The 1997 San Francisco Giants season was the
Giants
A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore.
Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to:
Mythology and religion
*Giants (Greek mythology)
*Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...
' 115th season in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
, their 40th season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the
1957 season, and their 38th at
3Com Park at Candlestick Point. The Giants finished in first place in the
National League West
The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...
with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. They lost the
National League Division Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ...
in three games to the
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The franc ...
.
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 (December 16, 1996) to the San Francisco Giants to complete the trade.
*November 26, 1996: J. T. Snow was traded by the Anaheim Angels to the San Francisco Giants for Allen Watson and Fausto Macey (minors).
*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.
*January 6, 1997: Damon Berryhill was signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants.
Regular season
*June 12 – The first
interleague
Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Pri ...
game took place as the
Texas Rangers hosted the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
at
The Ballpark in Arlington
Choctaw Stadium, formerly Globe Life Park, is an American multi-purpose stadium in Arlington, Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth. Originally built as a baseball stadium, it was home to the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball and the Tex ...
(now Rangers Ballpark in Arlington).
Opening Day starters
*
Darryl Hamilton
Darryl Quinn Hamilton (December 3, 1964 – June 21, 2015) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1988 and 2001 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Colorado R ...
CF
*
José Vizcaíno
José Luis Vizcaíno Pimental (born March 26, 1968) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He was a backup infielder for most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career. He, along with Darryl Strawberry and Ricky Ledée, are the on ...
SS
*
Glenallen Hill
Glenallen Hill (born March 22, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Hill played with the Toronto Blue Jays (1989–91), Cleveland Indians (1991–93), Chicago Cubs (1993–94, 1998–2000), San Francisco Giants (1995–97 ...
RF
*
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...
LF
*
Jeff Kent
Jeffrey Franklin Kent (born March 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1992–2008 for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Francis ...
2B
*
J.T. Snow 1B
*
Rick Wilkins C
*
Bill Mueller
William Richard Mueller ( ; born March 17, 1971) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Mueller's MLB playing career was spent with the San Francisco Giants (1996–2000, 2002), Chic ...
3B
*
Mark Gardner P
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Roster
Notable transactions
*August 8, 1997: William Van Landingham was released by the San Francisco Giants.
*August 19, 1997: William Van Landingham was signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants.
The White Flag Trade was a trade made in 1997. On July 31, 1997, the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
traded three major players to the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
for six minor leaguers. At the time, the trade was maligned by the vast majority of White Sox fans as
Jerry Reinsdorf
Jerry Michael Reinsdorf (born February 25, 1936) is the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White So ...
giving up on the team, as they were only 3.5 games behind the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
for the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
Central Division lead. In 2000, however, the White Sox won the Central Division title, receiving large contributions from two of the players received in this trade.
* The Chicago White Sox received:
**
Keith Foulke
Keith Charles Foulke ( ; born October 19, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. A graduate of Hargrave High School in Huffman, Texas, Foulke attended Galveston College and Lewis–Clark State College. Between 1997 and 2008, h ...
, right-handed
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
**
Bob Howry
Bobby Dean Howry (born August 4, 1973) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher.
Early life
Howry attended, and played baseball at Deer Valley High School in Arizona, then he attended McNeese State University and was drafted b ...
, right-handed pitcher
**
Lorenzo Barceló
Lorenzo Barceló (born August 10, 1977) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He played for the Chicago White Sox from –.
Career MLB career San Francisco Giants
Barceló was originally signed by the San Francisco Gia ...
, right-handed pitcher
**
Ken Vining
Kenneth Edward Vining (born December 5, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Vining played for the Chicago White Sox during the 2001 season. In 8 career games, he posted an 0–0 record and an earned run average (ERA) of 17.55. ...
, left-handed pitcher
**
Mike Caruso,
shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...
**
Brian Manning
* The San Francisco Giants received:
**
Wilson Álvarez
Wilson Eduardo Álvarez Fuenmayor (born March 24, 1970) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher. During a thirteen-year baseball career, he pitched for the Texas Rangers, ...
, left-handed pitcher
**
Danny Darwin
Danny Wayne Darwin (born October 25, 1955), known as the "Bonham Bullet" and "Dr. Death", is an American professional baseball pitcher and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, ...
, right-handed pitcher
**
Roberto Hernández, right-handed pitcher
Player stats
Batting
''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''
Other batters
''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''
Starting pitchers
''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Other pitchers
''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''
=Relief pitchers
=
''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''
National League Divisional Playoffs
Florida Marlins vs. San Francisco Giants
Florida wins the series, 3-0
Award winners
*
J. T. Snow 1B,
Willie Mac Award
The Willie Mac Award is named in honor of Willie McCovey. It has been presented annually since 1980 to the most inspirational player on the San Francisco Giants, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, and more recently, Giants ...
All-Star Game
An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...
Farm system
[Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007]
References
External links
1997 San Francisco Giantsat ''Baseball Reference''
1997 San Francisco Giantsat ''Baseball Almanac''
{{DEFAULTSORT:1997 San Francisco Giants Season
National League West champion seasons
San Francisco Giants seasons
San Francisco Giants Season, 1997
1997 in San Francisco
San Fran