The 1997

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

season was the 108th for the franchise in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, and their 40th season in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. 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 The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, in the Western Division of the National League. 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 Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007. He currently serves as the manager of the Italian national baseball te ...

led the team with 40,

Eric Karros Eric Peter Karros (born November 4, 1967) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Karros played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1991 to 2004 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Oakland Athletics. He was the Nati ...

and

Todd Zeile Todd Edward Zeile (; born September 9, 1965) is an Americans, American former professional baseball third baseman, catcher, and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played sixteen seasons, from 1989 to 2004, for the St. Louis Cardinals ...

hit 31 each, and Raul Mondesi hit 30.

Offseason

*December 9, 1996: Acquired Jeff Berblinger from the Detroit Tigers for

Deivi Cruz Deivi Cruz Garcia (born November 6, 1972) is a Dominican former professional baseball shortstop. Cruz played at the Major League Baseball level for nine seasons (-) with the Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giant ...

an
Juan Hernaiz

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening Day lineup

Notable Transactions

*August 9, 1997: Acquire
Hal Garrett
from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Eddie Williams. *August 12, 1997: Acquired

Otis Nixon Otis Junior Nixon (born January 9, 1959) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1983), Cleveland Indians (1984–87), Montreal Expos (1988–90), Atlanta Brav ...

from the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

fo
Bobby Cripps
*August 18, 1997: Acquired Eric Young from the Colorado Rockies for

Pedro Astacio Pedro Julio Astacio (born November 28, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1992–1997), Colorado Rockies (1997–2001), Houston Astros (2001), New York Mets (2002–2003), Boston Red Sox (20 ...

. *August 27, 1997: Acquired

Darren Lewis Darren Joel Lewis (born August 28, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who played center field in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (1990), San Francisco Giants (1991–1995), Cincinnati Reds (1995), C ...

from the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for

Chad Fonville Chad Everette Fonville (born March 5, 1971) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox between 1995 and 1999. Career ...

. *September 3, 1997:

Chip Hale Walter William "Chip" Hale (born December 2, 1964) is an American professional baseball infielder, coach, and manager. Hale played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1989 through 1997, and managed in MLB from 2015 through 2016. He was nam ...

was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Roster

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''

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''

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''

1997 Awards

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 68th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July ...

starter * Gold Glove Award **

Raúl Mondesí Raúl Ramón Mondesí Avelino (born March 12, 1971) is a Dominican former politician and baseball player. Mondesí played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and made his MLB debut with them in ...

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters co ...

* TSN National League All-Star **

* NL Player of the Month **

(July 1997) **

(August 1997) * NL Player of the Week **

(Aug. 25–31)

Farm system

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 Delino Lamont DeShields (born January 15, 1969), also nicknamed "Bop", is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current first base coach for the Cincinnati Reds. He played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...

. The first round pick was first baseman Glenn Davis from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. 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 Chase Cameron Utley (born December 17, 1978), nicknamed "The Man" and "Silver Fox", is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 16 seasons, primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies. ...

from Polytechnic High School in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. However, Utley refused to sign and went to college instead. He was eventually a first round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

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.

References

External links

1997 Los Angeles Dodgers uniformLos Angeles Dodgers official web siteBaseball-Reference season pageBaseball Almanac season page
{{Los Angeles Dodgers Los Angeles Dodgers seasons

1997 in sports in California