1997 in baseball


Champions

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball final standings

  • ''The asterisk denotes the club that won the wild card for its respective league.''

    Events

January–March

  • January 5 – Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield escapes serious injury when he is hit by a car while out jogging. He is released from the hospital after being treated for bruises.
  • January 6 – Pitcher Phil Niekro is elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Niekro receives 80.34% of the vote. Pitcher Don Sutton falls nine votes short of election.
  • January 8 – The San Diego Padres sign pitcher Fernando Valenzuela as a free agent.
  • January 9 – The Detroit Tigers sign Vince Coleman as a free agent. Coleman appears in just six games, getting one hit in fifteen plate appearances before announcing his retirement mid-season.
  • January 13 – The San Diego Padres purchased the contract of Hideki Irabu from Chiba Lotte of the Japan Pacific League.
  • January 27 – Jose Canseco returns to the Oakland A's after he's traded there by the Boston Red Sox in exchange for pitcher John Wasdin and cash considerations.
  • February 7 - The Chicago White Sox sign pitcher Danny Darwin as a free agent.
  • February 17 – Deion Sanders returns to baseball after signing a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Reds.
  • February 20 – The Philadelphia Phillies sign free agent outfielder Danny Tartabull. Tartabull will break his foot on Opening Day and sit out the year before retiring.
  • March 5 – Nellie Fox, Tommy Lasorda and Negro leaguer Willie Wells are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
  • March 20 - The Atlanta Braves signed Hensley Meulens, who was attempted to return to the majors after spending the previous two seasons in Japan.
  • March 26 – Todd Van Poppel, who had one time been one of baseball's top prospects, is released by the Anaheim Angels. Van Poppel would spend the entire 1997 season out of organized baseball.
  • * Bob Hamelin, who just a few seasons prior, had been rookie of the year, was released by the Kansas City Royals.
  • March 31 - Jim Abbott is released by the Anaheim Angels.

    April–May

  • April 4 – Bartolo Colón makes his major league debut starting for the Cleveland Indians. Colon gives up six hits in five innings as Cleveland lost to Anaheim 8-6. Colon would go on to pitch 21 years in the major leagues.
  • April 5 – Larry Walker hits 3 home runs helping the Colorado Rockies beat Montreal Expos 15–3.
  • April 10 – At Wrigley Field, Alex Fernandez of the Florida Marlins has a no-hitter broken up in the ninth inning of a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. With one out in the inning, Dave Hansen hits a ground ball that goes under Fernandez's glove and off his right leg. Brian McRae and Brant Brown then reach on errors, but José Hernández, pinch-running for Hansen, is thrown out on the latter play. Hernández then strikes out Ryne Sandberg for the final out. The no-hitter would have been the first against the Cubs since Sandy Koufax's perfect game in. The loss also extends the Cubs' season-opening losing streak to eight games, the most to start a season in the franchise's 122-year history; they will extend the losing streak to 14 games before finally winning their first game on April 20 against the New York Mets.
  • April 11 – To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the baseball color line, Sharon Robinson, Jackie Robinson's daughter, and Pumpsie Green each throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park. In 1959, Green became the first African-American baseball player to appear in a Boston Red Sox uniform, making the Red Sox the last team to integrate in the major leagues.
  • April 15 – On the fiftieth anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game, all Major League baseball games are stopped so that fans across the country may witness a special presentation at Shea Stadium. With then U.S. President Bill Clinton alongside, acting Commissioner Bud Selig announces that Robinson's uniform #42 will be retired from all Major League teams in perpetuity, with exceptions made for players currently wearing #42 in honor of Robinson.
  • April 25 – Ken Griffey Jr. hits three home runs helping the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 13–8.
  • April 29 – Chili Davis' 300th home run, leading off the 10th inning, snaps a 5–5 tie and gives the Kansas City Royals a 6–5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
  • May 1 - The Boston Red Sox sell the contract of pitcher Johnny Ruffin to the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
  • May 7 – The Montreal Expos score a National League-record 13 runs in the sixth inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants on the way to a 19–3 win. The Expos send 17 batters to the plate. Mike Lansing homers twice in the inning to drive in five runs, becoming the third Expos player to perform the feat, and the first NL second baseman to do so since Bobby Lowe in 1894.
  • May 8 – At home, the Baltimore Orioles stop Randy Johnson's 16-game win streak with a decisive 13–3 pasting of the Seattle Mariners. Baltimore is led by catcher Chris Hoiles, who collects six RBI on two homers and a double. Johnson strikes out 10 in six innings, but gives up five runs on six hits and two walks in his attempt to become the first AL pitcher since Dave McNally to win 17 straight.
  • May 13 – Eddie Murray gets two hits in Anaheim's 8–7 win over the Chicago White Sox. The game is the 3,000th of Murray's career, making him only the sixth player in history to reach that mark, joining Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and Stan Musial.
  • May 21 – Roger Clemens fires the Toronto Blue Jays past the New York Yankees 4–1, for his 8th win of the year against no losses. The Rocket wins his 200th game, the 94th pitcher to reach the 200 victories mark.
  • May 25 – The Minnesota Twins retire Kirby Puckett's uniform number 34 in a 90-minute pregame ceremony.
  • May 26:
  • *In the Chicago Cubs' 2–1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cub Sammy Sosa and Pirate Tony Womack both hit inside-the-park home runs in the sixth inning. It is the first time two inside-the-park homers are hit in the same National League game since Lou Brock and Héctor Cruz of the St. Louis Cardinals did it against the San Diego Padres on June 18,. Greg Gagne of the Twins had two for Minnesota on October 4,.
  • *In Toronto, Roger Clemens allows one run and four hits in seven innings and strikes out seven to beat the Texas Rangers 8–1. The Rocket is now 9–0, his best start since beginning at 14–0.
  • *Andrés Galarraga hits a 469-foot two-run homer and Vinny Castilla adds a solo shot as the Colorado Rockies overcome a six-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9–7. Galarraga has four RBI, and his moon shot off Mark Petkovsek is the third-longest homer in the three-season history of Coors Field.
  • May 27 – Barry Larkin's streak of consecutively reaching base 13 times is stopped by Curt Schilling, who goes all the way to beat Cincinnati 2–1. Larkin singles in the first inning, but flies out in the 3rd to end his streak one shy of Pedro Guerrero's NL record, set in.
  • May 30 – Baltimore Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina retires the first 25 Cleveland Indians batters before Sandy Alomar Jr. ruins his no-hit bid with a one-out single in the ninth inning. Mussina then strikes out the final two batters for a 3–0 victory.
  • May 31:
  • *Cal Ripken Jr. snaps a seventh-inning tie with a record-breaking home run as the Baltimore Orioles rally from a four-run deficit to beat the Cleveland Indians, 8–5. Ripken's homer gives him 4,274 total bases with Baltimore, breaking the franchise mark for total bases in a career. Baltimore also places Eric Davis on the disabled list. Davis is suffering from colon cancer and will be operated on in early June.
  • *In Miami, Andrés Galarraga hits a 529-foot grand slam, the longest home run ever at Pro Player Stadium. His homer gives the Colorado Rockies a 7–0 lead over the Florida Marlins, and they eventually win 8–4. Galarraga has three home runs in the past three games against Florida that traveled 1,435 feet, an average of 478 feet. He hit a 455-foot homer two days before and a 451-foot homer on May 30. The longest previous homer at the stadium was 482 feet by Philadelphia Phillies' Pete Incaviglia off Al Leiter on May 1,.
  • *Unbeaten Roger Clemens is the first 10-game winner in the majors, as the Toronto Blue Jays romp 13–3 over the Oakland Athletics.