1997 Cleveland Indians season

The 1997 Cleveland Indians season was the 97th season for the franchise and the 4th season at Jacobs Field. It involved the Indians making their second World Series appearance in three years. The Indians finished in first place in the American League Central Division and hosted the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Offseason

November 13, 1996: Matt Williams was traded by the San Francisco Giants with a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later, Jeff Kent, Julián Tavárez, and José Vizcaíno. The Cleveland Indians sent Joe Roa to the San Francisco Giants to complete the trade.
December 10, 1996: Eric Plunk was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
December 13, 1996: Kevin Mitchell signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
December 16, 1996: Trenidad Hubbard was sent by the San Francisco Giants to the Cleveland Indians to complete an earlier deal made on November 13, 1996.
December 18, 1996: Chad Curtis was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
December 19, 1996: Les Norman was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
December 28, 1996: Tony Fernandez was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
January 1, 1997: Casey Candaele was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
January 31, 1997: Greg Cadaret was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.

Regular season

The season started with several new faces. The Indians acquired home run hitter Matt Williams. On March 25, 1997, the club traded All-Star Kenny Lofton and pitcher Alan Embree to the Atlanta Braves for Marquis Grissom and David Justice.
June 16 – The first interleague game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians took place at Jacobs Field. The rivalry would be known as the Battle of Ohio. The Reds won the game by a score of 4–1.

Notable transactions

April 21, 1997: Ryan Thompson signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
May 20, 1997: Torey Lovullo was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
June 3, 1997: Kevin Mitchell was released by the Cleveland Indians.
June 5, 1997: Ryan Thompson was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jeff Manto.
June 9, 1997: Dave Weathers was traded by the New York Yankees to the Cleveland Indians for Chad Curtis.
July 3, 1997: Greg Cadaret was released by the Cleveland Indians.
July 25, 1997: Pat Listach was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians.
July 31, 1997: John Smiley was traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Jeff Branson to the Cleveland Indians for Jim Crowell, Danny Graves, Damian Jackson, and Scott Winchester.
July 31, 1997: Jeff Juden was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Cleveland Indians for Steve Kline.
August 13, 1997: Julio Franco was released by the Cleveland Indians.

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 and National League. There were no members of the Indians in the starting lineup although three Indians were named to the team. The game was held on July 8, 1997, and the first pitch was thrown by former Indian Larry Doby. The American League were victorious 3 – 1, with the go ahead HR coming courtesy of Alomar Jr.

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	Sandy Alomar Jr.	125	451	146	.324	21	83
1B	Jim Thome	147	496	142	.286	40	102
2B	Tony Fernández	120	409	117	.286	11	44
SS	Omar Vizquel	153	565	158	.280	5	49
3B	Matt Williams	151	596	157	.263	32	105
LF	Brian Giles	130	377	101	.268	17	61
CF	Marquis Grissom	144	558	146	.262	12	66
RF	Manny Ramirez	150	561	184	.328	26	88
DH	David Justice	139	495	163	.329	33	101

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
Julio Franco	78	289	82	.284	3	25
Kevin Seitzer	64	198	53	.268	2	24
Pat Borders	55	159	47	.296	4	15
Bip Roberts	23	85	23	.271	3	8
Jeff Branson	29	72	19	.264	2	7
Kevin Mitchell	20	59	9	.153	4	11
Jeff Manto	16	30	8	.267	2	7
Chad Curtis	22	29	6	.207	3	5
Casey Candaele	14	26	8	.308	0	4
Bruce Aven	13	19	4	.211	0	2
Enrique Wilson	5	15	5	.333	0	1
Trent Hubbard	7	12	3	.250	0	0
Richie Sexson	5	11	3	.273	0	0
Sean Casey	6	10	2	.200	0	1
Damian Jackson	8	9	1	.111	0	0
Einar Díaz	5	7	1	.143	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
Charles Nagy	34	227.0	15	11	4.28	149
Orel Hershiser	32	195.1	14	6	4.47	107
Chad Ogea	21	126.1	8	9	4.99	80
Bartolo Colón	19	94.0	4	7	5.65	66
Jaret Wright	16	90.1	8	3	4.38	63
Brian Anderson	8	48.0	4	2	4.69	22
John Smiley	6	37.1	2	4	5.54	26
Terry Clark	4	26.1	0	3	6.15	13

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
Albie Lopez	37	76.2	3	7	6.93	63
Jason Jacome	21	42.2	2	0	5.27	24
Jack McDowell	8	40.2	3	3	5.09	38
Jeff Juden	8	31.1	0	1	5.46	29
David Weathers	9	16.2	1	2	7.56	14

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
José Mesa	66	4	4	16	2.40	69
Paul Assenmacher	75	5	0	4	2.94	53
Mike Jackson	71	2	5	15	3.24	74
Eric Plunk	55	4	5	0	4.66	66
Paul Shuey	40	4	2	2	6.20	46
Alvin Morman	34	0	0	2	5.89	13
Steve Kline	20	3	1	0	5.81	17
Danny Graves	5	0	0	0	4.76	4

American League Division Series

Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees

Game 1

September 30, Yankee Stadium

American League Championship Series

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

World Series

Game 1

October 18, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami

Game 2

October 19, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami

Game 3

October 21, 1997, at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 4

October 22, 1997, at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 5

October 23, 1997, at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio

Game 6

October 25, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami

Game 7

October 26, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami

Award winners

Marquis Grissom, Outfield, ALCS MVP

All-Star Game

Sandy Alomar Jr., catcher, reserve
Jim Thome, first baseman, reserve
David Justice, Outfield, elected to start, but was unable to play due to an injury.