassero Jones 32,305 24-27
52 May 31 at Seattle Mariners 4-2 Olivares Wolcott Jones 57,118 25-27
June
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
53 June 1 at Seattle Mariners 4-1 Sanders Thompson Ayala 39,841 25-28
54 June 2 at Oakland Athletics 8-7 Moehler Karsay Brocail 6,480 26-28
55 June 3 at Oakland Athletics 9-8 Small Myers Johnson 10,134 26-29
56 June 5 Seattle Mariners 14-6 Fassero Lira 12,572 26-30
57 June 6 Seattle Mariners 6-3 Lowe Olivares Ayala 25,547 26-31
58 June 7 Seattle Mariners 3-1 Thompson Wolcott Jones 18,896 27-31
59 June 8 Seattle Mariners 2-0 Johnson Moehler Ayala 20,287 27-32
60 June 10 Oakland Athletics 6-4 Blair Prieto Jones 10,019 28-32
61 June 11 Oakland Athletics 4-2 Brocail Small Jones 11,534 29-32
62 June 13 at Montreal Expos 4-3 Perez Olivares Urbina 20,333 29-33
63 June 14 at Montreal Expos 1-0 Martinez Thompson 21,127 29-34
64 June 15 at Montreal Expos 10-2 Juden Moehler 18,534 29-35
65 June 16 Florida Marlins 7-3 Brown Blair 23,874 29-36
66 June 17 Florida Marlins 3-2 Alfonseca Jones Nen 13,351 29-37
67 June 18 Florida Marlins 6-2 Olivares Leiter 14,043 30-37
68 June 20 Boston Red Sox 12-6 Thompson Wakefield Sager 20,091 31-37
69 June 21 Boston Red Sox 15-4 Bautisa Eshelman 20,599 32-37
70 June 22 Boston Red Sox 2-1 Gordon Blair Slocumb 19,477 32-38
71 June 23 New York Yankees 5-2 Cone Lira Rivera 14,556 32-39
72 June 24 New York Yankees 12-9 Lloyd Myers Rivera 15,872 32-40
73 June 25 New York Yankees 3-1 Stanton Thompson Rivera 15,348 32-41
74 June 26 at Boston Red Sox 10-6 Moehler Eshelman 31,878 33-41
75 June 27 at Boston Red Sox 2-1 Miceli Hammond Jones 26,753 34-41
76 June 28 at Boston Red Sox 9-2 Lira Sele 30,886 35-41
77 June 29 at Boston Red Sox 8-6 Wasdin Bautista Slocumb 30,844 35-42
78 June 30 New York Mets 14-0 Thompson Clark 15,009 36-42
July
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
79 July 1 New York Mets 8-6 Moehler Jones Jones 14,849 37-42
80 July 2 New York Mets 9-7 Blair Mlicki Jones 16,211 38-42
81 July 3 Baltimore Orioles 10-1 Key Lira 13,209 38-43
82 July 4 Baltimore Orioles 4-3 Rhodes Keagle Myers 0 38-44
83 July 4 Baltimore Orioles 11-8 Bautista Mills Jones 30,100 39-44
84 July 5 Baltimore Orioles 6-5 Miceli Orosco Jones 37,074 40-44
85 July 6 Baltimore Orioles 14-9 Blair Erickson 18,197 41-44
86 July 10 at New York Yankees 10-3 Irabu Olivares 51,901 41-45
87 July 11 at New York Yankees 3-0 Pettite Moehler Rivera 27,135 41-46
88 July 12 at New York Yankees 6-2 Cone Lira Rivera 39,681 41-47
89 July 13 at New York Yankees 3-1 Blair Gooden Jones 36,679 42-47
90 July 14 at Boston Red Sox 18-4 Suppan Jarvis 21,997 42-48
91 July 15 at Boston Red Sox 7-5 Jones Wasdin 25,822 43-48
92 July 16 at Anaheim Angels 5-3 Finley Moehler Percival 16,570 43-49
93 July 17 at Anaheim Angels 9-4 Springer Lira 19,246 43-50
94 July 18 at Texas Rangers 5-4 Blair Witt Jones 35,074 44-50
95 July 19 at Texas Rangers 6-5 Brocail Hernandez Jones 45,025 45-50
96 July 20 at Texas Rangers 7-6 Wetteland Sager 33,655 45-51
97 July 21 Boston Red Sox 3-0 Alvarez Thompson Hernandez 14,260 45-52
98 July 22 Boston Red Sox 6-3 Moehler Darwin Jones 16,895 46-52
99 July 23 Boston Red Sox 8-6 Blair Baldwin Jones 18,525 47-52
100 July 25 Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 Karl Sanders 22,532 47-53
101 July 26 Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 Florie Thompson Fetters 20,057 47-54
102 July 27 Milwaukee Brewers 11-7 Eldred Moehler Reyes 20,318 47-55
103 July 29 at Boston Red Sox 3-1 Blair Baldwin 20,380 48-55
104 July 30 at Boston Red Sox 3-2 Drabek Sanders Hernandez 30,613 48-56
105 July 31 Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 Thompson Person Jones 16,294 49-56
August
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
106 August 1 Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 Hentgen Miceli Ecobar 23,682 49-57
107 August 2 Toronto Blue Jays 8-7 Brocail Quantrill Jones 22,254 50-57
108 August 3 Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 Blair Williams Jones 27,848 51-57
109 August 4 Cleveland Indians 7-2 Nagy Sanders 26,832 51-58
110 August 5 Cleveland Indians 6-4 Thompson Plunk Jones 24,824 52-58
111 August 6 at Kansas City Royals 5-4 Rosado Sager Montgomery 14,640 52-59
112 August 7 at Kansas City Royals 8-4 Dishman Belcher 21,497 53-59
113 August 8 at Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 Williams Blair Escobar 30,228 53-60
114 August 9 at Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 Sanders Carpenter Jones 37,166 54-60
115 August 10 at Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 Thompson Person 32,354 55-60
116 August 11 at Toronto Blue Jays 8-2 Hentgen Jarvis 30,105 55-61
117 August 12 at Cleveland Indians 7-4 Plunk Keagle Mesa 32,992 55-62
118 August 13 at Cleveland Indians 13-3 Blair Smiley 0 56-62
119 August 13 at Cleveland Indians 9-1 Hershiser Dishman 42,673 56-63
120 August 14 at Cleveland Indians 12-1 Nagy Sanders 42,936 56-64
121 August 15 Kansas City Royals 5-3 Rusch Thompson Montgomery 20,099 56-65
122 August 16 Kansas City Royals 2-1 Appier Jarvis Montgomery 15,502 56-66
123 August 17 Kansas City Royals 8-4 Keagle Rosado 22,371 57-66
124 August 19 Minnesota Twins 8-2 Blair Hawkins 15,478 58-66
125 August 20 Minnesota Twins 11-1 Radke Sanders 13,199 58-67
126 August 21 at Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Miceli Wickman Jones 18,117 59-67
127 August 22 at Milwaukee Brewers 16-1 Moehler Woodard Gaillard 14,423 60-67
128 August 23 at Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 Karl Keagle Jones 19,524 60-68
129 August 24 at Milwaukee Brewers 6-0 Mercedes Blair 21,245 60-69
130 August 25 at Minnesota Twins 7-6 Sager Aguilera 15,245 61-69
131 August 26 at Minnesota Twins 8-2 Robertson Thompson Trombley 10,562 61-70
132 August 27 at Minnesota Twins 2-0 Tewksberry Moehler 10,441 61-71
133 August 29 Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 Blair Green 22,925 62-71
134 August 30 Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 Beech Sanders Bottalico 22,537 62-72
135 August 31 Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 Thompson Leiter Jones 19,152 63-72
September
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
136 September 1 at Atlanta Braves 4-2 Moehler Maddux Jones 38,950 64-72
137 September 2 at Atlanta Braves 5-0 Neagle Keagle 32,308 64-73
138 September 3 at Atlanta Braves 12-4 Blair Smoltz 36,556 65-73
139 September 4 Anaheim Angels 5-4 Jones Harris 9,445 66-73
140 September 5 Anaheim Angels 6-1 Thompson Springer 16,016 67-73
141 September 6 Anaheim Angels 7-5 Moehler Watson Jones 16,294 68-73
142 September 7 Anaheim Angels 5-4 Hasegawa Dishman 25,602 68-74
143 September 8 Texas Rangers 6-2 Blair Witt 15,765 69-74
144 September 9 Texas Rangers 4-0 Sanders Helling 9,139 70-74
145 September 10 at Seattle Mariners 10-0 Moyer Thompson 22,967 70-75
146 September 11 at Seattle Mariners 3-1 Moehler Fassero Jones 25,141 71-75
147 September 12 at Oakland Athletics 7-2 Keagler Ludwick Miceli 11,775 72-75
148 September 13 at Oakland Athletics 4-2 Telgheder Blair Mathews 20,482 72-76
149 September 14 at Oakland Athletics 6-5 Sanders Haynes Jones 16,440 73-76
150 September 15 at Oakland Athletics 6-3 Thompson Oquist Jones 4,651 74-76
151 September 17 at New York Yankees 6-2 Mendoza Moehler 19,331 74-77
152 September 18 at New York Yankees 9-7 Jones Borowsku Miceli 18,600 75-77
153 September 19 at Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Jones Mills 47,544 76-77
154 September 20 at Baltimore Orioles 12-8 Rodriquez Sanders 47,489 76-78
155 September 21 at Baltimore Orioles 11-3 Thompson Key 47,446 77-78
156 September 22 at Baltimore Orioles 5-4 Gaillard Benitez Jones 46,616 78-78
157 September 23 Boston Red Sox 6-0 Keagle Suppan 43,039 79-78
158 September 24 Boston Red Sox 9-2 Wakefield Blair 10,067 79-79
159 September 25 Boston Red Sox 3-1 Checo Sanders Gordon 14,495 79-80
160 September 26 New York Yankees 8-2 Rivera Jones 29,206 79-81
161 September 27 New York Yankees 6-1 Wells Moehler 33,712 79-82
162 September 28 New York Yankees 7-2 Irabu Keagle 38,171 79-83

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
C Raul Casanova 101 304 74 .243 5 24
1B Tony Clark 159 580 160 .276 32 117
2B Damion Easley 151 527 139 .264 22 72
3B Travis Fryman 154 595 163 .274 22 102
SS Deivi Cruz 147 436 105 .241 2 40
LF Bobby Higginson 146 546 163 .299 27 101
CF Brian Hunter 162 658 177 .269 4 45
RF Melvin Nieves 116 359 82 .228 20 64
DH Bob Hamelin 110 318 86 .270 18 52

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Phil Nevin 93 251 59 .235 9 35
Curtis Pride 79 162 34 .210 2 19
Brian Johnson 45 139 33 .237 2 18
Matt Walbeck 47 137 38 .277 3 10
Bubba Trammell 44 123 28 .228 4 13
Jody Reed 52 112 22 .196 0 8
Orlando Miller 50 111 26 .234 2 10
Juan Encarnación 11 33 7 .212 1 5
Frank Catalanotto 13 26 8 .308 0 3
Jimmy Hurst 13 17 3 .176 1 1
Vince Coleman 6 14 1 .071 0 0
Marcus Jensen 8 11 2 .182 0 1
Kimera Bartee 12 5 1 .200 0 0
Joe Hall 2 4 2 .500 0 3

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Justin Thompson 32 223.1 15 11 3.02 151
Brian Moehler 31 175.1 11 12 4.67 97
Willie Blair 29 175.0 16 8 4.17 90
Omar Olivares 19 115.0 5 6 4.70 74
Felipe Lira 20 92.0 5 7 5.77 64
Scott Sanders 14 74.1 3 8 5.33 58
Greg Keagle 11 45.1 3 5 6.55 33
Tim Pugh 2 9.0 1 1 5.00 4

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Glenn Dishman 7 29.0 1 2 5.28 20

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Todd Jones 68 70.0 5 4 31 3.09 70
Mike Myers 88 53.2 0 4 2 5.70 50
Dan Miceli 71 82.2 3 2 3 5.01 79
Doug Brocail 61 78.0 3 4 2 3.23 60
A. J. Sager 38 84.0 3 4 3 4.18 53
José Bautista 21 40.1 2 2 0 6.69 19
Kevin Jarvis 17 41.2 0 3 0 5.40 27
John Cummings 19 24.2 2 0 0 5.47 8
Eddie Gaillard 16 20.1 1 0 1 5.31 12
Roberto Duran 13 10.2 0 0 0 7.59 11
Fernando Hernández 2 1.1 0 0 0 40.50 2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Glenn Ezell and Gene Roof
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Dave Anderson
A Lakeland Tigers Florida State League Mark Meleski
A West Michigan Whitecaps Midwest League Bruce Fields
A-Short Season Jamestown Jammers New York–Penn League Dwight Lowry and Matt Martin
Rookie GCL Tigers Gulf Coast League Kevin Bradshaw

[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Vince Coleman Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  2. ^ "Bob Hamelin Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  3. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007