# 1997 Detroit Tigers season

The 1997 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 97th season and the 86th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers finished in third place in the American League East with a record of 79–83 (.488), an improvement of 26 games over the previous season. They were outscored by their opponents 790 to 784. The Tigers drew 1,365,157 fans to Tiger Stadium in 1997, ranking 13th of the 14 teams in the American League.
This was the Tigers' final year in the AL East. To make room for the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the team moved from the AL East to the AL Central. On July 27, 1997, the Detroit Tigers retired pitcher Hal Newhouser's number 16.

## Offseason

* January 9, 1997: Vince Coleman signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 52‍–‍29 |
| New York Yankees | 96 | 66 | .593 | 2 | 47‍–‍33 | 49‍–‍33 |
| Detroit Tigers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 19 | 42‍–‍39 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Boston Red Sox | 78 | 84 | .481 | 20 | 39‍–‍42 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 76 | 86 | .469 | 22 | 42‍–‍39 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1997 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 4–7 | 6–5 | 6–5 | 7–4 | 5–6 | 6–5 | 7–4 | 4–7 | 4–7 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–5 | 4–12 |
| Baltimore | 7–4 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 7–4 | 5–6 | 10–1 | 8–4 | 8–3 | 7–4 | 10–1 | 6–6 | 8–7 |
| Boston | 5–6 | 7–5 | — | 3–8 | 6–5 | 5–7 | 3–8 | 8–3 | 8–3 | 4–8 | 7–4 | 7–4 | 3–8 | 6–6 | 6–9 |
| Chicago | 5–6 | 6–5 | 8–3 | — | 5–7 | 4–7 | 11–1 | 4–7 | 6–6 | 2–9 | 8–3 | 5–6 | 3–8 | 5–6 | 8–7 |
| Cleveland | 4–7 | 5–6 | 5–6 | 7–5 | — | 6–5 | 8–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 7–4 | 3–8 | 5–6 | 6–5 | 9–6 |
| Detroit | 6–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–4 | 5–6 | — | 6–5 | 4–7 | 4–7 | 2–10 | 7–4 | 4–7 | 7–4 | 6–6 | 8–7 |
| Kansas City | 5–6 | 4–7 | 8–3 | 1–11 | 3–8 | 5–6 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–8 | 3–8 | 5–6 | 6–5 | 5–6 | 6–9 |
| Milwaukee | 4–7 | 6–5 | 3–8 | 7–4 | 4–8 | 7–4 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 4–7 | 5–6 | 5–6 | 7–4 | 7–4 | 8–7 |
| Minnesota | 7–4 | 1–10 | 3–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 3–8 | 7–4 | 5–6 | 3–8 | 3–8 | 7–8 |
| New York | 7–4 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 9–2 | 6–5 | 10–2 | 8–3 | 7–4 | 8–3 | — | 6–5 | 4–7 | 7–4 | 7–5 | 5–10 |
| Oakland | 1–11 | 3–8 | 4–7 | 3–8 | 4–7 | 4–7 | 8–3 | 6–5 | 4–7 | 5–6 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–5 | 7–9 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 4–7 | 4–7 | 6–5 | 8–3 | 7–4 | 6–5 | 6–5 | 6–5 | 7–4 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 8–3 | 7–9 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 1–10 | 8–3 | 8–3 | 6–5 | 4–7 | 5–6 | 4–7 | 8–3 | 4–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 4–7 | 10–6 |
| Toronto | 5–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 5–6 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 4–7 | 8–3 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 3–8 | 7–4 | — | 4–11 |

### Transactions

* April 8, 1997: Bob Hamelin was signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.
* April 16, 1997: Vince Coleman was released by the Detroit Tigers.

### Game log

Legend :
| Tigers win | Tigers loss | Game postponed |
Game log :
April
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 1at Minnesota Twins7-5NaultyMiceliAguilera43,2160-1
2April 3at Minnesota Twins7-6AguileraJones10,8270-2
3April 3at Minnesota Twins10-6RitchieBlairNaulty11,5330-3
4April 4at Boston Red Sox8-7JonesLevineSager38,5601-3
5April 5at Boston Red Sox15-12BlairCastilloJones21,9562-3
6April 6at Boston Red Sox5-3NavarroBrocailHernandez19,2592-4
7April 7Minnesota Twins10-4ThompsonRodriguez42,7493-4
8April 9Minnesota Twins10-5CummingsRitchie6,4774-4
9April 10Minnesota Twins7-3AldredBlair6,3814-5
10April 11Boston Red Sox5-4OlivaresDrabekJones7,5985-5
11April 13Boston Red Sox11-8HernandezLira05-6
12April 13Boston Red Sox4-2SagerHernandez10,8186-6
13April 14at Milwaukee Brewers7-0EldredMoehler6,0796-7
14April 15at Milwaukee Brewers3-1BlairKarlJones5,8917-7
15April 16Seattle Mariners7-3JohnsonSager8,0907-8
16April 17Seattle Mariners8-6FasseroBautistaCharlton8,9737-9
17April 18Oakland Athletics9-5GroomMyers7,7487-10
18April 19Oakland Athletics7-1AdamsThompson10,5927-11
19April 20Oakland Athletics9-2MoehlerKarsay9,2818-11
20April 21at Texas Rangers7-6SagerVosbergMiceli21,5629-11
21April 23at Texas Rangers2-1WettelandBrocail35,2309-12
22April 24at Texas Rangers4-2PavlikThompsonWetteland31,9029-13
23April 25at Anaheim Angels8-3DicksonLira30,4649-14
24April 26at Anaheim Angels2-0MoehlerFinley30,87210-14
25April 27at Anaheim Angels6-5JamesMyers16,40910-15
26April 29Milwaukee Brewers2-1EldredOlivaresJones8,19510-16
27April 30Milwaukee Brewers8-4ThompsonKarl12,88811-16 :
May
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
28May 3at Cleveland Indians7-6PlunkBrocail42,46911-17
29May 4at Cleveland Indians2-0BlairNagyBrocail42,38712-17
30May 5at Toronto Blue Jays3-1ClemensOlivares27,16912-18
31May 6at Toronto Blue Jays2-1CrabtreeJones26,29412-19
32May 7Kansas City Royals12-3LiraPittsley7,94913-19
33May 8Kansas City Royals4-0BelcherMoehler16,24313-20
34May 9Cleveland Indians5-0NagySager20,39313-21
35May 10Cleveland Indians6-0OlivaresColon30,57814-21
36May 11Cleveland Indians11-3ThompsonHershiser19,86915-21
37May 13Toronto Blue Jays4-0LiraGuzman9,99216-21
38May 14Toronto Blue Jays7-2BelcherMoehler11,78816-22
39May 15at Kansas City Royals10-9NagySager18,16016-23
40May 16at Kansas City Royals10-2OlivaresColon17,78717-23
41May 17at Kansas City Royals9-2ThompsonHershiser22,89118-23
42May 18at Kansas City Royals6-5LiraGuzman15,33319-23
43May 20at Baltimore Orioles4-3HentgenMoehler48,00319-24
44May 21at Baltimore Orioles2-0EricksonThompsonMyers47,87719-25
45May 23Texas Rangers7-1MoehlerOliver16,01720-25
46May 24Texas Rangers8-4HillPugh10,79720-26
47May 25Texas Rangers13-5LiraWittSager13,45121-26
48May 26Anaheim Angels6-0OlivaresFinley12,56222-26
49May 27Anaheim Angels6-2ThompsonPerishoMyers8,04223-26
50May 28Baltimore Orioles8-1KeyMoehlerBoskie10,69223-27
51May 30at Seattle Mariners5-2LiraFasseroJones32,30524-27
52May 31at Seattle Mariners4-2OlivaresWolcottJones57,11825-27 :
June
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
53June 1at Seattle Mariners4-1SandersThompsonAyala39,84125-28
54June 2at Oakland Athletics8-7MoehlerKarsayBrocail6,48026-28
55June 3at Oakland Athletics9-8SmallMyersJohnson10,13426-29
56June 5Seattle Mariners14-6FasseroLira12,57226-30
57June 6Seattle Mariners6-3LoweOlivaresAyala25,54726-31
58June 7Seattle Mariners3-1ThompsonWolcottJones18,89627-31
59June 8Seattle Mariners2-0JohnsonMoehlerAyala20,28727-32
60June 10Oakland Athletics6-4BlairPrietoJones10,01928-32
61June 11Oakland Athletics4-2BrocailSmallJones11,53429-32
62June 13at Montreal Expos4-3PerezOlivaresUrbina20,33329-33
63June 14at Montreal Expos1-0MartinezThompson21,12729-34
64June 15at Montreal Expos10-2JudenMoehler18,53429-35
65June 16Florida Marlins7-3BrownBlair23,87429-36
66June 17Florida Marlins3-2AlfonsecaJonesNen13,35129-37
67June 18Florida Marlins6-2OlivaresLeiter14,04330-37
68June 20Boston Red Sox12-6ThompsonWakefieldSager20,09131-37
69June 21Boston Red Sox15-4BautisaEshelman20,59932-37
70June 22Boston Red Sox2-1GordonBlairSlocumb19,47732-38
71June 23New York Yankees5-2ConeLiraRivera14,55632-39
72June 24New York Yankees12-9LloydMyersRivera15,87232-40
73June 25New York Yankees3-1StantonThompsonRivera15,34832-41
74June 26at Boston Red Sox10-6MoehlerEshelman31,87833-41
75June 27at Boston Red Sox2-1MiceliHammondJones26,75334-41
76June 28at Boston Red Sox9-2LiraSele30,88635-41
77June 29at Boston Red Sox8-6WasdinBautistaSlocumb30,84435-42
78June 30New York Mets14-0ThompsonClark15,00936-42 :
July
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
79July 1New York Mets8-6MoehlerJonesJones14,84937-42
80July 2New York Mets9-7BlairMlickiJones16,21138-42
81July 3Baltimore Orioles10-1KeyLira13,20938-43
82July 4Baltimore Orioles4-3RhodesKeagleMyers038-44
83July 4Baltimore Orioles11-8BautistaMillsJones30,10039-44
84July 5Baltimore Orioles6-5MiceliOroscoJones37,07440-44
85July 6Baltimore Orioles14-9BlairErickson18,19741-44
86July 10at New York Yankees10-3IrabuOlivares51,90141-45
87July 11at New York Yankees3-0PettiteMoehlerRivera27,13541-46
88July 12at New York Yankees6-2ConeLiraRivera39,68141-47
89July 13at New York Yankees3-1BlairGoodenJones36,67942-47
90July 14at Boston Red Sox18-4SuppanJarvis21,99742-48
91July 15at Boston Red Sox7-5JonesWasdin25,82243-48
92July 16at Anaheim Angels5-3FinleyMoehlerPercival16,57043-49
93July 17at Anaheim Angels9-4SpringerLira19,24643-50
94July 18at Texas Rangers5-4BlairWittJones35,07444-50
95July 19at Texas Rangers6-5BrocailHernandezJones45,02545-50
96July 20at Texas Rangers7-6WettelandSager33,65545-51
97July 21Boston Red Sox3-0AlvarezThompsonHernandez14,26045-52
98July 22Boston Red Sox6-3MoehlerDarwinJones16,89546-52
99July 23Boston Red Sox8-6BlairBaldwinJones18,52547-52
100July 25Milwaukee Brewers6-1KarlSanders22,53247-53
101July 26Milwaukee Brewers3-1FlorieThompsonFetters20,05747-54
102July 27Milwaukee Brewers11-7EldredMoehlerReyes20,31847-55
103July 29at Boston Red Sox3-1BlairBaldwin20,38048-55
104July 30at Boston Red Sox3-2DrabekSandersHernandez30,61348-56
105July 31Toronto Blue Jays4-2ThompsonPersonJones16,29449-56 :
August
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
106August 1Toronto Blue Jays7-5HentgenMiceliEcobar23,68249-57
107August 2Toronto Blue Jays8-7BrocailQuantrillJones22,25450-57
108August 3Toronto Blue Jays5-2BlairWilliamsJones27,84851-57
109August 4Cleveland Indians7-2NagySanders26,83251-58
110August 5Cleveland Indians6-4ThompsonPlunkJones24,82452-58
111August 6at Kansas City Royals5-4RosadoSagerMontgomery14,64052-59
112August 7at Kansas City Royals8-4DishmanBelcher21,49753-59
113August 8at Toronto Blue Jays6-3WilliamsBlairEscobar30,22853-60
114August 9at Toronto Blue Jays3-2SandersCarpenterJones37,16654-60
115August 10at Toronto Blue Jays4-2ThompsonPerson32,35455-60
116August 11at Toronto Blue Jays8-2HentgenJarvis30,10555-61
117August 12at Cleveland Indians7-4PlunkKeagleMesa32,99255-62
118August 13at Cleveland Indians13-3BlairSmiley056-62
119August 13at Cleveland Indians9-1HershiserDishman42,67356-63
120August 14at Cleveland Indians12-1NagySanders42,93656-64
121August 15Kansas City Royals5-3RuschThompsonMontgomery20,09956-65
122August 16Kansas City Royals2-1AppierJarvisMontgomery15,50256-66
123August 17Kansas City Royals8-4KeagleRosado22,37157-66
124August 19Minnesota Twins8-2BlairHawkins15,47858-66
125August 20Minnesota Twins11-1RadkeSanders13,19958-67
126August 21at Milwaukee Brewers2-1MiceliWickmanJones18,11759-67
127August 22at Milwaukee Brewers16-1MoehlerWoodardGaillard14,42360-67
128August 23at Milwaukee Brewers5-2KarlKeagleJones19,52460-68
129August 24at Milwaukee Brewers6-0MercedesBlair21,24560-69
130August 25at Minnesota Twins7-6SagerAguilera15,24561-69
131August 26at Minnesota Twins8-2RobertsonThompsonTrombley10,56261-70
132August 27at Minnesota Twins2-0TewksberryMoehler10,44161-71
133August 29Philadelphia Phillies7-2BlairGreen22,92562-71
134August 30Philadelphia Phillies2-0BeechSandersBottalico22,53762-72
135August 31Philadelphia Phillies2-1ThompsonLeiterJones19,15263-72 :
September
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
136September 1at Atlanta Braves4-2MoehlerMadduxJones38,95064-72
137September 2at Atlanta Braves5-0NeagleKeagle32,30864-73
138September 3at Atlanta Braves12-4BlairSmoltz36,55665-73
139September 4Anaheim Angels5-4JonesHarris9,44566-73
140September 5Anaheim Angels6-1ThompsonSpringer16,01667-73
141September 6Anaheim Angels7-5MoehlerWatsonJones16,29468-73
142September 7Anaheim Angels5-4HasegawaDishman25,60268-74
143September 8Texas Rangers6-2BlairWitt15,76569-74
144September 9Texas Rangers4-0SandersHelling9,13970-74
145September 10at Seattle Mariners10-0MoyerThompson22,96770-75
146September 11at Seattle Mariners3-1MoehlerFasseroJones25,14171-75
147September 12at Oakland Athletics7-2KeaglerLudwickMiceli11,77572-75
148September 13at Oakland Athletics4-2TelghederBlairMathews20,48272-76
149September 14at Oakland Athletics6-5SandersHaynesJones16,44073-76
150September 15at Oakland Athletics6-3ThompsonOquistJones4,65174-76
151September 17at New York Yankees6-2MendozaMoehler19,33174-77
152September 18at New York Yankees9-7JonesBorowskuMiceli18,60075-77
153September 19at Baltimore Orioles5-3JonesMills47,54476-77
154September 20at Baltimore Orioles12-8RodriquezSanders47,48976-78
155September 21at Baltimore Orioles11-3ThompsonKey47,44677-78
156September 22at Baltimore Orioles5-4GaillardBenitezJones46,61678-78
157September 23Boston Red Sox6-0KeagleSuppan43,03979-78
158September 24Boston Red Sox9-2WakefieldBlair10,06779-79
159September 25Boston Red Sox3-1ChecoSandersGordon14,49579-80
160September 26New York Yankees8-2RiveraJones29,20679-81
161September 27New York Yankees6-1WellsMoehler33,71279-82
162September 28New York Yankees7-2IrabuKeagle38,17179-83 :

## 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 | Raul Casanova | 101 | 304 | 74 | .243 | 5 | 24 |
| 1B | Tony Clark | 159 | 580 | 160 | .276 | 32 | 117 |
| 2B | Damion Easley | 151 | 527 | 139 | .264 | 22 | 72 |
| 3B | Travis Fryman | 154 | 595 | 163 | .274 | 22 | 102 |
| SS | Deivi Cruz | 147 | 436 | 105 | .241 | 2 | 40 |
| LF | Bobby Higginson | 146 | 546 | 163 | .299 | 27 | 101 |
| CF | Brian Hunter | 162 | 658 | 177 | .269 | 4 | 45 |
| RF | Melvin Nieves | 116 | 359 | 82 | .228 | 20 | 64 |
| DH | Bob Hamelin | 110 | 318 | 86 | .270 | 18 | 52 |

#### 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 |
| Phil Nevin | 93 | 251 | 59 | .235 | 9 | 35 |
| Curtis Pride | 79 | 162 | 34 | .210 | 2 | 19 |
| Brian Johnson | 45 | 139 | 33 | .237 | 2 | 18 |
| Matt Walbeck | 47 | 137 | 38 | .277 | 3 | 10 |
| Bubba Trammell | 44 | 123 | 28 | .228 | 4 | 13 |
| Jody Reed | 52 | 112 | 22 | .196 | 0 | 8 |
| Orlando Miller | 50 | 111 | 26 | .234 | 2 | 10 |
| Juan Encarnación | 11 | 33 | 7 | .212 | 1 | 5 |
| Frank Catalanotto | 13 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 0 | 3 |
| Jimmy Hurst | 13 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 1 | 1 |
| Vince Coleman | 6 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Jensen | 8 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimera Bartee | 12 | 5 | 1 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Hall | 2 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 3 |

### 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 |
| Justin Thompson | 32 | 223.1 | 15 | 11 | 3.02 | 151 |
| Brian Moehler | 31 | 175.1 | 11 | 12 | 4.67 | 97 |
| Willie Blair | 29 | 175.0 | 16 | 8 | 4.17 | 90 |
| Omar Olivares | 19 | 115.0 | 5 | 6 | 4.70 | 74 |
| Felipe Lira | 20 | 92.0 | 5 | 7 | 5.77 | 64 |
| Scott Sanders | 14 | 74.1 | 3 | 8 | 5.33 | 58 |
| Greg Keagle | 11 | 45.1 | 3 | 5 | 6.55 | 33 |
| Tim Pugh | 2 | 9.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | 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 |
| Glenn Dishman | 7 | 29.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.28 | 20 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Todd Jones | 68 | 70.0 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 3.09 | 70 |
| Mike Myers | 88 | 53.2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5.70 | 50 |
| Dan Miceli | 71 | 82.2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5.01 | 79 |
| Doug Brocail | 61 | 78.0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3.23 | 60 |
| A. J. Sager | 38 | 84.0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4.18 | 53 |
| José Bautista | 21 | 40.1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6.69 | 19 |
| Kevin Jarvis | 17 | 41.2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5.40 | 27 |
| John Cummings | 19 | 24.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.47 | 8 |
| Eddie Gaillard | 16 | 20.1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.31 | 12 |
| Roberto Duran | 13 | 10.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.59 | 11 |
| Fernando Hernández | 2 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.50 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Glenn Ezell and Gene Roof |
| AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Dave Anderson |
| A | Lakeland Tigers | Florida State League | Mark Meleski |
| A | West Michigan Whitecaps | Midwest League | Bruce Fields |
| A-Short Season | Jamestown Jammers | New York–Penn League | Dwight Lowry and Matt Martin |
| Rookie | GCL Tigers | Gulf Coast League | Kevin Bradshaw |