The 1997 Texas Rangers season was the 37th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 26th in Arlington as the Rangers, and their 4th season at The Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers finished third 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.Billy Ripken at Baseball Reference December 16, 1996: Scott Bailes was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers. December 19, 1996: Mike Simms was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Mike Simms at Baseball Reference March 27, 1997: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Rangers from the Seattle Mariners.Dave Silvestri at Baseball Reference

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 Globe Life Park).

Opening Day starters Mark McLemore, 2B Iván Rodríguez, C Rusty Greer, LF Dean Palmer, 3B Lee Stevens, 1B Mickey Tettleton, DH Warren Newson, RF Damon Buford, CF Benji Gil, SS

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 16, 1997: Alex Diaz was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Alex Diaz at Baseball Reference June 20, 1997: Todd Van Poppel was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Todd Van Poppel at Baseball Reference 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.Ken Hill at Baseball Reference

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.Mike Lamb at Baseball Reference

Roster 1997 Texas Rangers Roster Pitchers Catchers

InfieldersOutfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (Pitching) (Bench) (Bullpen) (Hitting) (First Base) (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 C Iván Rodríguez 150 597 187 .313 20 77 1B 110 393 128 .326 12 51 2B Mark McLemore 89 349 91 .261 1 25 SS Benji Gil 110 317 71 .224 5 31 3B Dean Palmer 94 355 87 .245 14 55 LF Rusty Greer 157 601 193 .321 26 87 CF Damon Buford 122 366 82 .224 8 39 RF Warren Newson 81 169 36 .213 10 23 DH Juan González 133 533 158 .296 42 131

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 Lee Stevens 137 426 128 .300 21 74 Domingo Cedeño 113 365 103 .282 4 36 Fernando Tatis 60 223 57 .256 8 29 Tom Goodwin 53 207 49 .237 0 17 71 203 56 .276 3 24 59 111 28 .252 5 22 28 90 20 .222 2 12 Jim Leyritz 37 85 24 .282 0 14 Mike Devereaux 29 72 15 .208 0 7 Henry Mercedes 23 47 10 .213 0 4 Mickey Tettleton 17 44 4 .091 3 4 Marc Sagmoen 21 43 6 .140 1 4 Hanley Frias 14 26 5 .192 0 1 Kevin Brown 4 5 2 .400 1 1 Dave Silvestri 2 4 0 .000 0 0

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 Bobby Witt 34 209.0 12 12 4.82 121 Darren Oliver 32 201.1 13 12 4.20 104 John Burkett 30 189.1 9 12 4.56 139 Ken Hill 19 111.0 5 8 5.19 68 Roger Pavlik 11 57.2 3 5 4.37 35 Rick Helling 10 55.0 3 3 4.58 46

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 Julio Santana 30 104.0 4 6 6.75 64 Tanyon Sturtze 9 32.2 1 1 8.27 18 Terry Clark 9 30.2 1 4 5.87 11 Jose Alberro 10 28.1 0 3 7.94 11

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 John Wetteland 61 7 2 31 1.94 63 Eric Gunderson 60 2 1 1 3.26 31 Danny Patterson 54 10 6 1 3.42 69 44 0 4 0 4.56 36 Matt Whiteside 42 4 1 0 5.08 44 Ed Vosberg 42 1 2 0 4.61 29 Scott Bailes 24 1 0 0 2.86 14 Wilson Heredia 10 1 0 0 3.20 8 Eric Moody 10 0 1 0 4.26 12 Bryan Eversgerd 3 0 2 0 20.25 2

Awards and honors Juan González, Silver Slugger Award Iván Rodríguez, C, Gold Glove Iván Rodríguez, Silver Slugger Award All-Star Game

Farm system

References

1997 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference 1997 Texas Rangers at Baseball Almanac