1997 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1997 Baltimore Orioles season was the 97th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 44th in Baltimore, and the 6th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Orioles finished first in the American League East Division with a record of 98 wins and 64 losses. They met the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS, and beat them in four games. However, in the ALCS, they would play the Cleveland Indians, where they would fall in six games. It was the final season for Davey Johnson as manager, as a disagreement with ownership drove him out. It would be their last winning season until [2012 Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore Orioles season|15 years later].

Offseason

December 10, 1996: Jimmy Key was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
December 13, 1996: Mike Bordick was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
December 18, 1996: Jerome Walton was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
December 19, 1996: Eric Davis was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.
March 22, 1997: Scott McClain was traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Manny Alexander to the New York Mets for Hector Ramirez.

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Chris Hoiles	99	320	45	83	.259	12	49
1B	Rafael Palmeiro	158	614	95	156	.254	38	110
2B	Roberto Alomar	112	412	64	137	.333	14	60
3B	Cal Ripken Jr.	162	615	79	166	.270	17	84
SS	Mike Bordick	153	509	55	120	.236	7	46
LF	B. J. Surhoff	147	528	80	150	.284	18	88
CF	Brady Anderson	151	590	97	170	.288	18	73
RF	Jeffrey Hammonds	118	397	71	105	.264	21	55

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
Lenny Webster	98	259	66	.255	7	37
Jeff Reboulet	99	228	54	.237	4	27
Tony Tarasco	100	166	34	.205	7	26
Eric Davis	42	158	48	.304	8	25
Pete Incaviglia	48	138	34	.246	5	12
Harold Baines	44	134	39	.291	4	15
Aaron Ledesma	43	88	31	.352	2	11
Jerome Walton	26	68	20	.294	3	9
David Dellucci	17	27	6	.222	1	3
Tim Laker	7	14	0	.000	0	1
Melvin Rosario	4	3	0	.000	0	0
Danny Clyburn	2	3	0	.000	0	0
Charlie Greene	5	2	0	.000	0	1

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
Mike Mussina	33	224.2	15	8	3.20	218
Scott Erickson	33	221.2	16	7	3.69	131
Jimmy Key	34	212.1	16	10	3.43	141
Scott Kamieniecki	30	179.1	10	6	4.01	109
Rick Krivda	10	50.0	4	2	6.30	29

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
Shawn Boskie	28	77.0	6	6	6.43	50
Mike Johnson	14	39.2	0	1	7.94	29
Nerio Rodríguez	6	22.0	2	1	4.91	11
Rocky Coppinger	5	20.0	1	1	6.30	22
Esteban Yan	3	9.2	0	1	15.83	4

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
Randy Myers	61	59.2	2	3	45	1.51	56
Arthur Rhodes	53	95.1	10	3	1	3.02	102
Armando Benítez	71	73.1	4	5	9	2.45	106
Terry Mathews	57	63.1	4	4	1	4.41	39
Jesse Orosco	71	50.1	6	3	0	2.32	46
Alan Mills	39	38.2	2	3	0	4.89	32
Brian Williams	13	24.0	0	0	0	3.00	14

ALDS

Game 1

October 1, Kingdome

Game 2

October 2, Kingdome

Game 3

October 4, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Game 4

October 5, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

ALCS

Game 1

October 8, Camden Yards

Game 2

October 9, Camden Yards

Game 3

October 11, Jacobs Field

Game 4

October 12, Jacobs Field

Game 5

October 13, Jacobs Field

Game 6

October 15, Camden Yards

Awards and honors

Eric Davis, Outfield, Roberto Clemente Award
Eric Davis, Hutch Award
Harry Dalton, 1997 Herb Armstrong Award (for contribution to the Orioles franchise by a non-uniform personnel

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Roberto Alomar, starter
Cal Ripken Jr., starter

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Rochester, Delmarva, Bluefield