1997 Seattle Mariners season

The Seattle Mariners 1997 season was their 21st season, and the team won their second American League West with a record of six games ahead of the runner-up Anaheim Angels. For the second straight year, they led the AL in runs scored and shattered the all-time record for most home runs hit by a team in one season 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. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a franchise record 56 home runs and won the Most Valuable Player 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 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.
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 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 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.
Edgar Martínez
Alex Rodriguez
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.
May 24, 1997: Dennis Martínez 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 and Jeromy Palki 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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Dan Wilson	146	508	137	.270	15	74
1B	Paul Sorrento	146	457	123	.269	31	80
2B	Joey Cora	149	574	172	.300	11	54
SS	Alex Rodriguez	141	587	176	.300	23	84
3B	Russ Davis	119	420	114	.271	20	63
LF	José Cruz Jr.	49	183	49	.268	12	34
CF	Ken Griffey Jr.	157	608	185	.304	56	147
RF	Jay Buhner	157	540	131	.243	40	109
DH	Edgar Martínez	155	542	179	.330	28	108

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
Rich Amaral	89	190	54	.284	1	21
Brent Gates	65	151	36	.238	3	20
Mike Blowers	68	150	44	.293	5	20
Rob Ducey	76	143	41	.287	5	10
Lee Tinsley	49	122	24	.197	0	6
Roberto Kelly	30	121	36	.298	7	22
Andy Sheets	32	89	22	.247	4	9
John Marzano	39	87	25	.287	1	10
Álvaro Espinoza	33	72	13	.181	0	7
Raúl Ibañez	11	26	4	.154	1	4
Rick Wilkins	5	12	3	.250	1	4
Dan Rohrmeier	7	9	3	.333	0	2
Giomar Guevara	5	4	0	.000	0	0
Brian Raabe	2	3	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
Jeff Fassero	35	234.1	16	9	3.61	189
Randy Johnson	30	213.0	20	4	2.28	291
Jamie Moyer	30	188.2	17	5	3.86	113
Bob Wolcott	19	100.0	5	6	6.03	58
Omar Olivares	13	62.1	1	4	5.49	29
Ken Cloude	10	51.0	4	2	5.12	46
Dennis Martínez	9	49.0	1	5	7.71	17

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
	33	65.1	3	6	6.47	62
Derek Lowe	12	53.0	2	4	6.96	39
Felipe Lira	8	18.2	0	4	9.16	9

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
Norm Charlton	71	3	8	14	7.27	55
Bobby Ayala	71	10	5	8	3.82	92
Bob Wells	46	2	0	2	5.75	51
Greg McCarthy	37	1	1	0	5.46	34
Heathcliff Slocumb	27	0	4	10	4.13	28
Mike Timlin	26	3	2	1	3.86	9
Paul Spoljaric	20	0	0	0	4.76	27
Josías Manzanillo	16	0	1	0	5.40	18
Mark Holzemer	14	0	0	1	6.00	7
Edwin Hurtado	13	1	2	0	9.00	10
Mike Maddux	6	1	0	0	10.13	7
Rafael Carmona	4	0	0	0	3.18	6
Tim Davis	2	0	0	0	6.75	10
Salomón Torres	2	0	0	0	27.00	0

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

Awards and honors

The Mariners led the American League in home runs with 264
Farm system