The 1997 Chicago Cubs season was the 126th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 122nd in the National League and the 82nd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth and last in the National League Central with a record of 68–94. The team never had a record above .500 at any point during the season.
The Cubs lost the first 14 games of the season, before finally winning the second game of a double-header against the New York Mets. The 0–14 start brought the superstition of the "billy goat curse" to the forefront, and at one point a goat was actually led around Wrigley Field in an effort to end the curse.
This was also Harry Caray's final season as broadcaster for the Cubs, as he died on February 18, 1998 (two months after his grandson Chip Caray was hired to share play-by-play duties with him). The team would wear a patch with his likeness that year.
Offseason December 10, 1996: Mel Rojas was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs.Mel Rojas Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
Regular season June 16 – The first interleague game between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox took place at the new Comiskey Park. The Cubs won the game by a score of 8–3.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions July 12, 1997: Carlos Zambrano was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent. August 8, 1997: Brian McRae was traded by the Chicago Cubs with Mel Rojas and Turk Wendell to the New York Mets for players to be named later and Lance Johnson. The New York Mets sent Mark Clark (August 11, 1997) and Manny Alexander (August 14, 1997) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.Brian McRae Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
Roster 1997 Chicago Cubs Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Manager
Coaches (bullpen) (former hitting) (first base) (hitting) (third base) (pitching) (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 Scott Servais 122 385 100 .260 6 45 1B Mark Grace 151 555 177 .319 13 78 2B Ryne Sandberg 135 447 118 .264 12 64 SS Shawon Dunston 114 419 119 .284 9 41 3B Kevin Orie 114 364 100 .275 8 44 LF Doug Glanville 146 474 142 .300 4 35 CF Brian McRae 108 417 100 .240 6 28 RF Sammy Sosa 162 642 161 .251 36 119
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 Rey Sánchez 97 205 51 .249 1 12 Tyler Houston 72 196 51 .260 2 28 José Hernández 121 183 50 .273 7 26 Dave Hansen 90 151 47 .311 3 21 Lance Johnson 39 145 44 .303 4 15 Dave Clark 102 143 43 .301 5 32 Brant Brown 46 137 32 .234 5 15 Manny Alexander 33 99 29 .293 1 7 Brooks Kieschnick 39 90 18 .200 4 12 Mike Hubbard 29 64 13 .203 1 2 Miguel Cairo 16 29 7 .241 0 1 Robin Jennings 9 18 3 .167 0 2 Terrell Lowery 9 14 4 .286 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 Steve Trachsel 34 201.1 8 12 4.51 160 Terry Mulholland 25 157.0 6 12 4.07 74 Kevin Foster 26 146.1 10 7 4.61 118 Geremi González 23 144.0 11 9 4.25 93 Frank Castillo 20 98.0 6 9 5.42 67 Kevin Tapani 13 85.0 9 3 3.39 55 Mark Clark 9 63.0 6 1 2.86 51 Dave Swartzbaugh 2 8.0 0 1 9.00 4
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 Amaury Telemaco 10 38.0 0 3 6.16 29 Miguel Batista 11 36.1 0 5 5.70 27 Rodney Myers 5 9.0 0 0 6.00 6
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 Terry Adams 74 2 9 18 4.62 64 Bob Patterson 76 1 6 0 3.34 58 Kent Bottenfield 64 2 3 2 3.86 74 Ramón Tatís 56 1 1 0 5.34 33 Mel Rojas 54 0 4 3 4.42 61 Turk Wendell 52 3 5 4 4.20 54 Marc Pisciotta 24 3 1 0 3.18 21 Larry Casian 12 0 1 0 7.45 7 Dave Stevens 10 0 2 0 9.64 13 Ramón Morel 3 0 0 0 4.91 3
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL CubsJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
References
1997 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference