The 1997 Kansas City Royals season was the 29th season for the franchise, and their 25th at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals finished fifth in the American League Central with a record of 67 wins and 94 losses and missed the postseason for the 12th consecutive season.
Offseason October 28, 1996: Mike Bovee and Mark Gubicza were traded by the Royals to the Anaheim Angels for Chili Davis.Chili Davis at Baseball Reference December 13, 1996: Jeff Granger, Joe Randa, Jeff Wallace, and Jeff Martin (minors) were traded by the Royals to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jay Bell and Jeff King.Jay Bell at Baseball Reference December 16, 1996: Scott Cooper was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Scott Cooper at Baseball Reference January 16, 1997: Ryan Thompson signed as a free agent by the Royals.Ryan Thompson at Baseball Reference January 28, 1997: Melvin Bunch was traded by the Royals to the Montreal Expos for Yamil Benítez.Yamil Benítez at Baseball Reference March 4, 1997: Doug Linton was released by the Royals.Doug Linton at Baseball Reference March 26, 1997: Ryan Thompson was released by the Royals. March 26, 1997: Bob Hamelin was released by the Royals.Bob Hamelin at Baseball Reference March 27, 1997: Michael Tucker and Keith Lockhart were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Jermaine Dye and Jamie Walker.Michael Tucker at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 17, 1997: Todd Van Poppel was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Todd Van Poppel at Baseball Reference June 6, 1997: Todd Van Poppel was released by the Royals. July 15, 1997: Chris Stynes and Jon Nunnally were traded by the Royals to the Cincinnati Reds for Héctor Carrasco and Scott Service.Chris Stynes at Baseball Reference July 29, 1997: Matt Treanor was traded by the Royals to the Florida Marlins for Matt Whisenant.Matt Treanor at Baseball Reference
Roster
1997 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches (third base)
(bench)
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 Mike Macfarlane 82 257 61 .237 8 35 1B Jeff King 155 543 129 .238 28 112 2B José Offerman 106 424 126 .297 2 39 SS Jay Bell 153 573 167 .291 21 92 3B Craig Paquette 77 252 58 .230 8 33 LF Bip Roberts 97 346 107 .309 1 36 CF Tom Goodwin 97 367 100 .272 2 22 RF Jermaine Dye 75 263 62 .236 7 22 DH Chili Davis 140 477 133 .279 30 90
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 Johnny Damon 146 472 130 .275 8 48 Mike Sweeney 84 240 58 .242 7 31 Yamil Benítez 53 191 51 .267 8 21 Dean Palmer 49 187 52 .278 9 31 David Howard 80 162 39 .241 1 13 Scott Cooper 75 159 32 .201 3 15 Joe Vitiello 51 130 31 .238 5 18 Shane Halter 74 123 34 .276 2 10 31 101 26 .257 2 9 Jed Hansen 34 94 29 .309 1 14 Larry Sutton 27 69 20 .290 2 8 Sal Fasano 13 38 8 .211 1 1 Tim Spehr 17 35 6 .171 1 2 Félix Martínez 16 31 7 .226 0 3 Jon Nunnally 13 29 7 .241 1 4 Ryan Long 6 9 2 .222 0 2 Andy Stewart 5 8 2 .250 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 Kevin Appier 34 235.2 9 13 3.40 196 Tim Belcher 32 213.1 13 12 5.02 113 José Rosado 33 203.1 9 12 4.69 129 Glendon Rusch 30 170.1 6 9 5.50 116 Jim Pittsley 21 112.0 5 8 5.46 52
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 Ricky Bones 21 78.1 4 7 5.97 36 Chris Haney 8 24.2 1 2 4.38 16
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 Jeff Montgomery 55 1 4 14 3.49 48 Jamie Walker 50 3 3 0 5.44 24 Hipólito Pichardo 47 3 5 11 4.22 34 Gregg Olson 34 4 3 1 3.02 28 Larry Casian 32 0 2 0 5.06 16 Héctor Carrasco 28 1 6 0 5.45 30 Randy Veres 24 4 0 1 3.31 28 Matt Whisenant 24 1 0 0 2.84 16 Brian Bevil 18 1 2 1 6.61 13 Mike Pérez 16 2 0 0 3.54 17 Scott Service 12 0 3 0 4.76 19 Mike Williams 10 0 2 1 6.43 10 Jason Jacome 7 0 0 0 9.45 10 Mitch Williams 7 0 1 0 10.80 3 José Santiago 4 0 0 0 1.93 1 Jim Converse 3 0 0 0 3.60 3 Allen McDill 3 0 0 0 13.50 2 Roland de la Maza 1 0 0 0 4.50 1
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: LansingJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
1997 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1997 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac