1997 New York Mets season

The 1997 New York Mets season was the 36th regular season for the Mets. They went 88–74 and finished third in the National League East, thirteen games behind the first place Atlanta Braves. The Mets were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium. It was their first winning season since 1990, despite not making the playoffs.

Offseason

November 25, 1996: Paul Byrd and a player to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Greg McMichael. The Mets completed the deal by sending Andy Zwirchitz to the Braves on May 25, 1997.
November 27, 1996: Rico Brogna was traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ricardo Jordan and Toby Borland.
December 20, 1996: Robert Person was traded by the Mets to the Toronto Blue Jays for John Olerud and cash.
March 22, 1997: Héctor Ramírez was traded by the Mets to the Baltimore Orioles for Scott McClain and Manny Alexander.

Regular season

For the first time since 1990, the Mets finished the regular season with a winning record. Their offensive output was led by their corner infielders, the 23-year old third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo and the two-time former world champion first baseman John Olerud, the latter of whom was acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. Alfonzo, in his first full season as a starter, led the team with a.315 average and 163 hits while Olerud notched a.294 average and drove in 102 runs to lead the Mets in that category. Catcher Todd Hundley, a year removed from his record setting 1996 campaign, led the team in home runs with 30 and added 86 RBI, one of five Mets to record 70 or more.
After a year out of baseball, Rick Reed joined the Mets' starting rotation and led them with a 2.89 ERA. Bobby Jones led with fifteen wins, with Reed recording thirteen. John Franco saved 36 games, his most since 1988.

Jackie Robinson tribute

On April 15 the Mets hosted ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Shea Stadium. The ceremony was attended by President Bill Clinton and commissioner Bud Selig announced that Robinson's jersey number, 42, would be retired permanently across baseball. The Mets won the game 5–0.

Subway Series

Interleague play was brought to MLB in 1997 and the Mets played New York Yankees in June as part of the first ever regular season games that counted in the standings between the two teams. The series took place at Yankee Stadium, and Mets won the first game by a score of 6–0.

Notable transactions

June 3, 1997: 1997 Major League Baseball draft
*Garrett Atkins was drafted by the Mets in the 10th round, but did not sign.
*Jeremy Guthrie was drafted by the Mets in the 15th round, but did not sign.
August 8, 1997: Lance Johnson and players to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Chicago Cubs for Brian McRae, Mel Rojas and Turk Wendell. The Mets completed the deal by sending Mark Clark to the Cubs on August 11 and Manny Alexander to the Cubs on August 14.

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	Todd Hundley	132	417	114	.273	30	86
1B	John Olerud	154	524	154	.294	22	102
2B	Carlos Baerga	133	467	131	.281	9	52
SS	Rey Ordóñez	120	356	77	.216	1	33
3B	Edgardo Alfonzo	151	518	163	.315	10	72
LF	Bernard Gilkey	145	518	129	.249	18	78
CF	Lance Johnson	72	265	82	.309	1	24
RF	Butch Huskey	142	471	135	.287	24	81

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
Carl Everett	142	443	110	.248	14	57
Alex Ochoa	113	238	58	.244	3	22
Luis López	78	178	48	.270	1	19
Matt Franco	112	163	45	.276	5	21
Manny Alexander	54	149	37	.248	2	15
Brian McRae	45	145	36	.248	5	15
Todd Pratt	39	106	30	.283	2	19
Steve Bieser	47	69	17	.246	0	4
Alberto Castillo	35	59	12	.203	0	7
Jason Hardtke	30	56	15	.268	2	8
Shawn Gilbert	29	22	3	.136	1	1
Roberto Petagine	12	15	1	.067	0	2
Carlos Mendoza	15	12	3	.250	0	1
Andy Tomberlin	6	7	2	.286	0	0
Gary Thurman	11	6	1	.167	0	0
Kevin Morgan	1	1	0	.000	0	0

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
Rick Reed	33	208.1	13	9	2.89	113
Dave Mlicki	32	193.2	8	12	4.00	157
Bobby Jones	30	193.1	15	9	3.63	125
Mark Clark	23	142.0	8	7	4.25	72
Brian Bohanon	19	94.1	6	4	3.82	66
Armando Reynoso	16	91.1	6	3	4.53	47
Jason Isringhausen	6	29.2	2	2	7.58	25

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
Pete Harnisch	6	25.2	0	1	8.06	12

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
John Franco	59	5	3	36	2.55	53
Greg McMichael	73	7	10	7	2.98	81
Cory Lidle	54	7	2	2	3.53	54
Takashi Kashiwada	35	3	1	0	4.31	19
Juan Acevedo	25	3	1	0	3.59	33
Mel Rojas	23	0	2	2	5.13	32
Ricardo Jordan	22	1	2	0	5.33	19
Joe Crawford	19	4	3	0	3.30	25
Barry Manuel	19	0	1	0	5.26	21
Turk Wendell	13	0	0	1	4.96	10
Toby Borland	13	0	1	1	6.08	7
Ricky Trlicek	9	0	0	0	8.00	4
Yorkis Pérez	9	0	1	0	8.31	7

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Bobby Jones, Pitcher, Reserve
Todd Hundley, Catcher, Reserve

Farm system

League champions: Pittsfield, GCL Mets