Series Wrapup

Story

The 1997 baseball season ended up being an extremely good one for fans of the Florida Marlins, who captured their first world championship in just their fifth year of existence.  After advancing to the playoffs as the National League’s wild-card entry, Florida defeated three heavily favored teams en route to establishing themselves as rulers of the baseball world.

Led by veteran manager Jim Leyland, the Marlins accomplished all they did even though they lacked the presence of a true superstar on their roster.  Moises Alou was the team’s top offensive performer, batting .292, scoring 88 runs, and finishing first on the club with 23 home runs and 115 runs batted in.  Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, and Edgar Renteria also made significant contributions on offense.  Sheffield hit 21 homers and scored 86 runs.  Bonilla hit 17 home runs, drove in 96 runs, and batted .297.  Renteria led the team with 90 runs scored and 32 stolen bases.  Meanwhile, Kevin Brown anchored the pitching staff, finishing 16-8 and placing among the league leaders with a 2.69 ERA and 205 strikeouts.

The Marlins ended up representing the senior circuit in the World Series even though they finished a distant second to the Atlanta Braves in the N.L. East.  The Braves won their third straight division title by concluding the campaign with a record of 101-61 that left them nine full games ahead of the runner-up Marlins.   

Clearly the National League’s strongest team over the course of the regular season, the Braves finished near the top of the league rankings with 791 runs scored, 174 home runs, a .270 team batting average, and a .426 team slugging average, and they also led the league with a 3.18 team ERA.  Kenny Lofton, Fred McGriff, Jeff Blauser, and Chipper Jones paced Atlanta on offense.  Lofton batted .333 and scored 90 runs.  McGriff hit 22 homers and drove in 97 runs.  Blauser batted .308, knocked in 70 runs, and scored 90 others.  Jones hit 21 homers, batted .295, and led the team with 111 runs batted in and 100 runs scored.  

The Braves’ greatest strength continued to be their outstanding starting pitching.  Left-hander Denny Neagle finished 20-5, to lead the league in victories.  He also compiled a fine 2.97 ERA.  Tom Glavine finished 14-7 with a 2.96 ERA.  John Smoltz won 15 games, posted an ERA of 3.02, and placed among the league leaders with 241 strikeouts and 256 innings pitched.  Greg Maddux came up just short of winning his fifth Cy Young Award, earning a second-place finish in the balloting by going 19-4 with a brilliant 2.20 ERA.

Edging out Maddux in the Cy Young voting was Pedro Martinez, who won 17 games for a Montreal Expos team that finished 23 games behind Atlanta in the N.L. East.  In addition to compiling a record of 17-8, Martinez struck out 305 batters and led the league with a 1.90 ERA and 13 complete games.  

While the Braves won their third straight N.L. East title, the Houston Astros claimed their first Central Division crown by finishing the season with a record of 84-78, five games ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates.  The dynamic tandem of Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell again led Houston on offense.  Biggio hit 22 home runs, drove in 81 runs, batted .309, stole 47 bases, and led the league with 146 runs scored.  Bagwell batted .286, scored 109 runs, stole 31 bases, and placed second in the league with 43 home runs and 135 runs batted in.  By hitting 43 homers and stealing 31 bases, Bagwell became the first full-time first baseman in major league history to surpass the 30-mark in both categories in the same season.  The Astros also had one of the league’s top pitchers in Darryl Kile, who finished 19-7, with a 2.57 ERA, 205 strikeouts, and four shutouts.  

The N.L. West turned out to be the most competitive division in the league, with the San Francisco Giants barely edging out the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place by concluding the campaign with a record of 90-72.  The Dodgers finished just two games back, while the Colorado Rockies came in third, just seven games off the pace.

Although the San Diego Padres finished last in the division, 14 games behind the Giants, they featured one of the league’s very best players.  Tony Gwynn had perhaps the finest season of his Hall of Fame career, establishing career highs by hitting 17 home runs and driving in 119 runs, and leading the league with a .372 batting average and 220 hits.
 
Also having fabulous years were Colorado’s Larry Walker and the Dodgers’ Mike Piazza.  Walker earned N.L. MVP honors by placing among the league leaders with 130 runs batted in, 143 runs scored, 208 hits, 46 doubles, and a .366 batting average, while topping the circuit with 49 home runs, 409 total bases, a .452 on-base percentage, and a .720 slugging average.  Piazza earned a second-place finish in the balloting by hitting 40 homers, driving in 124 runs, scoring 104 others, batting .362, and collecting 201 hits.

The Giants somehow managed to win the division even though they surrendered nine more runs to the opposition than they themselves scored over the course of the regular season.  Shawn Estes served as the ace of San Francisco’s pitching staff, compiling a record of 19-5 and a 3.18 ERA.  Rod Beck finished second in the league with 37 saves.  Meanwhile, J.T. Snow, Jeff Kent, and Barry Bonds shouldered most of the offensive burden.  Snow hit 28 homers and drove in 104 runs.  Kent homered 29 times and knocked in 121 runs.  Bonds hit 40 home runs, knocked in 101 runs, scored 123 others, batted .291, stole 37 bases, and led the league with 145 walks.  

The wild-card Marlins eliminated the Giants in the first round of the playoffs, sweeping them in three straight games.  After winning each of the first two contests in the bottom of the ninth inning, Florida posted a convincing 6-2 victory in the series clincher.  Atlanta similarly disposed of Houston in three straight games, before falling to the Marlins in six games in the NLCS.  The Braves lost to the underdog Marlins even though they outscored them by a combined margin of 21-20, out-homered them, 6-1, and out-hit them, .253 to .199.

The Marlins then completed their unlikely trifecta by defeating the Cleveland Indians in seven games in the World Series.  They won Game Seven in the bottom of the 11th inning when Edgar Renteria singled home Craig Counsell with the winning run.  Livan Hernandez earned Series MVP honors by winning both his starts.

However, Florida fans found their enthusiasm tempered shortly thereafter when team owner Wayne Huizenga, intending to sell the club, cut costs by trading away most of the Marlins’ best players.

Other outstanding performers, notable events, and points of interest from around the league follow:

• July 31 – The Oakland Athletics traded Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews, and Blake Stein.

• September 10 - Mark McGwire joined Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history to surpass 50 home runs in consecutive seasons.  McGwire, who hit a major league-leading 52 homers for the Oakland Athletics the previous year, became the first player to accomplish the feat since Ruth topped the 50-homer mark for the Yankees in 1927 and 1928.  McGwire went on to hit 58 home runs on the year, tying Jimmie Foxx for the most home runs ever hit by a right-handed hitter in a season.

• September 21 - Mike Piazza joined Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell as the only players to hit a home run completely out of Dodger Stadium.  

• September 25 - Pedro Martínez recorded his 300th strikeout of the season, becoming the first player since 1972 (Steve Carlton) to record 300 or more strikeouts while maintaining a sub-2.00 ERA.

• By leading the National League with a .372 batting average, Tony Gwynn tied Honus Wagner’s record by winning his eighth N.L. batting title.

• Florida's Kevin Brown threw a no-hitter against the Giants during a 9-0 victory at Candlestick Park on June 10.

• In the first-ever combined 10-inning no-hitter, Pittsburgh's Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon blanked the Astros 3-0 on July 12.

• Philadelphia’s Scott Rolen (21 home runs, 92 RBIs, .283 batting average) earned N.L. Rookie of the Year honors.

• Pittsburgh’s Tony Womack stole 32 consecutive bases en route to leading the National League with 60 thefts.

• Philadelphia’s Curt Schilling led the league with 319 strikeouts – the most ever by a National League right-hander.

• Colorado’s Andres Galarraga hit 41 homers, scored 120 runs, batted .318, and led the National League with 140 runs batted in.

• After stealing 56 bases, Cincinnati's Deion Sanders retired to concentrate solely on pro football.

• Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg retired for a second time at the end of the season, this time for good.

• Rupert Murdoch purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers for an estimated $350 million.

• Within two months of winning the World Series, Florida traded away stars Moises Alou, Kevin Brown, Jeff Conine, Robb Nen, and Devon White in an attempt to dump salaries.

Seasons of the National League

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