# 1897 Washington Senators season

The 1897 Washington Senators baseball team finished the season with a 61–71 record, tied for sixth place in the National League. The Senators (also known as the Nationals) finished in the first division in the only time in the franchise's nine-year run in the National League. After getting off to a dismal 31–55 start, Washington won 30 of its last 46 games. Their overall winning percentage (.462) would be the high-water mark for this franchise before it folded in contraction at the conclusion of the 1899 season.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 93 | 39 | .705 | — | 54‍–‍12 | 39‍–‍27 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 40 | .692 | 2 | 51‍–‍15 | 39‍–‍25 |
| New York Giants | 83 | 48 | .634 | 9½ | 51‍–‍19 | 32‍–‍29 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 56 | .576 | 17 | 49‍–‍18 | 27‍–‍38 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 69 | 62 | .527 | 23½ | 49‍–‍16 | 20‍–‍46 |
| Washington Senators | 61 | 71 | .462 | 32 | 40‍–‍26 | 21‍–‍45 |
| Brooklyn Bridegrooms | 61 | 71 | .462 | 32 | 38‍–‍29 | 23‍–‍42 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 60 | 71 | .458 | 32½ | 38‍–‍27 | 22‍–‍44 |
| Chicago Colts | 59 | 73 | .447 | 34 | 36‍–‍30 | 23‍–‍43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 55 | 77 | .417 | 38 | 32‍–‍34 | 23‍–‍43 |
| Louisville Colonels | 52 | 78 | .400 | 40 | 34‍–‍31 | 18‍–‍47 |
| St. Louis Browns | 29 | 102 | .221 | 63½ | 18‍–‍41 | 11‍–‍61 |

### Record vs. opponents

1897 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | BR | CHI | CIN | CLE | LOU | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 6–6 | 9–3–2 | 9–3–3 | 6–6 | 7–4 | 10–1 | 5–7 | 10–2–1 | 9–3 | 10–2 | 9–3 |
| Boston | 6–6 | — | 9–3 | 8–4–1 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 10–2–1 | 10–2 | 10–2 | 7–5–1 |
| Brooklyn | 3–9–2 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 3–9–2 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–9–3 | 4–8–1 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6–1 | 5–7–1 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 |
| Cincinnati | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–5–1 | 8–4 | 5–7–1 | 11–1 | 8–4 |
| Cleveland | 4–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — | 5–7 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 11–1–1 | 8–4 |
| Louisville | 1–10 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6–1 | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 6–6–1 | 3–9 | 4–8–2 | 8–3–1 | 4–8–1 |
| New York | 7–5 | 4–8 | 9–3–2 | 7–5–1 | 5–7–1 | 9–3 | 6–6–1 | — | 7–5 | 8–3–1 | 12–0 | 9–3–1 |
| Philadelphia | 2–10–1 | 2–10–1 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 5–7 | — | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–9 | 2–10 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5–1 | 6–6 | 8–4–2 | 3–8–1 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 2–10 | 2–10 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 1–11 | 1–11–1 | 3–8–1 | 0–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 |
| Washington | 3–9 | 5–7–1 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 3–9–1 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | — |

### Roster
## 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 | Deacon McGuire | 93 | 327 | 112 | .343 | 4 | 53 |
| 1B | Tommy Tucker | 93 | 352 | 119 | .338 | 5 | 61 |
| 2B | John O'Brien | 86 | 320 | 78 | .244 | 3 | 45 |
| SS | Gene DeMontreville | 133 | 566 | 193 | .341 | 3 | 93 |
| 3B | Charlie Reilly | 101 | 351 | 97 | .276 | 2 | 60 |
| OF | Kip Selbach | 124 | 486 | 152 | .313 | 5 | 59 |
| OF | Tom Brown | 116 | 469 | 137 | .292 | 5 | 45 |
| OF | Charlie Abbey | 80 | 300 | 78 | .260 | 3 | 34 |

#### 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 |
| Zeke Wrigley | 104 | 388 | 110 | .284 | 3 | 64 |
| Duke Farrell | 78 | 261 | 84 | .322 | 0 | 53 |
| Jake Gettman | 36 | 143 | 45 | .315 | 3 | 29 |
| Ed Cartwright | 33 | 124 | 29 | .234 | 0 | 15 |
| Tom Leahy | 19 | 52 | 20 | .385 | 0 | 7 |
| Effie Norton | 7 | 18 | 5 | .278 | 0 | 2 |
| Bill Fox | 4 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Lush | 3 | 12 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Win Mercer | 47 | 342.0 | 21 | 20 | 3.18 | 91 |
| Doc McJames | 44 | 323.2 | 15 | 23 | 3.61 | 156 |
| Cy Swaim | 26 | 184.0 | 9 | 11 | 4.60 | 52 |
| Silver King | 23 | 154.0 | 6 | 9 | 4.79 | 32 |
| Roger Bresnahan | 6 | 41.0 | 4 | 0 | 3.95 | 12 |
| Al Maul | 1 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Les German | 15 | 83.2 | 3 | 5 | 5.59 | 2 |
| Effie Norton | 4 | 17.0 | 2 | 1 | 6.88 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Stanley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |