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1997 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Three Rivers Stadium (since 1970)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania^[1] (since 1907)
Results
Record	79–83 (.488)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Kevin McClatchy
General manager(s)	Cam Bonifay
Manager(s)	Gene Lamont
Local television	WPGH-TV/WPTT-TV Lanny Frattare Steve Blass Greg Brown Bob Walk Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh Lanny Frattare Steve Blass Greg Brown Bob Walk
Local radio	KDKA Steve Blass Lanny Frattare Greg Brown Bob Walk
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The 1997 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 116th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 111th in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the National League Central with a record of 79–83.

1 Offseason
2 Regular season
3 Roster
- 3.1 Opening Day starters
4 Player stats
5 Awards and honors
6 Farm system
7 References
8 Further reading

Offseason[edit]

November 14, 1996: Dan Plesac, Carlos García and Orlando Merced were traded by the Pirates to the Toronto Blue Jays for José Silva, Brandon Cromer (minors), Jose Pett (minors), and players to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Abraham Núñez, Craig Wilson, and Mike Halperin (minors) to the Pirates on December 11.^[2]
December 13, 1996: Jay Bell and Jeff King were traded by the Pirates to the Kansas City Royals for Jeff Granger, Joe Randa, Jeff Wallace, and Jeff Martin (minors).^[3]
December 20, 1996: Kevin Elster was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[4]

Regular season[edit]

The 1997 Pittsburgh Pirates were informally known as "The Freak Show,"^[5] as the team of rookies and cheap veterans (the team only had a $9 million payroll) unexpectedly competed with the Houston Astros for the division title until the final week of the season.

Season standings[edit]

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	84	78	0.519	—	46–35	38–43
Pittsburgh Pirates	79	83	0.488	5	43–38	36–45
Cincinnati Reds	76	86	0.469	8	40–41	36–45
St. Louis Cardinals	73	89	0.451	11	41–40	32–49
Chicago Cubs	68	94	0.420	16	42–39	26–55

Record vs. opponents[edit]

1997 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Atlanta	—	9–2	9–2	5–6	4–8	7–4	6–5	10–2	5–7	10–2	5–6	8–3	7–4	8–3	7–5
Chicago	2–9	—	7–5	2–9	2–9	3–9	5–6	4–7	6–5	6–5	7–5	6–5	5–6	4–8	9–6
Cincinnati	2–9	5–7	—	5–6	5–6	5–7	6–5	6–5	2–9	8–3	8–4	5–6	4–7	6–6	9–6
Colorado	6–5	9–2	6–5	—	7–4	5–6	5–7	7–4	6–5	4–7	4–7	4–8	4–8	7–4	9–7
Florida	8–4	9–2	6–5	4–7	—	7–4	7–4	7–5	4–8	6–6	7–4	5–6	5–6	5–6	12–3
Houston	4–7	9–3	7–5	6–5	4–7	—	7–4	8–3	7–4	4–7	6–6	6–5	3–8	9–3	4–11
Los Angeles	5–6	6–5	5–6	7–5	4–7	4–7	—	7–4	6–5	10–1	9–2	5–7	6–6	5–6	9–7
Montreal	2–10	7–4	5–6	4–7	5–7	3–8	4–7	—	5–7	6–6	5–6	8–3	6–5	6–5	12–3
New York	7–5	5–6	9–2	5–6	8–4	4–7	5–6	7–5	—	7–5	7–4	5–6	3–8	9–2	7–8
Philadelphia	2-10	5–6	3–8	7–4	6–6	7–4	1–10	6–6	5–7	—	5–6	7–4	3–8	6–5	5–10
Pittsburgh	6–5	5–7	4–8	7–4	4–7	6–6	2–9	6–5	4–7	6–5	—	5–6	8–3	9–3	7–8
San Diego	3–8	5–6	6–5	8–4	6–5	5–6	7–5	3–8	6–5	4–7	6–5	—	4–8	5–6	8–8
San Francisco	4–7	6–5	7–4	8–4	6–5	8–3	6–6	5–6	8–3	8–3	3–8	8–4	—	3–8	10–6
St. Louis	3–8	8–4	6–6	4–7	6–5	3-9	6–5	5–6	2–9	5–6	3–9	6–5	8–3	—	8–7

Game Log[edit]

1997 Game Log (79–83)

April (12–13)

May (14–14)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
26	May 1	Giants	3–2	Cooke (2–3)	Estes	Rincon (1)	10,507	13–13
27	May 2	@ Braves	3–2	Peters (1–0)	Bielecki	Loiselle (1)	37,577	14–13
28	May 3	@ Braves	3–0	Loaiza (3–0)	Glavine	Rincon (2)	46,602	15–13
29	May 4	@ Braves	1–3	Wade	Cordova (1–3)	Wohlers	42,037	15–14
30	May 5	@ Marlins	0–3	Helling	Lieber (1–3)	Nen	16,616	15–15
31	May 6	@ Marlins	4–0	Cooke (3–3)	Fernandez	—	18,063	16–15
32	May 7	@ Rockies	14–3	Wilkins (2–0)	Thompson	—	48,056	17–15
33	May 8	@ Rockies	10–8	Loaiza (4–0)	Wright	Loiselle (2)	48,050	18–15
34	May 9	Braves	9–0	Cordova (2–3)	Wade	—	18,006	19–15
35	May 10	Braves	3–9	Neagle	Lieber (1–4)	—	34,143	19–16
36	May 11	Braves	2–8	Smoltz	Cooke (3–4)	—	29,895	19–17
37	May 12	Braves	2–10	Maddux	Schmidt (1–2)	—	12,114	19–18
38	May 14	Rockies	15–10	Wilkins (3–0)	Reed	—	11,841	20–18
39	May 15	Rockies	4–3	Cordova (3–3)	Bailey	Rincon (3)	8,548	21–18
40	May 16	Marlins	1–3	Fernandez	Lieber (1–5)	Nen	17,156	21–19
41	May 17	Marlins	1–11	Rapp	Cooke (3–5)	—	32,066	21–20
42	May 18	Marlins	3–5 (10)	Nen	Loiselle (1–1)	Stanifer	28,702	21–21
43	May 20	@ Cardinals	1–3	Jackson	Loaiza (4–1)	Eckersley	25,990	21–22
44	May 21	@ Cardinals	3–2	Ruebel (2–2)	Fossas	Loiselle (3)	34,738	22–22
45	May 22	@ Expos	9–3	Lieber (2–5)	Perez	Rincon (4)	12,620	23–22
46	May 23	@ Expos	1–4	Martinez	Cooke (3–6)	—	18,499	23–23
47	May 24	@ Expos	3–7	Juden	Schmidt (1–3)	Urbina	26,154	23–24
48	May 25	@ Expos	8–6	Wilkins (4–0)	Daal	Loiselle (4)	27,253	24–24
49	May 26	Cubs	1–2	Foster	Cordova (3–4)	Adams	20,609	24–25
50	May 27	Cubs	7–8	Gonzalez	Lieber (2–6)	Adams	9,641	24–26
51	May 28	Cubs	4–1	Cooke (4–6)	Mulholland	—	10,198	25–26
52	May 30	Expos	10–2	Peters (2–0)	Juden	—	14,676	26–26
53	May 31	Expos	2–4	Hermanson	Loaiza (4–2)	Urbina	14,628	26–27

June (11–16)

July (16–12)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
81	July 1	White Sox	3–0	Cooke (6–9)	Baldwin	Loiselle (8)	22,163	38–43
82	July 2	White Sox	3–1	Schmidt (4–4)	Navarro	—	25,772	39–43
83	July 3	@ Cardinals	6–4	Loaiza (6–5)	Valenzuela	Loiselle (9)	30,753	40–43
84	July 4	@ Cardinals	7–5 (10)	Wilkins (6–1)	Eckersley	Loiselle (10)	33,885	41–43
85	July 5	@ Cardinals	4–3	Lieber (6–8)	Morris	Wilkins (1)	39,593	42–43
86	July 6	@ Cardinals	6–3	Cooke (7–9)	Stottlemyre	—	29,290	43–43
87	July 10	Astros	0–7	Kile	Schmidt (4–5)	—	17,335	43–44
88	July 11	Astros	0–10	Hampton	Loaiza (6–6)	—	21,913	43–45
89	July 12	Astros	3–0 (10)	Rincon (3–4)	Hudek	—	44,119	44–45
90	July 13	Astros	5–3	Sodowsky (1–1)	Springer	Loiselle (11)	25,675	45–45
91	July 14	Mets	5–4	Rincon (4–4)	McMichael	Loiselle (12)	12,794	46–45
92	July 15	Mets	4–3	Christiansen (1–0)	Acevedo	Loiselle (13)	12,244	47–45
93	July 16	Reds	3–7	Burba	Loaiza (6–7)	—	30,698	47–46
94	July 17	Reds	5–9	Smiley	Cordova (6–6)	—	19,710	47–47
95	July 18	@ Phillies	6–8	Leiter	Lieber (6–9)	Bottalico	19,676	47–48
96	July 19	@ Phillies	13–3	Cooke (8–9)	Green	—	17,472	48–48
97	July 20	@ Phillies	1–4	Stephenson	Schmidt (4–6)	Bottalico	20,431	48–49
98	July 21	@ Phillies	3–2	Loaiza (7–7)	Schilling	Loiselle (14)	19,303	49–49
99	July 22	@ Padres	2–3	Hoffman	Loiselle (1–2)	—	18,306	49–50
100	July 23	@ Padres	1–9	Smith	Lieber (6–10)	—	16,151	49–51
101	July 24	@ Padres	6–8	Bruske	Sodowsky (1–2)	Hoffman	18,715	49–52
102	July 25	@ Giants	5–2	Schmidt (5–6)	Rueter	Loiselle (15)	14,236	50–52
103	July 26	@ Giants	10–3	Loaiza (8–7)	Creek	—	25,962	51–52
104	July 27	@ Giants	5–6 (13)	Henry	Wilkins (6–2)	—	0	51–53
105	July 27	@ Giants	10–7	Cordova (7–6)	VanLandingham	—	38,866	52–53
106	July 28	@ Dodgers	2–4	Valdez	Lieber (6–11)	Worrell	53,503	52–54
107	July 29	@ Dodgers	1–3	Astacio	Cooke (8–10)	Worrell	43,791	52–55
108	July 31	Rockies	4–1	Schmidt (6–6)	Bailey	Loiselle (16)	16,654	53–55

August (15–14)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
109	August 1	Rockies	6–7	Reed	Rincon (4–5)	Dipoto	22,657	53–56
110	August 2	Rockies	6–5	Cordova (8–6)	Swift	Loiselle (17)	32,388	54–56
111	August 3	Rockies	8–4	Ruebel (3–2)	Reed	—	24,989	55–56
112	August 4	Braves	0–6	Smoltz	Cooke (8–11)	—	21,609	55–57
113	August 5	Braves	5–4	Schmidt (7–6)	Glavine	Loiselle (18)	20,069	56–57
114	August 6	Marlins	3–12	Brown	Loaiza (8–8)	—	32,594	56–58
115	August 7	Marlins	5–1	Wilkins (7–2)	Leiter	—	18,042	57–58
116	August 8	@ Rockies	3–5	Wright	Lieber (6–12)	Dipoto	48,262	57–59
117	August 9	@ Rockies	7–8	Munoz	Rincon (4–6)	—	48,323	57–60
118	August 10	@ Rockies	7–8	Leskanic	Wilkins (7–3)	Dipoto	48,018	57–61
119	August 12	@ Braves	5–2	Sodowsky (2–2)	Wohlers	Loiselle (19)	42,435	58–61
120	August 13	@ Braves	2–1	Lieber (7–12)	Smoltz	Loiselle (20)	40,793	59–61
121	August 15	@ Marlins	5–6	Powell	Loiselle (1–3)	—	26,092	59–62
122	August 16	@ Marlins	10–5	Cordova (9–6)	Saunders	—	40,031	60–62
123	August 17	@ Marlins	2–10	Brown	Cooke (8–12)	—	38,221	60–63
124	August 18	@ Marlins	7–2	Loaiza (9–8)	Alfonseca	—	30,200	61–63
125	August 19	Padres	5–3	Lieber (8–12)	Smith	Loiselle (21)	12,411	62–63
126	August 20	Padres	7–3	Schmidt (8–6)	Ashby	—	10,222	63–63
127	August 21	Padres	4–9	Hitchcock	Cordova (9–7)	—	13,129	63–64
128	August 22	Giants	3–2	Cooke (9–12)	Rueter	Loiselle (22)	18,562	64–64
129	August 23	Giants	6–4	Loaiza (10–8)	Darwin	Loiselle (23)	42,502	65–64
130	August 24	Giants	9–6	Christiansen (2–0)	Henry	Wilkins (2)	33,363	66–64
131	August 25	Dodgers	2–8	Martinez	Schmidt (8–7)	Guthrie	0	66–65
132	August 25	Dodgers	4–3	Wilkins (8–3)	Worrell	—	14,018	67–65
133	August 26	Dodgers	4–6	Dreifort	Rincon (4–7)	—	13,689	67–66
134	August 27	Dodgers	5–9	Reyes	Cooke (9–13)	—	48,032	67–67
135	August 29	@ Brewers	1–4	Karl	Loaiza (10–9)	Jones	17,539	67–68
136	August 30	@ Brewers	3–1	Lieber (9–12)	Mercedes	Loiselle (24)	23,673	68–68
137	August 31	@ Brewers	2–3	Jones	Wilkins (8–4)	—	32,541	68–69

September (11–14)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
138	September 1	Indians	5–7	Ogea	Cooke (9–14)	Mesa	45,298	68–70
139	September 2	Indians	6–4	Silva (1–0)	Wright	Loiselle (25)	43,380	69–70
140	September 3	Indians	3–7	Hershiser	Loaiza (10–10)	—	37,513	69–71
141	September 4	@ Reds	2–5	Morgan	Lieber (9–13)	Shaw	15,136	69–72
142	September 5	@ Reds	6–8	Sullivan	Wilkins (8–5)	Shaw	21,492	69–73
143	September 6	@ Reds	13–4	Cordova (10–7)	Remlinger	—	20,383	70–73
144	September 7	@ Reds	3–6	Burba	Silva (1–1)	Shaw	19,682	70–74
145	September 9	@ Expos	4–5 (10)	Urbina	Loiselle (1–4)	—	8,782	70–75
146	September 10	@ Expos	4–5	Martinez	Lieber (9–14)	Urbina	10,139	70–76
147	September 12	Cubs	3–1	Schmidt (9–7)	Batista	Loiselle (26)	13,833	71–76
148	September 13	Cubs	1–4	Trachsel	Cordova (10–8)	Adams	21,505	71–77
149	September 14	Cubs	2–3	Clark	Rincon (4–8)	Adams	20,120	71–78
150	September 15	Expos	5–4 (10)	Wilkins (9–5)	Telford	—	7,736	72–78
151	September 16	Expos	8–2	Lieber (10–14)	Johnson	—	8,010	73–78
152	September 17	Astros	4–8	Reynolds	Schmidt (9–8)	—	27,422	73–79
153	September 18	Astros	12–3	Cordova (11–8)	Kile	—	14,852	74–79
154	September 19	Cardinals	5–6 (11)	King	Loiselle (1–5)	Eckersley	16,235	74–80
155	September 20	Cardinals	10–1	Loaiza (11–10)	Beltran	—	21,053	75–80
156	September 21	Cardinals	14–2	Lieber (11–14)	Busby	—	26,247	76–80
157	September 22	Cardinals	3–1	Schmidt (10–8)	Morris	Loiselle (27)	17,919	77–80
158	September 23	@ Mets	5–4	Silva (2–1)	Lidle	Loiselle (28)	14,670	78–80
159	September 24	@ Mets	5–7	Crawford	Cooke (9–15)	Rojas	13,195	78–81
160	September 26	@ Astros	0–2	Garcia	Loaiza (11–11)	Wagner	37,850	78–82
161	September 27	@ Astros	1–8	Reynolds	Schmidt (10–9)	—	36,170	78–83
162	September 28	@ Astros	5–4 (11)	Christiansen (3–0)	Henriquez	Loiselle (29)	30,606	79–83

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Notable transactions[edit]

July 8, 1997: Midre Cummings was selected off waivers from the Pirates by the Philadelphia Phillies.^[6]

Roster[edit]

1997 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

18 Jason Kendall
15 Keith Osik

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

32 Gene Lamont

Coaches

37 Joe Jones (first base)
45 Jack Lind (third base)
23 Lloyd McClendon (hitting)
44 Rick Renick (bench)
50 Pete Vuckovich (pitching)
54 Spin Williams (bullpen)

Opening Day starters[edit]

2B Womack
CF Allensworth
LF Martin
1B Johnson
SS Elster
C Kendall
RF Guillen
3B Randa
P Lieber

Player stats[edit]

Batting

Regular Season^[7]
Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Sodowsky, C.C. Sodowsky	45	2	1	0.500	0	0
Dunston, S.S. Dunston	18	71	28	0.394	5	16
Ward, T.T. Ward	71	167	59	0.353	7	33
Randa, J.J. Randa	126	443	134	0.302	7	60
Young, K.K. Young	97	333	100	0.300	18	74
Kendall, J.J. Kendall	144	486	143	0.294	8	49
Martin, A.A. Martin	113	423	123	0.291	13	59
Smith, M.M. Smith	71	193	55	0.285	9	35
Womack, T.T. Womack	155	641	178	0.278	6	50
Polcovich, K.K. Polcovich	84	245	67	0.273	4	21
Guillén, J.J. Guillén	143	498	133	0.267	14	70
Sveum, D.D. Sveum	126	306	80	0.261	12	47
Osik, K.K. Osik	49	105	27	0.257	0	7
Allensworth, J.J. Allensworth	108	369	94	0.255	3	43
Peters, C.C. Peters	31	4	1	0.250	0	2
Williams, E.E. Williams	30	89	22	0.247	3	11
Núñez, A.A. Núñez	19	40	9	0.225	0	6
Elster, K.K. Elster	39	138	31	0.225	7	25
Johnson, M.M. Johnson	78	219	47	0.215	4	29
Brown, A.A. Brown	48	147	28	0.190	1	10
Cummings, M.M. Cummings	52	106	20	0.189	3	8
Brown, E.E. Brown	66	95	17	0.179	2	6
Loaiza, E.E. Loaiza	33	60	10	0.167	0	5
García, F.F. García	20	40	6	0.150	3	5
Silva, J.J. Silva	11	7	1	0.143	0	0
Collier, L.L. Collier	18	37	5	0.135	0	3
Lieber, J.J. Lieber	33	58	7	0.121	0	8
Schmidt, J.J. Schmidt	32	56	6	0.107	0	2
Córdova, F.F. Córdova	29	56	5	0.089	0	0
Cooke, S.S. Cooke	32	52	3	0.058	0	1
Johnson, J.J. Johnson	3	1	0	0.000	0	0
Loiselle, R.R. Loiselle	72	1	0	0.000	0	0
Rincón, R.R. Rincón	62	1	0	0.000	0	0
Ruebel, M.M. Ruebel	44	7	0	0.000	0	0
Wagner, P.P. Wagner	14	1	0	0.000	0	0
Wainhouse, D.D. Wainhouse	25	2	0	0.000	0	0
Wilkins, M.M. Wilkins	70	4	0	0.000	0	1
Christiansen, J.J. Christiansen	39	0	0	-1 !—	0	0
Dessens, E.E. Dessens	3	0	0	-1 !—	0	0
Ericks, J.J. Ericks	10	0	0	-1 !—	0	0
Granger, J.J. Granger	9	0	0	-1 !—	0	0
Morel, R.R. Morel	5	0	0	-1 !—	0	0
Wallace, J.J. Wallace	11	0	0	-1 !—	0	0

Pitching

Regular Season^[8]
Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dessens, E.E. Dessens	3	3.3333333333333 !3¹⁄₃	0	0	0.00	2
Wallace, J.J. Wallace	11	12	0	0	0.75	14
Ericks, J.J. Ericks	10	9.3333333333333 !9¹⁄₃	1	0	1.93	6
Christiansen, J.J. Christiansen	39	33.666666666667 !33²⁄₃	3	0	2.94	37
Loiselle, R.R. Loiselle	72	72.666666666667 !72²⁄₃	1	5	3.10	66
Rincón, R.R. Rincón	62	60	4	8	3.45	71
Córdova, F.F. Córdova	29	178.66666666667 !178²⁄₃	11	8	3.63	121
Sodowsky, C.C. Sodowsky	45	52	2	2	3.63	51
Wilkins, M.M. Wilkins	70	75.666666666667 !75²⁄₃	9	5	3.69	47
Wagner, P.P. Wagner	14	16	0	0	3.94	9
Loaiza, E.E. Loaiza	33	196.33333333333 !196¹⁄₃	11	11	4.13	122
Cooke, S.S. Cooke	32	167.33333333333 !167¹⁄₃	9	15	4.30	109
Lieber, J.J. Lieber	33	188.33333333333 !188¹⁄₃	11	14	4.49	160
Peters, C.C. Peters	31	37.333333333333 !37¹⁄₃	2	2	4.58	17
Schmidt, J.J. Schmidt	32	187.66666666667 !187²⁄₃	10	9	4.60	136
Morel, R.R. Morel	5	7.6666666666667 !7²⁄₃	0	0	4.70	4
Silva, J.J. Silva	11	36.333333333333 !36¹⁄₃	2	1	5.94	30
Johnson, J.J. Johnson	3	6	0	0	6.00	3
Ruebel, M.M. Ruebel	44	62.666666666667 !62²⁄₃	3	2	6.32	50
Wainhouse, D.D. Wainhouse	25	28	0	1	8.04	21
Granger, J.J. Granger	9	5	0	0	18.00	4

Awards and honors[edit]

The Sporting News Executive of the Year Award

Cam Bonifay, GM

1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Tony Womack, 2B, Reserve

Farm system[edit]

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Calgary Cannons	Pacific Coast League	Trent Jewett
AA	Carolina Mudcats	Southern League	Marc Hill and Jeff Banister
A	Lynchburg Hillcats	Carolina League	Jeff Banister and Jeff Richardson
A	Augusta Greenjackets	South Atlantic League	Jeff Richardson and Scott Little
Short-Season A	Erie Seawolves	New York–Penn League	Marty Brown
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Woody Huyke

References[edit]

^ From 1882-1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
^ Dan Plesac page at Baseball Reference
^ Jay Bell page at Baseball References
^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/elsteke01.shtml
^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Pirates' 'Freak Show' hit zenith with July no-hitter"
^ Midre Cummings page at Baseball Reference
^ "Major League Baseball Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates.
^ "Major League Baseball Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates.

1997 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
1997 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

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