# 1897 Cleveland Spiders season

The 1897 Cleveland Spiders finished with a 69–62 record and a fifth-place finish in the National League.

## 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 | Chief Zimmer | 80 | 294 | 93 | .316 | 0 | 40 |
| 1B | Patsy Tebeau | 109 | 412 | 110 | .267 | 0 | 59 |
| 2B | Cupid Childs | 114 | 444 | 150 | .338 | 1 | 61 |
| 3B | Bobby Wallace | 130 | 516 | 173 | .335 | 4 | 112 |
| SS | Ed McKean | 125 | 523 | 143 | .273 | 2 | 78 |
| OF | Jesse Burkett | 127 | 517 | 198 | .383 | 2 | 60 |
| OF | Jack O'Connor | 103 | 397 | 115 | .290 | 2 | 69 |
| OF | Chief Sockalexis | 66 | 278 | 94 | .338 | 3 | 42 |

#### 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 |
| Ollie Pickering | 46 | 182 | 64 | .352 | 1 | 22 |
| Sport McAllister | 43 | 137 | 30 | .219 | 0 | 11 |
| Lou Criger | 39 | 138 | 31 | .225 | 0 | 22 |
| Harry Blake | 32 | 117 | 30 | .256 | 1 | 15 |
| Jimmy McAleer | 24 | 91 | 20 | .220 | 0 | 10 |
| Ira Belden | 8 | 30 | 8 | .267 | 0 | 4 |
| Dale Gear | 7 | 24 | 4 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Fred Cooke | 5 | 17 | 5 | .294 | 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 |
| Cy Young | 46 | 333.2 | 21 | 19 | 3.80 | 88 |
| Zeke Wilson | 34 | 263.2 | 16 | 11 | 4.16 | 69 |
| Jack Powell | 27 | 225.0 | 15 | 10 | 3.16 | 61 |
| George Cuppy | 19 | 139.1 | 10 | 6 | 3.17 | 23 |
| Mike McDermott | 9 | 62.0 | 4 | 5 | 4.50 | 12 |
| Henry Clarke | 5 | 30.2 | 0 | 4 | 6.16 | 3 |
| Charlie Brown | 4 | 24.1 | 1 | 2 | 7.77 | 8 |

#### 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 |
| Sport McAllister | 4 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 4.50 | 10 |
| John Pappalau | 2 | 12.0 | 0 | 1 | 10.50 | 3 |