1997 Oakland Athletics season

1997 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968) Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	65–97 (.401)
Divisional place	4th
Other information
Owner(s)	Stephen Schott Kenneth Hofmann
General manager(s)	Sandy Alderson
Manager(s)	Art Howe
Local television	KRON-TV Sports Channel Pacific (Ray Fosse, Greg Papa, Ken Wilson)
Local radio	KFRC (Bill King, Ken Korach, Ray Fosse)
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The Oakland Athletics' 1997 season was the team's 30th in Oakland, California. It was also the 97th season in franchise history. The team finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 65-97.

The Athletics, coming off a surprising (if still mediocre) 78-84 campaign, hoped to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1992. With this in mind, the team traded for slugger Jose Canseco. Canseco, who had played for the Athletics from 1985 to 1992, was reunited with fellow superstar (and fellow "Bash Brother") Mark McGwire. In addition to McGwire and Canseco, Oakland's impressive collection of power hitters included Jason Giambi, Gerónimo Berroa, and Matt Stairs.

Little was done, however, to shore up the Athletics' abysmal 1996 pitching staff. Ariel Prieto, owner of a 4.41 career ERA (Earned Run Average), was named the Opening Day starter; a succession of poorly regarded players filled out the rest of the starting rotation and bullpen. While optimism remained high for the team's offense, great concern remained for its pitching staff.

In the end, Oakland's offense and pitching both fared terribly. For the second consecutive year, no Athletics pitcher won ten or more games; even worse, no starter won more than six. None of the team's top four starters (Ariel Prieto, Steve Karsay, Mike Oquist, and Dave Telgheder) finished the season with an ERA of less than 5.00; the Athletics, as a team, finished with an earned run average of 5.48 (easily the MLB's worst). All told, the A's allowed a season total of 946 runs. This remains the worst such figure in Oakland history.

More puzzling was the fate of the offense. Oakland, as expected, remained one of the league's best power-hitting teams. The Athletics' sluggers hit a total of 197 home runs (third-most in the American League). Oakland's home runs failed to generate much offense, however, as a low team batting average negated most of the team's other advantages. Oakland scored a total of 764 runs in 1997 (the 11th highest total in the American League).

These awful performances quickly removed the A's from contention. On May 31, they were already nine games out of first place; their position steadily worsened throughout the summer. In light of this, General Manager Sandy Alderson traded Mark McGwire (who, at the time, was on pace to break Roger Maris' single-season home run record) to the St. Louis Cardinals for T.J. Matthews, Blake Stein, and Eric Ludwick. McGwire would finish the season with 58 home runs (four shy of breaking the record). The trade was a disaster on the Athletics' end, as none of the three players received in the trade panned out. The A's ultimately finished twenty-five games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners. Their 65-97 finish (the club's worst since 1979) led to the removal of Sandy Alderson as General Manager on October 17; he was replaced by Billy Beane. Manager Art Howe, however, was retained for the 1998 season.

The 1997 season would ultimately prove to be the Athletics' nadir. The continued rise of Jason Giambi, the debuts of Ben Grieve and Miguel Tejada, the acquisition of Tim Hudson in the 1997 MLB draft, and the ascension of Billy Beane to the position of general manager paved the way for a lengthy period of success from 1999 onwards.

Offseason[]

• October 2, 1996: Dane Johnson was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Toronto Blue Jays.^[1]
• November 19, 1996: Mike Oquist was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.^[2]
• December 9, 1996: Frank Catalanotto was drafted by the Oakland Athletics from the Detroit Tigers in the 1996 rule 5 draft.^[3]
• January 27, 1997: John Wasdin was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Boston Red Sox for Jose Canseco.
• March 21, 1997: Frank Catalanotto was returned (earlier draft pick) by the Oakland Athletics to the Detroit Tigers.^[3]
• March 27, 1997: Scott Service was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Cincinnati Reds.^[4]

Regular season[]

• Ben Grieve had five RBI's in his major league debut.^[5]

Transactions[]

• April 4, 1997: Scott Service was selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds from the Oakland Athletics.^[4]
• April 8, 1997: Brent Mayne was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.^[6]
• June 3, 1997: Tim Hudson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 6th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 13, 1997.^[7]
• July 31, 1997 – Mark McGwire was traded by Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T. J. Mathews, and Blake Stein. McGwire had 34 home runs and 81 RBIs with Oakland at the time of the trade, which reunited him with former Athletics manager Tony La Russa.
• August 8, 1997: Tilson Brito was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Toronto Blue Jays.^[8]

Season standings[]

v t AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Seattle Mariners	90	72	0.556	—	45–36	45–36
Anaheim Angels	84	78	0.519	6	46–36	38–42
Texas Rangers	77	85	0.475	13	39–42	38–43
Oakland Athletics	65	97	0.401	25	35–46	30–51

Record vs. opponents[]

1997 American League Records v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	ANA	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR	NL
Anaheim	—	4–7	6–5	6–5	7–4	5–6	6–5	7–4	4–7	4–7	11–1	6–6	8–4	6–5	4–12
Baltimore	7–4	—	5–7	5–6	6–5	6–6	7–4	5–6	10–1	8–4	8–3	7–4	10–1	6–6	8–7
Boston	5–6	7–5	—	3–8	6–5	5–7	3–8	8–3	8–3	4–8	7–4	7–4	3–8	6–6	6–9
Chicago	5–6	6–5	8–3	—	5–7	4–7	11–1	4–7	6–6	2–9	8–3	5–6	3–8	5–6	8–7
Cleveland	4–7	5–6	5–6	7–5	—	6–5	8–3	8–4	8–4	5–6	7–4	3–8	5–6	6–5	9–6
Detroit	6–5	6–6	7–5	7–4	5–6	—	6–5	4–7	4–7	2–10	7–4	4–7	7–4	6–6	8–7
Kansas City	5–6	4–7	8–3	1–11	3–8	5–6	—	6–6	7–5	3–8	3–8	5–6	6–5	5–6	6–9
Milwaukee	4–7	6–5	3–8	7–4	4–8	7–4	6–6	—	5–7	4–7	5–6	5–6	7–4	7–4	8–7
Minnesota	7–4	1–10	3–8	6–6	4–8	7–4	5–7	7–5	—	3–8	7–4	5–6	3–8	3–8	7–8
New York	7–4	4–8	8–4	9–2	6–5	10–2	8–3	7–4	8–3	—	6–5	4–7	7–4	7–5	5–10
Oakland	1–11	3–8	4–7	3–8	4–7	4–7	8–3	6–5	4–7	5–6	—	5–7	5–7	6–5	7–9
Seattle	6–6	4–7	4–7	6–5	8–3	7–4	6–5	6–5	6–5	7–4	7–5	—	8–4	8–3	7–9
Texas	4–8	1–10	8–3	8–3	6–5	4–7	5–6	4–7	8–3	4–7	7–5	4–8	—	4–7	10–6
Toronto	5–6	6–6	6–6	6–5	5–6	6–6	6–5	4–7	8–3	5–7	5–6	3–8	7–4	—	4–11

Roster[]

1997 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 55 Mark Acre 40 Willie Adams 47 Billy Brewer 24,42 Buddy Groom 49 Gary Haught 51 Jimmy Haynes 59 Dane Johnson 53 John Johnstone 20 Steve Karsay 58 Tim Kubinski 44,51 Richie Lewis 49 Andrew Lorraine 41 Eric Ludwick 29 T.J. Mathews 32 Mike Mohler 54 Steve Montgomery 45 Mike Oquist 48 Ariel Prieto 37 Carlos Reyes 57 Brad Rigby 30 Aaron Small 22 Billy Taylor 50 Dave Telgheder 56 Don Wengert 52 Jay Witasick 39 Steve Wojciechowski		Catchers  6 Brent Mayne 21 Izzy Molina 19 George Williams Infielders 28 Tony Batista 47 Mark Bellhorn 26 Rafael Bournigal  8 Tilson Brito  7 Scott Brosius 17 Dave Magadan 25 Mark McGwire  8 Scott Sheldon 21 Scott Spiezio  4 Miguel Tejada		Outfielders 29 Gerónimo Berroa 33 Jose Canseco 16 Jason Giambi 14 Ben Grieve 23 Patrick Lennon  5 Brian Lesher 33 Damon Mashore  2 Jason McDonald 12 Matt Stairs 11 Ernie Young		Manager 18 Art Howe Coaches  3 Bob Cluck 9 Duffy Dyer 35 Brad Fischer 15 Denny Walling 38 Ron Washington

Player stats[]

= Indicates team leader

Batting[]

Starters by position[]

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Brent Mayne	85	256	29	74	.289	6	22	1
1B	Mark McGwire	105	366	48	104	.284	34	81	1
2B	Scott Spiezio	147	538	58	131	.243	14	65	9
3B	Scott Brosius	129	479	59	97	.203	11	41	9
SS	Rafael Bournigal	79	222	29	62	.279	1	20	2
LF	Jason Giambi	142	519	66	152	.293	20	81	0
CF	Damon Mashore	92	279	55	69	.247	3	18	5
RF	Matt Stairs	133	352	62	105	.298	27	73	3
DH	Jose Canseco	108	388	56	91	.235	23	74	8

^[9]

Other batters[]

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

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Tony Batista	68	188	22	38	.202	4	18	2
Mark Bellhorn	68	224	33	51	.228	6	19	7
Gerónimo Berroa	73	261	40	81	.310	16	42	3
Tilson Brito	17	46	8	13	.283	2	6	0
Ben Grieve	24	93	12	29	.312	3	24	0
Patrick Lennon	56	116	14	34	.293	1	14	0
Brian Lesher	46	131	17	30	.229	4	16	4
Dave Magadan	128	271	38	82	.303	4	30	1
Jason McDonald	78	236	47	62	.263	4	14	13
Izzy Molina	48	111	6	22	.198	3	7	0
Mike Oquist	5	4	0	1	.250	0	0	0
Brad Rigby	2	3	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Scott Sheldon	13	24	2	6	.250	1	2	0
Miguel Tejada	26	99	10	20	.202	2	10	2
George Williams	76	201	30	58	.289	3	22	0
Ernie Young	71	175	22	39	.223	5	15	1

Pitching[]

Starting pitchers[]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on Balls; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	BB	SO
Steve Karsay	24	132.2	3	12	5.77	47	92
Ariel Prieto	27	125	6	8	5.04	70	90
Steve Wojciechowski	2	10.1	0	2	7.84	1	5

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

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
Buddy Groom	78	73	2	2	3	5.15	45
Billy Taylor	72	73	3	4	23	3.82	66

Awards and records[]

• Mark McGwire, Major League record, 1st player to lead the Major Leagues in Home Runs but not lead the American League or National League in home runs^[10]

Farm system[]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Edmonton Trappers	Pacific Coast League	Gary Jones
AA	Huntsville Stars	Southern League	Mike Quade
A	Modesto A's	California League	Jeffrey Leonard
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Tony DeFrancesco
A-Short Season	Southern Oregon Timberjacks	Northwest League
Rookie	AZL Athletics	Arizona League

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Edmonton

References[]

Sources[]

• 1997 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 1997 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.