1997 Atlanta Braves season

Last updated

1997  Atlanta Braves
National League East Champions
League National League
Division East
Ballpark Turner Field
City Atlanta
Record101–61 (.623)
Divisional place1st
Owners Time Warner
General managers John Schuerholz
Managers Bobby Cox
Television WTBS
TBS Superstation
(Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
SportSouth
(Tim Brando, Ernie Johnson, Bob Rathbun)
Radio WSB (AM)
(Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
  1996 Seasons 1998  

The 1997 Atlanta Braves season marked the franchise's 32nd season in Atlanta and 127th overall. The Braves entered the season as defending National League champions, having lost the 1996 World Series to the Yankees in 6 games. They won their seventh consecutive division title, taking the National League East by 9 games over the second place Florida Marlins. However, the Marlins would later defeat the Braves in the NLCS. 1997 was the first year that the Braves played their home games in Turner Field, a reconstruction of the former Centennial Olympic Stadium, which originally served as the main venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Contents

Off season

Regular season

The first game at Turner Field took place on April 4, 1997, with Denny Neagle making the start for the Braves. [4]

Opening day starters

Season standings

NL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 101610.62350–3151–30
Florida Marlins 92700.568952–2940–41
New York Mets 88740.5431350–3138–43
Montreal Expos 78840.4812345–3633–48
Philadelphia Phillies 68940.4203338–4330–51

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamATLCHCCINCOLFLAHOULAMTLNYMPHIPITSDSFSTLAL
Atlanta 9–29–25–64–87–46–510–25–710–25–68–37–48–37–5
Chicago 2–97–52–92–93–95–64–76–56–57–56–55–64–89–6
Cincinnati 2–95–75–65–65–76–56–52–98–38–45–64–76–69–6
Colorado 6–59–26–57–45–65–77–46–54–74–74–84–87–49–7
Florida 8–49–26–54–77–47–47–54–86–67–45–65–65–612–3
Houston 4–79–37–56–54–77–48–37–44–76–66–53–89–34–11
Los Angeles 5–66–55–67–54–74–77–46–510–19–25–76–65–69–7
Montreal 2–107–45–64–75–73–84–75–76–65–68–36–56–512–3
New York 7–55–69–25–68–44–75–67–57–57–45–63–89–27–8
Philadelphia 2-105–63–87–46–67–41–106–65–75–67–43–86–55–10
Pittsburgh 6–55–74–87–44–76–62–96–54–76–55–68–39–37–8
San Diego 3–85–66–58–46–55–67–53–86–54–76–54–85–68–8
San Francisco 4–76–57–48–46–58–36–65–68–38–33–88–43–810–6
St. Louis 3–88–46–64–76–53-96–55–62–95–63–96–58–38–7

Roster

1997 Atlanta Braves
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Javy López 123414122.2952368
1B Fred McGriff 152564156.2772297
2B Mark Lemke 10935186.245226
SS Jeff Blauser 151519160.3081770
3B Chipper Jones 157597176.29521111
LF Ryan Klesko 143467122.2612484
CF Kenny Lofton 122493164.333548
RF Michael Tucker 138499141.2831456

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Andruw Jones 15339992.2311870
Eddie Pérez 7319141.215618
Tony Graffanino 10418648.258820
Keith Lockhart 9614741.279632
Danny Bautista 6410325.24339
Mike Mordecai 618114.17303
Rafael Belliard 727115.21113
Greg Colbrunn 285415.27829
Tommy Gregg 13195.26300
Randall Simon 13146.42901
Tim Spehr 8143.21414
Greg Myers 991.11101
Ed Giovanola 1482.25000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
John Smoltz 35256.015123.02241
Tom Glavine 33240.01472.96152
Denny Neagle 34233.12052.97172
Greg Maddux 33232.21942.20177

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Kevin Millwood 1251.1534.0342
Terrell Wade 1242.0235.3635
Chris Brock 730.2005.5816

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Mark Wohlers 7157333.5092
Alan Embree 663102.5445
Brad Clontz 515113.7542
Mike Bielecki 503724.0860
Mike Cather 352402.3929
Paul Byrd 314405.2637
Chad Fox 300103.2928
Joe Borowski 202203.756
Kerry Ligtenberg 151013.0019
John LeRoy 11000.003

Turner Field

In 1997, the Braves moved into Turner Field. The ballpark was built across the street from the former home of the Braves, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which was demolished in the summer of 1997.

The most popular name choice among Atlanta residents for the new stadium at the time of its construction (according to a poll in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ) was Hank Aaron Stadium. After the ballpark was instead named after Ted Turner, the city of Atlanta renamed the section of Capitol Avenue on which the stadium sits Hank Aaron Drive, giving Turner Field the street number 755, after Aaron's home run total.

After the 1996 Summer Olympics were complete the stadium was officially given as a gift to the Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. (the Atlanta Braves) Ted Turner, then owner of the Braves, agreed to pay a large sum of the cost to build Centennial Olympic Stadium (approximately $170 million of the $209 million bill), if in turn, the stadium was built in a way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium and that the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) paid for the conversion. [5] This was considered a good agreement for both the Olympic Committee and the Braves, because there would be no use for a permanent 85,000 seat track and field stadium in Downtown Atlanta (as the 71,000 seat Georgia Dome was completed four years earlier by the state of Georgia) and the Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new stadium. [6]

Turner Field exterior from Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard Turner field exterior.jpg
Turner Field exterior from Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard

1997 National League Division Series

Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves

Atlanta wins the series, 3-0

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1Houston Astros – 1, Atlanta Braves – 2September 30 Turner Field 46,467 [7]
2Houston Astros – 3, Atlanta Braves – 13October 1 Turner Field 49,200 [8]
3Atlanta Braves – 4, Houston Astros – 1October 3 Astrodome 53,688 [9]

1997 National League Championship Series

GameDateVisitorScoreHomeScoreRecord

(FLA-ATL)

Attendance
1 October 7 Florida5Atlanta31-049,244
2 October 8 Florida1Atlanta71-148,933
3 October 10 Atlanta2Florida52-153,857
4 October 11 Atlanta4Florida02-254,890
5 October 12 Atlanta1Florida23-246,496
6 October 14 Florida7Atlanta44-250,466
Florida wins series 42 and advance to the World Series

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Bill Dancy
AA Greenville Braves Southern League Randy Ingle
A Durham Bulls Carolina League Paul Runge
A Macon Braves South Atlantic League Brian Snitker
A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Jim Saul
Rookie Danville Braves Appalachian League Rick Albert
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Frank Howard

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenville [10]

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References

  1. "John Smoltz Stats".
  2. Paul Byrd Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. "Mike Bielecki Stats".
  4. 100 Things Braves Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die: Revised and Updated, Jack Wilkinson, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2019, ISBN 978-1-62937-694-3, p.140
  5. Sandomir, Richard (July 30, 1996). "At Close of Games, Braves Will Move Into Olympic Stadium". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  6. Kendrick, Scott. "Turner Field". About.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  7. "1997 NLDS – Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros – Game 1". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  8. "1997 NLDS – Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros – Game 2". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  9. "1997 NLDS – Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros – Game 3". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007