# 1997 Florida Marlins season

The 1997 Florida Marlins season was the fifth season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in the National League. It would begin with the team attempting to improve on their season from 1996. Their manager was Jim Leyland. They played home games at Pro Player Stadium. They finished with a record of 92–70, posting the first winning season in franchise history and winning the NL Wild Card. They got through the National League playoffs and won the World Series over the Cleveland Indians.

## Offseason

* November 22, 1996: Bobby Bonilla was signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins.
* March 26, 1997: Cliff Floyd was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Florida Marlins for Dustin Hermanson and Joe Orsulak.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Atlanta Braves | 101 | 61 | .623 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 51‍–‍30 |
| Florida Marlins | 92 | 70 | .568 | 9 | 52‍–‍29 | 40‍–‍41 |
| New York Mets | 88 | 74 | .543 | 13 | 50‍–‍31 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Montreal Expos | 78 | 84 | .481 | 23 | 45‍–‍36 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 68 | 94 | .420 | 33 | 38‍–‍43 | 30‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1997 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MTL | 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 | 8–7 |
| 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 |

### Transactions

* July 21, 1997: Darren Daulton was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Florida Marlins for Billy McMillon.
* July 27, 1997: Craig Counsell was traded by the Colorado Rockies to the Florida Marlins for Mark Hutton.
* July 29, 1997: Matt Treanor was traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Florida Marlins for Matt Whisenant.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Charles Johnson | 124 | 416 | 43 | 104 | .250 | 19 | 63 | 0 |
| 1B | Jeff Conine | 151 | 405 | 46 | 98 | .242 | 17 | 61 | 2 |
| 2B | Luis Castillo | 75 | 263 | 27 | 63 | .240 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| 3B | Bobby Bonilla | 153 | 562 | 77 | 167 | .297 | 17 | 96 | 6 |
| SS | Édgar Rentería | 154 | 617 | 90 | 171 | .277 | 4 | 52 | 32 |
| LF | Moisés Alou | 150 | 538 | 88 | 157 | .292 | 23 | 115 | 9 |
| CF | Devon White | 74 | 265 | 37 | 65 | .245 | 6 | 34 | 13 |
| RF | Gary Sheffield | 135 | 444 | 86 | 111 | .250 | 21 | 71 | 11 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Jim Eisenreich | 120 | 293 | 36 | 82 | .280 | 2 | 34 | 0 |
| Kurt Abbott | 94 | 252 | 35 | 69 | .274 | 6 | 30 | 3 |
| John Cangelosi | 103 | 192 | 28 | 47 | .245 | 1 | 12 | 5 |
| Craig Counsell | 51 | 164 | 20 | 49 | .299 | 1 | 16 | 1 |
| Greg Zaun | 58 | 143 | 21 | 43 | .301 | 2 | 20 | 1 |
| Cliff Floyd | 61 | 137 | 23 | 32 | .234 | 6 | 19 | 6 |
| Darren Daulton | 52 | 126 | 22 | 33 | .262 | 3 | 21 | 2 |
| Alex Arias | 74 | 93 | 13 | 23 | .247 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| Mark Kotsay | 14 | 52 | 5 | 10 | .192 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Todd Dunwoody | 19 | 50 | 7 | 13 | .260 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| John Wehner | 44 | 36 | 8 | 10 | .278 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Ralph Milliard | 8 | 30 | 2 | 6 | .200 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Billy McMillon | 13 | 18 | 0 | 2 | .111 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Russ Morman | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | .286 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Josh Booty | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | .600 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bob Natal | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 3 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Kevin Brown | 33 | 33 | 237.1 | 16 | 8 | 2.69 | 205 |
| Alex Fernandez | 32 | 32 | 220.2 | 17 | 12 | 3.59 | 183 |
| Al Leiter | 27 | 27 | 151.1 | 11 | 9 | 4.34 | 132 |
| Tony Saunders | 22 | 21 | 111.1 | 4 | 6 | 4.61 | 102 |
| Pat Rapp | 19 | 19 | 108.2 | 4 | 6 | 4.47 | 64 |
| Liván Hernández | 17 | 17 | 96.1 | 9 | 3 | 3.18 | 72 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Rick Helling | 31 | 8 | 76.0 | 2 | 6 | 4.38 | 53 |
| Kirt Ojala | 7 | 5 | 28.2 | 1 | 2 | 3.14 | 19 |

#### 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 |
| Robb Nen | 73 | 9 | 3 | 35 | 3.89 | 81 |
| Jay Powell | 74 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3.28 | 65 |
| Dennis Cook | 59 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.90 | 63 |
| Félix Heredia | 56 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4.29 | 54 |
| Rob Stanifer | 36 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4.60 | 28 |
| Mark Hutton | 32 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.78 | 29 |
| Antonio Alfonseca | 17 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.91 | 19 |
| Ed Vosberg | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.75 | 8 |
| Kurt Miller | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.82 | 7 |
| Matt Whisenant | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.88 | 4 |
| Donn Pall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 0 |
| John Cangelosi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Postseason
### NLDS

Florida wins the series, 3-0
| Game | Home | Score | Visitor | Score | Date | Series |
| 1 | Florida | 2 | San Francisco | 1 | September 30 | 1-0 (FLA) |
| 2 | Florida | 7 | San Francisco | 6 | October 1 | 2-0 (FLA) |
| 3 | San Francisco | 2 | Florida | 6 | October 3 | 3-0 (FLA) |

### NLCS

| Game | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Score | Record (FLA-ATL) | Attendance |
| 1 | October 7 | Florida | 5 | Atlanta | 3 | 1-0 | 49,244 |
| 2 | October 8 | Florida | 1 | Atlanta | 7 | 1-1 | 48,933 |
| 3 | October 10 | Atlanta | 2 | Florida | 5 | 2-1 | 53,857 |
| 4 | October 11 | Atlanta | 4 | Florida | 0 | 2-2 | 54,890 |
| 5 | October 12 | Atlanta | 1 | Florida | 2 | 3-2 | 46,496 |
| 6 | October 14 | Florida | 7 | Atlanta | 4 | 4-2 | 50,466 |
| Florida wins series 4–2 and advance to the World Series ||||||||

### World Series
#### Game 1

October 18, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| Florida | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| WP: Liván Hernández (1-0) LP: Orel Hershiser (0-1) Sv: Robb Nen (1) Home runs: CLE: Manny Ramírez (1), Jim Thome (1) FLA: Moisés Alou (1), Charles Johnson (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 2

October 19, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 0 |
| Florida | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| WP: Chad Ogea (1-0) LP: Kevin Brown (0-1) Home runs: CLE: Sandy Alomar Jr. (1) FLA: None |||||||||||||

#### Game 3

October 21, 1997, at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Florida | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 16 | 3 |
| Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 3 |
| WP: Dennis Cook (1-0) LP: Eric Plunk (0-1) Sv: Robb Nen (2) Home runs: FLA: Gary Sheffield (1), Darren Daulton (1), Jim Eisenreich (1) CLE: Jim Thome (2) |||||||||||||

#### Game 4

October 22, 1997, at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | X | 10 | 15 | 0 |
| WP: Jaret Wright (1-0) LP: Tony Saunders (0-1) Home runs: FLA: Moisés Alou (2) CLE: Manny Ramírez (2), Matt Williams (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 5

October 23, 1997, at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Florida | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| WP: Liván Hernández (2-0) LP: Orel Hershiser (0-2) Sv: Robb Nen (3) Home runs: FLA: Moisés Alou (3) CLE: Sandy Alomar Jr. (2) |||||||||||||

#### Game 6

October 25, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| WP: Chad Ogea (2-0) LP: Kevin Brown (0-2) Sv: José Mesa (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 7

October 26, 1997, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
| Cleveland | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| WP: Jay Powell (1-0) LP: Charles Nagy (0-1) Home runs: CLE: None FLA: Bobby Bonilla (1) |||||||||||||||

## Awards and honors

* Darren Daulton, National League Comeback Player of the Year
* Liván Hernández, NLCS MVP
* Liván Hernández, World Series MVP
1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Moisés Alou, reserve
* Kevin Brown, reserve
* Charles Johnson, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Charlotte Knights | International League | Carlos Tosca |
| AA | Portland Sea Dogs | Eastern League | Fredi González |
| A | Brevard County Manatees | Florida State League | Lorenzo Bundy |
| A | Kane County Cougars | Midwest League | Lynn Jones |
| A-Short Season | Utica Blue Sox | New York–Penn League | Juan Bustabad |
| Rookie | GCL Marlins | Gulf Coast League | Jon Deeble |