The Seattle Mariners 1997 season was their 21st season, and the team won their second

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams cu ...

with a record of six games ahead of the runner-up

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

. For the second straight year, they led the AL in runs scored (925) and shattered the all-time record for most home runs hit by a team in one season (set at 257 by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

the year before) with 264. Five Mariners scored at least 100 runs and six hit at least 20 home runs. In addition, the Seattle pitching staff led the league with 1,207 strikeouts. In the postseason, the Mariners lost the ALDS to the Baltimore Orioles in 4 games. The Mariners drew over three million in home attendance for the first time in franchise in the penultimate full season at the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a franchise record 56 home runs and won the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

award in the American League. This would be Randy Johnson's final full year in a Mariners uniform, as he would later be traded to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

midway through the 1998 season.

Offseason

*October 3, 1996: Ricky Jordan was released by the Mariners. *November 12, 1996: Jalal Leach was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. *November 15, 1996: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Mariners from the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

. *December 21, 1996: Josías Manzanillo was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. *January 10, 1997: Brent Mayne was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. *January 22, 1997:

Rob Ducey Robert Thomas Ducey (born May 24, 1965) is a Canadian former professional baseball outfielder and coach who played for six teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). Career Ducey was raised in Cambridge, Ontario and graduated from Seminole Communit ...

was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. *January 24, 1997: Mike Blowers was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. *February 20, 1997:

Dennis Martínez José Dennis Martínez Ortiz (born May 14, 1955), nicknamed "El Presidente" (), is a Nicaraguan former professional baseball pitcher. Martínez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos, Cleveland Indians, S ...

was signed as a free agent with the Mariners. *March 27, 1997: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Texas Rangers from the Mariners. *March 28, 1997: Brent Mayne was released by the Mariners.

Regular season

In 1997, Randy Johnson set an American League record for left-handers by striking out 19 batters in a 4–1 loss to the Oakland A's on June 24. On August 8 he matched the feat by setting down 19 Chicago White Sox. Johnson posted a 20–4 record with 291 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.28. He finished second in the Cy Young balloting to Toronto's Roger Clemens.

Opening Day starters

* Jay Buhner * Joey Cora * Russ Davis * Jeff Fassero *

Ken Griffey Jr George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mari ...

. *

Edgar Martínez Edgar Martínez (born January 2, 1963), nicknamed "Gar" and "Papi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player who is currently the senior director of hitting strategy coach for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). H ...

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

* Paul Sorrento * Lee Tinsley * Dan Wilson

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

*April 8, 1997: Steve Decker was signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners.Steve Decker Statistics
Baseball-Reference.com *May 24, 1997:

was released by the Seattle Mariners. *July 17, 1997: Josías Manzanillo was released by the Seattle Mariners. *July 31, 1997: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek. *July 31, 1997: Paul Spoljaric was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Mike Timlin to the Seattle Mariners for Jose Cruz. * August 20, 1997: Roberto Kelly was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Seattle Mariners for players to be named later. The Seattle Mariners sent Joe Mays (October 9, 1997) and Jeromy Palki (minors) (October 9, 1997) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade. *September 2, 1997: Steve Decker was released by the Seattle Mariners.

Roster

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''

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Other pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

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

ALDS

Game 1

October 1,

Game 2

October 2,

Game 3

October 4,

Oriole Park at Camden Yards Oriole Park at Camden Yards, commonly known as Camden Yards, is a ballpark in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the ...

Game 4

October 5,

Awards and honors

*The Mariners led the American League in home runs with 264

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links

1997 Seattle Mariners at Baseball Reference1997 Seattle Mariners team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{Seattle Mariners Seattle Mariners seasons Seattle Mariners season American League West champion seasons Seattle Marin