1997 New York Mets season

1997 New York Mets
Major league affiliations
National League (since 1962) Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Shea Stadium (since 1964) New York, New York (since 1962)
1997 information
Owner(s)	Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday, Jr.
General manager(s)	Joe McIlvaine and Steve Phillips
Manager(s)	Bobby Valentine
Local television	WWOR-TV/SportsChannel New York (Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, Fran Healy, Howie Rose, Gary Thorne)
Local radio	WFAN (Bob Murphy, Gary Cohen, Ed Coleman) WADO (spanish) (Juan Alicea, Billy Berroa)
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The New York Mets' 1997 season was the 36th regular season for the Mets. They went 88-74 and finished 3rd in the NL East. They were managed by Bobby Valentine. They played home games at Shea Stadium.

Offseason

• November 25, 1996: Paul Byrd and a player to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Atlanta Braves for Greg McMichael. The Mets completed the deal by sending Andy Zwirchitz (minors) to the Braves on May 25, 1997.
• November 27, 1996: Rico Brogna was traded by the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ricardo Jordan and Toby Borland.
• December 20, 1996: Robert Person was traded by the Mets to the Toronto Blue Jays for John Olerud and cash.
• March 22, 1997: Héctor Ramírez was traded by the Mets to the Baltimore Orioles for Scott McClain and Manny Alexander.

Regular season

• April 15, 1997: The Mets hosted ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Shea Stadium. During the ceremonies, Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired by Major League Baseball. The Mets won the game 5-0.
• June 16, 1997: The first interleague game between the New York Mets and New York Yankees took place at Yankee Stadium. The Mets won the game by a score of 6-0.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB
Atlanta Braves	101	61	.623	--
Florida Marlins	92	70	.568	9
New York Mets	88	74	.543	13
Montreal Expos	78	84	.481	23
Philadelphia Phillies	68	94	.420	33

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1997: 1997 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Garrett Atkins was drafted by the Mets in the 10th round, but did not sign.
  • Jeremy Guthrie was drafted by the Mets in the 15th round, but did not sign.
• August 8, 1997: Lance Johnson and players to be named later were traded by the Mets to the Chicago Cubs for Brian McRae, Mel Rojas and Turk Wendell. The Mets completed the deal by sending Mark Clark to the Cubs on August 11 and Manny Alexander to the Cubs on August 14.

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

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Carl Everett	142	443	110	.248	14	57
Kevin Morgan	1	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Greg McMichael	73	7	10	7	2.98	81
Ricardo Jordan	22	1	2	0	5.33	19

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Norfolk Tides	International League	Rick Dempsey
AA	Binghamton Mets	Eastern League	Rick Sweet
A	St. Lucie Mets	Florida State League	John Gibbons
A	Capital City Bombers	South Atlantic League	Doug Mansolino and John Stephenson
Short-Season A	Pittsfield Mets	New York-Penn League	Doug Davis
Rookie	Kingsport Mets	Appalachian League	Ken Berry
Rookie	GCL Mets	Gulf Coast League	Mickey Brantley and Doug Flynn

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Pittsfield, GCL Mets

External links

• 1997 New York Mets
• 1997 New York Mets team page at www.baseball-almanac.com