The 1997 Chicago White Sox season was the White Sox's 98th season. They finished with a record of 80–81, good enough for second place in the American League Central, 6 games behind the first place Cleveland Indians.

Offseason November 19, 1996: Albert Belle signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.Albert Belle Statistics Baseball-Reference.com January 14, 1997: Doug Drabek was signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox. February 7, 1997: Danny Darwin signed as a free agent with the Chicago White Sox.Danny Darwin Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

Regular season

June 16 – The first interleague game between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox took place at Comiskey Park II. The Cubs won the game by a score of 8–3. September 14 – Chicago White Sox retire catcher Carlton Fisk's No. 72 in a ceremony before the Sept. 14 game against Cleveland Indians.

Albert Belle In the winter of 1996, Belle signed a 5-year, $55 million deal with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent. This contract made him the highest paid player in baseball for a brief period. Belle enjoyed two great seasons in Chicago, including a career-high 27-game hitting streak in May 1997. Belle came close to having another 50/50 season in 1998, with 49 home runs and 48 doubles. Additionally, when Cal Ripken ended his record consecutive game streak in September 1998, it was Belle who took over as the major leagues' active leader in the category. Belle's White Sox contract had an unusual clause allowing him to demand that he would remain one of the three highest paid players in baseball.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

1997 Opening Day lineup Tony Phillips, RF Dave Martinez, CF Frank Thomas, 1B Albert Belle, LF Harold Baines, DH Chris Snopek, 3B Ray Durham, 2B Ron Karkovice, C Ozzie Guillén, SS Jaime Navarro, P

Notable Transactions May 18, 1997: Tony Phillips was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Chad Kreuter to the Anaheim Angels for Chuck McElroy and Jorge Fábregas.Tony Phillips Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

The White Flag Trade

The White Flag Trade was a trade made in 1997. On July 31, 1997, the Chicago White Sox traded three major players to the San Francisco Giants for six minor leaguers. At the time, the trade was maligned by the vast majority of White Sox fans as Jerry Reinsdorf giving up on the team, as they were only 3.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians for the American League Central Division lead. In 2000, however, the White Sox won the Central Division title, receiving large contributions from two of the players received in this trade.

The Chicago White Sox received: Keith Foulke, right-handed pitcher Bob Howry, right-handed pitcher Lorenzo Barceló, right-handed pitcher Ken Vining, left-handed pitcher Mike Caruso, shortstop Brian Manning The San Francisco Giants received: Wilson Álvarez, left-handed pitcher Danny Darwin, right-handed pitcher Roberto Hernández, right-handed pitcher

Roster 1997 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches (hitting) (first base) (bullpen) (bench) (pitching) (third base) (bullpen catcher)

Player stats

Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG SB Jeff Abbott, OF, DH 19 38 8 10 1 0 1 2 0 6 .263 0 Wilson Álvarez, P 22 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 Harold Baines, DH 93 318 40 97 18 0 12 52 41 47 .305 0 James Baldwin, P 32 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 Albert Belle, LF 161 634 90 174 45 1 30 116 53 105 .274 4 Mike Cameron, CF 116 379 63 98 18 3 14 55 55 105 .259 23 Carlos Castillo, P 37 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 Tony Castillo, P 64 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Danny Darwin, P 21 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 0 Doug Drabek, P 32 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 Ray Durham, 2B 155 634 106 172 27 5 11 53 61 96 .271 33 Scott Eyre, P 11 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 0 Jorge Fábregas, C 100 322 31 90 10 1 7 48 11 43 .280 1 Chad Fonville, OF, SS, 2B 9 9 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 .111 2 Ozzie Guillén, SS 142 490 59 120 21 6 4 52 22 24 .245 5 Ron Karkovice, C 51 138 10 25 3 0 6 18 11 32 .181 0 Chad Kreuter, C 19 37 6 8 2 1 1 3 8 9 .216 0 Darren Lewis, CF 81 77 15 18 1 0 0 5 11 14 .234 11 Robert Machado, C 10 15 1 3 0 1 0 2 1 6 .200 0 Norberto Martin, SS, 3B, 2B 71 213 24 64 7 1 2 27 6 31 .300 1 Dave Martinez, OF, 1B 145 504 78 144 16 6 12 55 55 69 .286 12 Chuck McElroy, P 49 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Lyle Mouton, OF, DH 88 242 26 65 9 0 5 23 14 66 .269 4 Jaime Navarro, P 33 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Greg Norton, 3B 18 34 5 9 2 2 0 1 2 8 .265 0 Magglio Ordóñez, RF 21 69 12 22 6 0 4 11 2 8 .319 1 Tony Peña, C 31 67 4 11 1 0 0 8 8 13 .164 0 Tony Phillips, RF, 3B 36 129 23 40 6 0 2 9 29 29 .310 4 Mike Sirotka, P 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 Chris Snopek, 3B, SS 86 298 27 65 15 0 5 35 18 51 .218 3 Frank Thomas, 1B, DH 146 530 110 184 35 0 35 125 109 69 .347 1 Mario Valdez, 1B 54 115 11 28 7 0 1 13 17 39 .243 1 Robin Ventura, 3B 54 183 27 48 10 1 6 26 34 21 .262 0 161 5491 779 1498 260 28 158 740 569 901 .273 106

Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB K Wilson Álvarez 9 8 3.03 22 22 0 145.2 126 61 49 9 56 110 James Baldwin 12 15 5.27 32 32 0 200.0 205 128 117 19 86 140 Jason Bere 4 2 4.71 6 6 0 28.2 20 15 15 4 17 21 Mike Bertotti 0 0 7.36 9 0 0 3.2 9 3 3 0 2 4 Carlos Castillo 2 1 4.48 37 2 1 66.1 68 35 33 9 36 43 Tony Castillo 4 4 4.91 64 0 4 62.1 74 48 34 6 30 42 Chris Clemons 0 2 8.53 5 2 0 12.2 19 13 12 4 11 8 Nelson Cruz 0 2 6.49 19 0 0 26.1 29 19 19 6 10 31 Danny Darwin 4 8 4.13 21 17 0 113.1 130 60 52 21 32 62 Jeff Darwin 0 1 5.27 14 0 0 13.2 17 8 8 1 7 9 Doug Drabek 12 11 5.74 31 31 0 169.1 170 109 108 30 74 85 Scott Eyre 4 4 5.04 11 11 0 60.2 62 36 34 11 32 36 Tom Fordham 0 1 6.23 7 1 0 17.1 17 13 12 2 12 10 Keith Foulke 3 0 3.45 16 0 3 28.2 28 11 11 4 6 21 Roberto Hernández 5 1 2.44 46 0 27 48.0 38 15 13 5 28 47 Matt Karchner 3 1 2.91 52 0 15 52.2 50 18 17 4 30 30 Al Levine 2 2 6.91 25 0 0 27.1 35 22 21 4 17 22 Chuck McElroy 1 3 3.94 48 0 1 59.1 56 29 26 3 20 44 Jaime Navarro 9 14 5.79 33 33 0 209.2 267 155 135 22 79 142 Bill Simas 3 1 4.14 40 0 1 41.1 46 23 19 6 27 38 Mike Sirotka 3 0 2.25 7 4 0 32.0 36 9 8 4 6 24 Larry Thomas 0 0 8.10 5 0 0 3.1 3 3 3 1 2 0 80 81 4.73 161 161 52 1422.1 1505 833 748 175 620 961

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

External links 1997 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference