1997 Texas Rangers season

1997 Texas Rangers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Western Division (since 1972)
Location
The Ballpark in Arlington (since 1994)
Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
Other information
Owner(s)	George W. Bush
General manager(s)	Doug Melvin
Manager(s)	Johnny Oates
Local television	KXTX-TV KXAS-TV Fox Sports Southwest (Mark Holtz, Tom Grieve, Bill Jones)
Local radio	KRLD (Eric Nadel, Brad Sham ) KMRT (Luis Mayoral, Josue Perez)
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The Texas Rangers 1997 season involved the Rangers finishing 3rd in the American League west with a record of 77 wins and 85 losses. Despite not making the playoffs the club would set an all-time attendance record of over 2.945 million fans, which would be the franchise's best until 2011.

On a somber note, the club would lose long-time radio broadcaster Mark Holtz to leukemia during the season; however, in his final game in May the Rangers won, allowing him to sign off one final time with his trademark "Hello Win Column!".

Offseason

• December 10, 1996: Billy Ripken was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[1]
• December 16, 1996: Scott Bailes was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[2]
• December 19, 1996: Mike Simms was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[3]
• March 27, 1997: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Rangers from the Seattle Mariners.^[4]

Regular season

• June 12, 1997: The first interleague game took place as the Texas Rangers hosted the San Francisco Giants at The Ballpark in Arlington (now Rangers Ballpark in Arlington).

Season standings

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 Sources:
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

Notable transactions

• April 16, 1997: Alex Diaz was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[5]
• June 20, 1997: Todd Van Poppel was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[6]
• July 29, 1997: Ken Hill was traded by the Rangers to the Anaheim Angels for Jim Leyritz and a player to be named later. The Angels completed the deal by sending Rob Sasser to the Rangers on October 31.^[7]

Draft Picks

• June 3, 1997: Mike Lamb was drafted by the Rangers in the 7th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 6, 1997.^[8]

Roster

1997 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 48 José Alberro 58 Scott Bailes 33 John Burkett 46 Terry Clark 52 Bryan Eversgerd 53 Eric Gunderson 32 Rick Helling 55 Wilson Heredia 31 Xavier Hernandez 44 Ken Hill 45 Eric Moody 28 Darren Oliver 46 Danny Patterson 59 Roger Pavlik 60 Julio Santana 47 Tanyon Sturtze 52 Ed Vosberg 35 John Wetteland 27 Matt Whiteside 36 Bobby Witt		Catchers  6 Kevin Brown 13 Jim Leyritz 10 Henry Mercedes  7 Iván Rodríguez Infielders  1 Domingo Cedeño 22 Will Clark 30 Hanley Frias 23 Benji Gil  3 Mark McLemore 16 Dean Palmer  9 Billy Ripken 14 Dave Silvestri 11 Lee Stevens  4 Fernando Tatís		Outfielders  2 Damon Buford 24 Mike Devereaux 14 Alex Diaz 19 Juan González 24 Tom Goodwin 29 Rusty Greer 21 Warren Newson 37 Marc Sagmoen 18 Mike Simms Other batters 15 Mickey Tettleton		Manager 26 Johnny Oates Coaches 17 Dick Bosman (Pitching) 20 Bucky Dent (Bench) 25 Larry Hardy (Bullpen)  8 Rudy Jaramillo (Hitting) 12 Ed Napoleon (First Base)  5 Jerry Narron (Third Base)

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
1B	Clark, WillWill Clark	110	393	128	.326	12	51

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Ripken, BillyBilly Ripken	71	203	56	.276	3	24
Simms, MikeMike Simms	59	111	28	.252	5	22
Diaz, AlexAlex Diaz	28	90	20	.222	2	12

Pitching

Starting 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

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; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Hernandez, XavierXavier Hernandez	44	0	4	0	4.56	36

Awards and honors

• Juan González, Silver Slugger Award
• Iván Rodríguez, C, Gold Glove
• Iván Rodríguez, Silver Slugger Award

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Greg Biagini
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Bobby Jones
A	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	Butch Wynegar
Rookie	Pulaski Rangers	Appalachian League	Julio Cruz
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Jim Byrd

References

1. Billy Ripken at Baseball Reference
2. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bailesc01.shtml
3. Mike Simms at Baseball Reference
4. Dave Silvestri at Baseball Reference
5. Alex Diaz at Baseball Reference
6. Todd Van Poppel at Baseball Reference
7. Ken Hill at Baseball Reference
8. Mike Lamb at Baseball Reference

• 1997 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference
• 1997 Texas Rangers at Baseball Almanac
• 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.