1997 Chicago Cubs season

March 2026 November 2013 Chicago Cubs Chicago Cubs logo.svg 1997 National League Central Wrigley Field Chicago 68–94 (.420) 5th Tribune Company Ed Lynch Jim Riggleman WGN-TV/Superstation WGN/Chicagoland TV(Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Josh Lewin) WGN(Pat Hughes, Ron Santo, Harry Caray, Josh Lewin) chc CHC 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.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=199706160CHA Box Score of Game played on Monday, June 16, 1997 at Comiskey Park II Season standings Chicago Cubs Record vs. opponents CHC Notable transactions July 12, 1997: Carlos Zambrano was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent.https://www.baseball-reference.com/z/zambrca01.shtml Carlos Zambrano Stats 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 33,51 Terry Adams 47 Miguel Batista 34,45 Kent Bottenfield 55 Larry Casian 49 Frank Castillo 48 Mark Clark 31 Kevin Foster 54 Geremi González 33 Ramón Morel 45 Terry Mulholland 59 Rodney Myers 35 Bob Patterson 41 Marc Pisciotta 51 Mel Rojas 40 Dave Stevens 38 Dave Swartzbaugh 36 Kevin Tapani 52 Ramón Tatís 44 Amaury Telemaco 46 Steve Trachsel 13 Turk Wendell Catchers  7 Tyler Houston  6 Mike Hubbard  9 Scott Servais Infielders 24 Manny Alexander 20 Miguel Cairo 17 Mark Grace 25 Dave Hansen 18 José Hernández 15 Kevin Orie 11 Rey Sánchez 23 Ryne Sandberg Outfielders 37 Brant Brown 22 Dave Clark 12 Shawon Dunston 1,8 Doug Glanville 29 Robin Jennings  1 Lance Johnson 19 Brooks Kieschnick 10 Terrell Lowery 56 Brian McRae 21 Sammy Sosa Manager  5 Jim Riggleman Coaches 43 Dave Bialas (bullpen) 40 Tony Muser (former hitting)  2 Mako Oliveras (first base) 55 Jeff Pentland (hitting)  3 Dan Radison (third base) 27 Phil Regan (pitching) 26 Billy Williams (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 Minor League Baseball AAA Iowa Cubs American Association Tim Johnson AA Orlando Rays Southern League Dave Trembley A Daytona Cubs Florida State League Steve Roadcap A Rockford Cubbies Midwest League Rubén Amaro, Sr. A-Short Season Williamsport Cubs New York–Penn League Bobby Ralston Rookie AZL Cubs Arizona League Terry KennedyLEAGUE 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 Category:Chicago Cubs seasons Chicago Cubs season Cub Category:1997 in Chicago