1997 Oakland Athletics season


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 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 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, 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 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. 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. 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.
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 to the St. Louis Cardinals for T.J. Matthews, Blake Stein, and Eric Ludwick. McGwire would finish the season with 58 home runs. The trade was a disaster on the Athletics' end, as none of the three players received in the trade remained on the team by 2000. The A's ultimately finished twenty-five games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners. Their 65-97 finish 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

Record vs. opponents

Roster

Player stats

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
PosPlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBISB
CBrent Mayne852562974.2896221
1BMark McGwire10536648104.28434811
2BScott Spiezio14753858131.24314659
3BScott Brosius1294795997.20311419
SSRafael Bournigal792222962.2791202
LFJason Giambi14251966152.29320810
CFDamon Mashore922795569.2473185
RFMatt Stairs13335262105.29827733
DHJose Canseco1083885691.23523748

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
PlayerGABRHAvg.HRRBISB
Tony Batista681882238.2024182
Mark Bellhorn682243351.2286197
Gerónimo Berroa732614081.31016423
Tilson Brito1746813.283260
Ben Grieve24931229.3123240
Patrick Lennon561161434.2931140
Brian Lesher461311730.2294164
Dave Magadan1282713882.3034301
Jason McDonald782364762.26341413
Izzy Molina48111622.198370
Mike Oquist5401.250000
Brad Rigby2300.000000
Scott Sheldon132426.250120
Miguel Tejada26991020.2022102
George Williams762013058.2893220
Ernie Young711752239.2235151

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Bases on Balls; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERABBSO
Steve Karsay24132.23125.774792
Ariel Prieto27125685.047090
210.1027.8415

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLSVERASO
Buddy Groom78732235.1545
Billy Taylor727334233.8266

Awards and records

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Edmonton