1997 Montreal Expos season

{{Infobox baseball team season

| name = Montreal Expos

| season = 1997

| league = National League

| division = East

| ballpark = Olympic Stadium

| city = Montreal

| owners = Claude Brochu

| general_managers = Jim Beattie

| managers = Felipe Alou

| television = The Sports Network
(Dave Van Horne, Ken Singleton)
TQS
(Michel Villeneuve, Marc Griffin)
SRC
(Claude Raymond, Rene Pothier)
RDS Network
(Denis Casavant, Rodger Brulotte)

| radio = CIQC
(Dave Van Horne, Elliott Price, Joe Cannon, Gary Carter)
CKAC (AM)
(Jacques Doucet, Rodger Brulotte,Alain Chantelois)

||record=78–84|divisional_place=4th}}

The 1997 Montreal Expos season was the 29th season of the franchise. They finished 78–84, 23 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and 14 games back of the Florida Marlins in the Wild Card. They played the Toronto Blue Jays in Interleague play for the first time during the season.

Offseason

October 28, 1996: John Habyan was released by the Montreal Expos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/habyajo01.shtml|title = John Habyan Stats}}
November 15, 1996: Dave Silvestri was selected off waivers by the Seattle Mariners from the Montreal Expos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/silveda01.shtml|title = Dave Silvestri Stats}}
December 17, 1996: Torey Lovullo was signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lovulto01.shtml|title = Torey Lovullo Stats}}
January 21, 1997: Lee Smith signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smithle02.shtml Lee Smith Statistics] Baseball-Reference.com
January 28, 1997: Yamil Benitez was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Kansas City Royals for Melvin Bunch.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/benitya01.shtml|title = Yamil Benitez Stats}}
March 26, 1997: Cliff Floyd was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Florida Marlins for Dustin Hermanson and Joe Orsulak.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/f/floydcl01.shtml Cliff Floyd Statistics] Baseball-Reference.com
March 31, 1997: Rico Rossy was signed as a free agent with the Montreal Expos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rossyri01.shtml|title = Rico Rossy Stats}}

Spring training

The Expos held spring training at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida – a facility they shared with the Atlanta Braves – for the last time in 1997. It was their 21st season at the stadium; they had conducted spring training there from 1969 to 1972 and since 1981. In the final spring training game at Municipal Stadium, held on March 26, 1997, the Expos defeated the Braves 2-0.{{cite news |title=Around the NL|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=1997-03-27 |page=5C}} The following season, the Expos moved their spring training activities to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.

Regular season

In 1997, Pedro Martínez posted a 17-8 record for the Expos, and led the league in half a dozen pitching categories, including a 1.90 ERA, 305 strikeouts and 13 complete games pitched, and won the National League Cy Young Award. Pedro Martínez was also the first right-handed pitcher to reach 300 strikeouts with an ERA under 2.00 since Walter Johnson in 1912.

The 13 complete games were tied for the second-highest single-season total in all of baseball since Martínez's career began (Curt Schilling had 15 in 1998; Chuck Finley and Jack McDowell also reached 13 in a year). However, this 1997 total is by far the highest in Martínez's career, as he has only completed more than 5 games in one other season (7, in 2000).

May 7, 1997 – The Expos set a team record (never broken) in runs scored in one inning as they score 13 runs off of Julián Tavárez, Jim Poole, and Joe Roa of the San Francisco Giants at 3Com Park. The Expos would go on to defeat the Giants 19 to 3. The only non-pitcher on the Expos to not register a hit was Sherman Obando who went 0 for 1. An up-and-coming prospect named Vladimir Guerrero hit his first career double and was struck by his second career pitch. A crowd of 9,958 were on hand to witness it in San Francisco.

=Opening-day starters=

=Season standings=

=Record vs. opponents=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;" \|+Expos vs. American League !rowspan=2\|Team !colspan=5\|AL East
style="{{Baseball primary style\|Baltimore Orioles}} width:30px;"\|BAL !style="{{Baseball primary style\|Boston Red Sox}} width:30px;"\|BOS !style="{{Baseball primary style\|Detroit Tigers}} width:30px;"\|DET !style="{{Baseball primary style\|New York Yankees}} width:30px;"\|NYY !style="{{Baseball primary style\|Toronto Blue Jays}} width:30px;"\|TOR
Montreal \|2–1 \|3–0 \|3–0 \|2–1 \|2–1

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%;"

|+Expos vs. American League

!rowspan=2|Team

!colspan=5|AL East

style="{{Baseball primary style|Baltimore Orioles}} width:30px;"|BAL

!style="{{Baseball primary style|Boston Red Sox}} width:30px;"|BOS

!style="{{Baseball primary style|Detroit Tigers}} width:30px;"|DET

!style="{{Baseball primary style|New York Yankees}} width:30px;"|NYY

!style="{{Baseball primary style|Toronto Blue Jays}} width:30px;"|TOR

Montreal

|2–1

|3–0

|2–1

=Notable transactions=

May 20, 1997: Torey Lovullo was released by the Montreal Expos.
July 25, 1997: Omar Daal was selected off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Montreal Expos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/daalom01.shtml|title=Omar Daal Stats}}
July 31, 1997: Jeff Juden was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Cleveland Indians for Steve Kline.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/j/judenje01.shtml Jeff Juden Statistics] Baseball-Reference.com
September 25, 1997: Lee Smith was released by the Montreal Expos.

=Roster=

class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;"
colspan="10" style="background-color: #003087; color: #FFFFFF; text-align: center;" \| 1997 Montreal Expos
colspan="10" style="background-color: #E4002B; color: #FFFFFF; text-align: center;" \| Roster
valign="top" \| Pitchers {{MLBplayer\|54\|Shayne Bennett}} {{MLBplayer\|52\|Jim Bullinger}} {{MLBplayer\|13\|Rhéal Cormier}} {{MLBplayer\|47\|Omar Daal}} {{MLBplayer\|34\|Rick DeHart}} {{MLBplayer\|53\|Steve Falteisek}} {{MLBplayer\|30\|Dustin Hermanson}} {{MLBplayer\|47\|Mike Johnson}} {{MLBplayer\|14\|Jeff Juden}} {{MLBplayer\|44\|Steve Kline}} {{MLBplayer\|45\|Pedro Martínez}} {{MLBplayer\|36\|José Paniagua}} {{MLBplayer\|33\|Carlos Pérez}} {{MLBplayer\|49\|Lee Smith}} {{MLBplayer\|38\|Everett Stull}} {{MLBplayer\|32\|Anthony Telford}} {{MLBplayer\|51\|Mike Thurman}} {{MLBplayer\|44\|Salomón Torres}} {{MLBplayer\|41\|Ugueth Urbina}} {{MLBplayer\|18\|Marc Valdes}} {{MLBplayer\|43\|Dave Veres}} \| width="25px" \| \| valign="top" \| Catchers {{MLBplayer\|12\|Raúl Chávez}} {{MLBplayer\|24\|Darrin Fletcher}} {{MLBplayer\|16\|Chris Widger}} Infielders {{MLBplayer\|11\|Shane Andrews}} {{MLBplayer\| 2\|Orlando Cabrera}} {{MLBplayer\|14\|Brad Fullmer}} {{MLBplayer\| 4\|Mark Grudzielanek}} {{MLBplayer\| 3\|Mike Lansing}} {{MLBplayer\|21\|David Segui}} {{MLBplayer\| 5\|Andy Stankiewicz}} {{MLBplayer\|15\|Doug Strange}} {{MLBplayer\|37\|José Vidro}} \| width="25px" \| \| valign="top" \|Outfielders {{MLBplayer\|27\|Vladimir Guerrero}} {{MLBplayer\| 9\|Ryan McGuire}} {{MLBplayer\|31\|Hensley Meulens}} {{MLBplayer\|29\|Sherman Obando}} {{MLBplayer\|19\|Joe Orsulak}} {{MLBplayer\|40\|Henry Rodríguez}} {{MLBplayer\| 7\|F. P. Santangelo}} {{MLBplayer\|22\|Rondell White}} \| width="25px" \| \| valign="top" \|Manager {{MLBplayer\|17\|Felipe Alou}} Coaches {{MLBplayer\|67\|Pierre Arsenault}} (Bullpen) {{MLBplayer\|26\|Bobby Cuellar}} (Pitching) {{MLBplayer\| 1\|Tommy Harper}} (Hitting) {{MLBplayer\|25\|Pete Mackanin}} (Third base) {{MLBplayer\|55\|Luis Pujols}} (First base) {{MLBplayer\|23\|Jim Tracy}} (Bench)

class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;"

colspan="10" style="background-color: #003087; color: #FFFFFF; text-align: center;" | 1997 Montreal Expos

colspan="10" style="background-color: #E4002B; color: #FFFFFF; text-align: center;" | Roster

valign="top" | Pitchers

| width="25px" |

| valign="top" | Catchers

Infielders

| width="25px" |

| valign="top" |Outfielders

| width="25px" |

| valign="top" |Manager

Coaches

{{MLBplayer|67|Pierre Arsenault}} (Bullpen)

{{MLBplayer|26|Bobby Cuellar}} (Pitching)

{{MLBplayer| 1|Tommy Harper}} (Hitting)

{{MLBplayer|25|Pete Mackanin}} (Third base)

{{MLBplayer|55|Luis Pujols}} (First base)

{{MLBplayer|23|Jim Tracy}} (Bench)

=Interleague play=

June 30 – The first interleague game between the Montreal Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays took place at SkyDome. The Expos won the game by a score of 2-1.{{Cite web|url=http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/schedule.php?y=1997&t=TOR|title=1997 Toronto Blue Jays Schedule by Baseball Almanac}}

==Expos vs. Jays==

June 30, SkyDome, Toronto, Ontario

border=1 cellspacing=0 width=425 style="margin-left:3em;"
style="text-align:center; background-color:#e6e6e6;" !align=left width=28%\|Team !width=6%\|1 !width=6%\|2 !width=6%\|3 !width=6%\|4 !width=6%\|5 !width=6%\|6 !width=6%\|7 !width=6%\|8 !width=6%\|9 !width=6%\|R !width=6%\|H !width=6%\|E
style="text-align:center;" \|align=left\|Montreal \|0	1	0 \|0	0	1 \|0	0	0 \|2	6	0
style="text-align:center;" \|align=left\|Toronto \|0	0	0 \|0	0	0 \|1	0	0 \|1	3	0
style="text-align:left;" \|colspan=13\|W: Pedro Martínez (10-3) L: Pat Hentgen (8-5)
style="text-align:left;" \|colspan=13\|Home Runs: Vladimir Guerrero (4), Carlos Delgado (15) Attendance: 37,430 Time: 2:03

==Batting==

class="wikitable sortable"

!Montreal Expos

!AB

!RBI

!Toronto Blue Jays

!AB

!RBI

Grudzielanek, ss

|Nixon cf

Lansing 2b

|Merced dh

Santangelo 3b

|Carter lf

Segui 1b

|Delgado 1b

Rodriguez lf

|Sprague 3b

Orsulak lf

|Green rf

Guerrero rf

|Santiago c

McGuire dh

|Gonzalez ss

White cf

|Garcia 2b

Widger c

|NONE

Totals

|31

|Totals

|29

==Pitching==

class="wikitable sortable"

!Montreal Expos

!IP

!ER

!BB

!SO

Martinez W (10-3)

|9.0

|10

Totals

|9.0

|10

class="wikitable sortable"

!Toronto Blue Jays

!IP

!ER

!BB

!SO

Hentgen L (8-5)

|9.0

Totals

|9.0

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

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| Pos ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| AB ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| H ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| Avg. ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| HR ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| RBI
class="wikitable sortable"
align=center \| C	Chris Widger	91	278	65	.234	7	37
align=center \| 1B	David Segui	125	459	141	.307	21	68
align=center \| 2B	Mike Lansing	144	572	161	.281	20	70
align=center \| SS	Mark Grudzielanek	156	649	177	.273	4	51
align=center \| 3B	Doug Strange	118	327	84	.257	12	47
align=center \| LF	Henry Rodriguez	132	476	116	.244	26	83
align=center \| CF	Rondell White	151	592	160	.270	28	82
align=center \| RF	Vladimir Guerrero	90	325	98	.302	11	40

==Other batters==

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

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| AB ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| H ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| Avg. ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| HR ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| RBI
class="wikitable sortable"
align=center \| F.P. Santangelo	130	350	87	.249	5	31
align=center \| Darrin Fletcher	96	310	86	.277	17	55
align=center \| Ryan McGuire	84	199	51	.256	3	17
align=center \| José Vidro	67	169	42	.249	2	17
align=center \| Joe Orsulak	106	150	34	.227	1	7
align=center \| Andy Stankiewicz	76	107	24	.224	1	5
align=center \| Shane Andrews	18	64	13	.203	4	9
align=center \| Sherman Obando	41	47	6	.128	2	9
align=center \| Brad Fullmer	19	40	12	.300	3	8
align=center \| Raúl Chávez	13	26	7	.269	0	2
align=center \| Hensley Meulens	16	24	7	.292	2	6
align=center \| Orlando Cabrera	16	18	4	.222	0	2

=Pitching=

==Starting pitchers==

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| IP ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SO
class="wikitable sortable"
align=center \| Pedro Martínez	31	241.1	17	8	1.90	305
align=center \| Carlos Pérez	33	206.2	12	13	3.88	110
align=center \| Dustin Hermanson	32	158.1	8	8	3.69	136
align=center \| Jeff Juden	22	130.0	11	5	4.22	107
align=center \| Mike Johnson	11	50.0	2	5	5.94	28
align=center \| Rhéal Cormier	1	1.1	0	1	33.75	0

==Other pitchers==

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| IP ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SO
class="wikitable sortable"
align=center \| Jim Bullinger	36	155.1	7	12	5.56	87
align=center \| Marc Valdes	48	95.0	4	4	3.13	54
align=center \| José Paniagua	9	18.0	1	2	12.00	8
align=center \| Mike Thurman	5	11.2	1	0	5.40	8

==Relief pitchers==

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SV ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SO
class="wikitable sortable"
align=center \| Ugueth Urbina	63	5	8	27	3.78	84
align=center \| Anthony Telford	65	4	6	1	3.24	61
align=center \| Dave Veres	53	2	3	1	3.48	47
align=center \| Omar Daal	33	1	2	1	9.79	16
align=center \| Steve Kline	26	1	3	0	6.15	20
align=center \| Lee Smith	25	0	1	5	5.82	15
align=center \| Rick DeHart	23	2	1	0	5.52	29
align=center \| Shayne Bennett	16	0	1	0	3.18	8
align=center \| Salomón Torres	12	0	0	0	7.25	11
align=center \| Steve Falteisek	5	0	0	0	3.38	2
align=center \| Everett Stull	3	0	1	0	16.20	2

Award winners

Pedro Martínez, NL Cy Young Award
Pedro Martínez, Pitcher of the Month, August

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Pedro Martínez, pitcher, reserve

Farm system

{{MLB Farm System|level15=AAA|team15=Ottawa Lynx|league15=International League|manager15=Pat Kelly

|level16=AA |team16=Harrisburg Senators|league16=Eastern League|manager16=Rick Sofield

|level17=A |team17=West Palm Beach Expos|league17=Florida State League|manager17=Doug Sisson

|level18=A |team18=Cape Fear Crocs|league18=South Atlantic League|manager18=Phil Stephenson

|level19=A-Short Season|team19=Vermont Expos|league19=New York–Penn League|manager19=Kevin Higgins

|level20=Rookie|team20=GCL Expos|league20=Gulf Coast League|manager20=Luis Dorante

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

References

External links

[https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MON/1997.shtml 1997 Montreal Expos team] at Baseball-Reference
[http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1997&t=MON 1997 Montreal Expos team] at baseball-almanac.com

Category:Montreal Expos seasons

Montreal Expos Season, 1997

Category:1997 in Montreal

Category:1997 in sports in Quebec

border=1 cellspacing=0 width=425 style="margin-left:3em;"
style="text-align:center; background-color:#e6e6e6;" !align=left width=28%\|Team !width=6%\|1 !width=6%\|2 !width=6%\|3 !width=6%\|4 !width=6%\|5 !width=6%\|6 !width=6%\|7 !width=6%\|8 !width=6%\|9 !width=6%\|R !width=6%\|H !width=6%\|E
style="text-align:center;" \|align=left\|Montreal \|0	1	0 \|0	0	1 \|0	0	0 \|2	6	0
style="text-align:center;" \|align=left\|Toronto \|0	0	0 \|0	0	0 \|1	0	0 \|1	3	0
style="text-align:left;" \|colspan=13\|W: Pedro Martínez (10-3) L: Pat Hentgen (8-5)
style="text-align:left;" \|colspan=13\|Home Runs: Vladimir Guerrero (4), Carlos Delgado (15) Attendance: 37,430 Time: 2:03