# 1997 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1997 Cincinnati Reds season was the 128th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 28th and 27th full season at Cinergy Field The Reds failed to improve on their record of 81–81 from 1996 and finished the season at 76-86, missing the postseason for the 2nd consecutive season. The Reds were managed by Ray Knight and then Jack McKeon.

## Offseason

* December 13, 1996: Pete Rose Jr. was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.
* December 21, 1996: Stan Belinda was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.
* December 23, 1996: Rikkert Faneyte was sent to the Cincinnati Reds by the Texas Rangers as part of a conditional deal.
* January 27, 1997: Terry Pendleton was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.
* February 8, 1997: Joe Oliver was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.
* March 27, 1997: Scott Service was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Cincinnati Reds.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 84 | 78 | .519 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 79 | 83 | .488 | 5 | 43‍–‍38 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 76 | 86 | .469 | 8 | 40‍–‍41 | 36‍–‍45 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 73 | 89 | .451 | 11 | 41‍–‍40 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Chicago Cubs | 68 | 94 | .420 | 16 | 42‍–‍39 | 26‍–‍55 |

### 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 |

### Notable transactions

* April 4, 1997: Scott Service was selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds from the Oakland Athletics.
* June 3, 1997: DeWayne Wise was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 5th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1997.
* July 15, 1997: Chris Stynes was traded by the Kansas City Royals with Jon Nunnally to the Cincinnati Reds for Hector Carrasco and Scott Service.
* July 24, 1997: Terry Pendleton was released by the Cincinnati Reds.
* July 31, 1997: John Smiley was traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Jeff Branson to the Cleveland Indians for Jim Crowell, Danny Graves, Damian Jackson, and Scott Winchester.

### Game log

1997 Game Log :
April
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 1Colorado Rockies11 – 454,8201-0
2April 2Colorado Rockies5 – 320,2102-0
3April 3Colorado Rockies7 – 122,6602-1
4April 4Florida Marlins9 – 725,0393-1
5April 5Florida Marlins4 – 338,5983-2
6April 6Florida Marlins3 – 236,1463-3
7April 7Colorado Rockies13 – 248,0143-4
8April 9Colorado Rockies13 – 450,0953-5
9April 11Florida Marlins10 – 021,2403-6
10April 12Florida Marlins2 – 121,4664-6
11April 13Florida Marlins6 – 417,6875-6
12April 14Atlanta Braves15 – 531,4275-7
13April 15Atlanta Braves3 – 031,9625-8
14April 16Atlanta Braves7 – 138,4115-9
15April 17Pittsburgh Pirates3 – 26,0395-10
16April 18Pittsburgh Pirates6 – 19,0826-10
17April 19Pittsburgh Pirates6 – 511,4576-11
18April 20Pittsburgh Pirates5 – 314,5426-12
19April 22New York Mets7 – 214,5856-13
20April 23New York Mets10 – 226,4926-14
21April 25Philadelphia Phillies10 – 722,8436-15
22April 26Philadelphia Phillies10 – 227,3577-15
23April 28New York Mets15 – 215,5727-16
24April 29New York Mets3 – 117,6997-17
25April 30Atlanta Braves12 – 318,2787-18 :
May
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
261 MayAtlanta Braves4 – 219,9917-19
272 MaySan Francisco Giants6 – 211,9598-19
283 MaySan Francisco Giants3 – 118,1499-19
294 MaySan Francisco Giants2 – 126,2879-20
305 MayLos Angeles Dodgers3 – 126,9559-21
316 MayLos Angeles Dodgers3 – 238,24110-21
327 MayLos Angeles Dodgers4 – 228,30310-22
339 MaySan Diego Padres7 – 222,69511-22
3410 MaySan Diego Padres9 – 624,73911-23
3511 MaySan Diego Padres5 – 431,53911-24
3613 MaySan Francisco Giants4 – 117,82811-25
3714 MaySan Francisco Giants4 – 216,40411-26
3815 MayLos Angeles Dodgers2 – 116,98611-27
3916 MayLos Angeles Dodgers4 – 224,55612-27
4017 MaySan Diego Padres6 – 221,46912-28
4118 MaySan Diego Padres5 – 023,26513-28
4219 MaySan Diego Padres13 – 617,89813-29
4320 MayHouston Astros7 – 414,95414-29
4421 MayHouston Astros4 – 315,08814-30
4523 MayChicago Cubs3 – 123,18914-31
4624 MayChicago Cubs4 – 126,88715-31
4725 MayChicago Cubs7 – 526,84416-31
4826 MayPhiladelphia Phillies8 – 5017-31
4926 MayPhiladelphia Phillies8 – 416,79818-31
5027 MayPhiladelphia Phillies2 – 117,29718-32
5128 MayPhiladelphia Phillies2 – 015,45119-32
5229 MayChicago Cubs2 – 123,00519-33
5330 MayChicago Cubs5 – 121,26720-33
5431 MayChicago Cubs7 – 436,44020-34 :
June
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
55June 1Chicago Cubs7 – 12884920-35
56June 3Philadelphia Phillies3 – 21434021-35
57June 4Houston Astros2 – 51884921-36
58June 5Houston Astros6 – 52243722-36
59June 6New York Mets5 – 22133923-36
60June 7New York Mets10 – 52383024-36
61June 9New York Mets4 – 22307924-37
62June 10Pittsburgh Pirates8 – 51855625-37
63June 11Pittsburgh Pirates2 – 12085426-37
64June 13Chicago White Sox3 – 13168226-38
65June 14Chicago White Sox5 – 13668527-38
66June 15Chicago White Sox14 – 63166327-39
67June 16Cleveland Indians4 – 14296128-39
68June 17Cleveland Indians5 – 14290128-40
69June 18Cleveland Indians5 – 24286529-40
70June 20St. Louis Cardinals4 – 24209130-40
71June 21St. Louis Cardinals6 – 24493130-41
72June 22St. Louis Cardinals5 – 24319430-42
73June 23Montréal Expos5 – 01236730-43
74June 24Montréal Expos7 – 61314131-43
75June 25Montréal Expos2 – 11240732-43
76June 26St. Louis Cardinals5 – 32011632-44
77June 27St. Louis Cardinals5 = 32831733-44
78June 28St. Louis Cardinals12 – 62439033-45
79June 29St. Louis Cardinals6 – 52421633-46
80June 30Milwaukee Brewers4 – 31986634-46 :
July
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
81July 1Milwaukee Brewers9:12126435-46
82July 2Milwaukee Brewers7:42786636-46
83July 3Houston Astros4:31470837-46
84July 4Houston Astros4:23408038-46
85July 5Houston Astros1:22402238-47
86July 6Houston Astros5:62556438-48
87July 11Montréal Expos2:52591538-49
88July 12Montréal Expos4:32574439-49
89July 13Montréal Expos0:22229339-50
90July 14St. Louis Cardinals4:21940540-50
91July 15St. Louis Cardinals4:72123240-51
92July 16Pittsburgh Pirates7:33069841-51
93July 17Pittsburgh Pirates9:51971042-51
94July 18New York Mets3:42290142-52
95July 19New York Mets3:52667542-53
96July 20New York Mets1:103625942-54
97July 21New York Mets3:52217242-55
98July 22Florida Marlins7:61954743-55
99July 23Florida Marlins1:82037143-56
100July 25Atlanta Braves3:73493143-57
101July 26Atlanta Braves7:63311544-57
102July 27Atlanta Braves2:33016744-58
103July 28Florida Marlins4:01839345-58
104July 29Florida Marlins1:72074545-59
105July 30Florida Marlins0:62137345-60 :
August
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
106August 1San Francisco Giants7:82563645-61
107August 2San Francisco Giants5:12326646-61
108August 3San Francisco Giants3:82127246-62
109August 4San Francisco Giants1:91793046-63
110August 5San Diego Padres7:31779747-63
111August 6San Diego Padres3:61821847-64
112August 7San Diego Padres7:01745848-64
113August 8Los Angeles Dodgers5:102683748-65
114August 9Los Angeles Dodgers3:23080949-65
115August 10Los Angeles Dodgers8:12474250-65
116August 11San Francisco Giants7:41908651-65
117August 12San Francisco Giants3:71589051-66
118August 13San Diego Padres2:01521852-66
119August 14San Diego Padres4:51677452-67
120August 15Los Angeles Dodgers5:34671153-67
121August 16Los Angeles Dodgers3:55346453-68
122August 17Los Angeles Dodgers5:05124554-68
123August 19Colorado Rockies6:53172255-68
124August 20Colorado Rockies3:52196855-69
125August 22Atlanta Braves2:64893755-70
126August 23Atlanta Braves3:104849955-71
127August 24Atlanta Braves6:44557756-71
128August 25Colorado Rockies7:64814357-71
129August 25Colorado Rockies6:44808158-71
130August 26Colorado Rockies5:94806358-72
131August 27Colorado Rockies5:74803258-73
132August 29Minnesota Twins5:31215559-73
133August 30Minnesota Twins1:41783159-74
134August 31Minnesota Twins6:81309259-75 :
September
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
135September 1Kansas City Royals7 – 431,92059-76
136September 2Kansas City Royals4:015,28860-76
137September 3Kansas City Royals6:316,28561-76
138September 4Pittsburgh Pirates5:215,13662-76
139September 5Pittsburgh Pirates8:621,49263-76
140September 6Pittsburgh Pirates4:1320,38363-77
141September 7Pittsburgh Pirates6:319,68264-77
142September 8Chicago Cubs1:815,33764-78
143September 9Chicago Cubs5:215,34965-78
144September 10Chicago Cubs1:316,20065-79
145September 12Philadelphia Phillies4:2066-79
146September 12Philadelphia Phillies1:917,54666-80
147September 13Philadelphia Phillies3:015,52467-80
148September 14Philadelphia Phillies6:420,51868-80
149September 15Chicago Cubs4 – 120,35269-80
150September 16Chicago Cubs5 – 022,19069-81
151September 17Montréal Expos4 – 115,75769-82
152September 18Montréal Expos6 – 315,09970-82
153September 19Houston Astros5 – 421,79171-82
154September 20Houston Astros4 – 120,19771-83
155September 21Houston Astros8 – 322,65271-84
156September 22Houston Astros6 – 317,41171-85
157September 23St. Louis Cardinals8 – 622,04572-85
158September 24St. Louis Cardinals5 – 423,30873-85
159September 25St. Louis Cardinals4 – 330,93874-85
160September 26Montreal Expos7 – 117,43075-85
161September 27Montreal Expos8 – 514,70875-86
162September 28Montreal Expos11 – 315,47776-86 :

## 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 | Joe Oliver | 111 | 349 | 90 | .258 | 14 | 43 |
| 1B | Hal Morris | 96 | 333 | 92 | .276 | 1 | 33 |
| 2B | Bret Boone | 139 | 443 | 99 | .223 | 7 | 46 |
| SS | Pokey Reese | 128 | 397 | 87 | .219 | 4 | 26 |
| 3B | Willie Greene | 151 | 495 | 125 | .253 | 26 | 91 |
| LF | Chris Stynes | 49 | 198 | 69 | .348 | 6 | 28 |
| CF | Deion Sanders | 115 | 465 | 127 | .273 | 5 | 23 |
| RF | Reggie Sanders | 86 | 312 | 79 | .253 | 19 | 56 |

#### 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 |
| Eduardo Pérez | 106 | 297 | 75 | .253 | 16 | 52 |
| Curtis Goodwin | 85 | 265 | 67 | .253 | 1 | 12 |
| Eddie Taubensee | 108 | 254 | 68 | .268 | 10 | 34 |
| Lenny Harris | 120 | 238 | 65 | .273 | 3 | 28 |
| Barry Larkin | 73 | 224 | 71 | .317 | 4 | 20 |
| Jon Nunnally | 65 | 201 | 64 | .318 | 13 | 35 |
| Mike Kelly | 73 | 140 | 41 | .293 | 6 | 19 |
| Terry Pendleton | 50 | 113 | 28 | .248 | 1 | 17 |
| Jeff Branson | 65 | 98 | 15 | .153 | 1 | 5 |
| Brook Fordyce | 47 | 96 | 20 | .208 | 1 | 8 |
| Rubén Sierra | 25 | 90 | 22 | .244 | 2 | 7 |
| Eric Owens | 27 | 57 | 15 | .263 | 0 | 3 |
| Aaron Boone | 16 | 49 | 12 | .245 | 0 | 5 |
| Pat Watkins | 17 | 29 | 6 | .207 | 0 | 0 |
| Damian Jackson | 12 | 27 | 6 | .222 | 1 | 2 |
| Pete Rose Jr. | 11 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Ozzie Timmons | 6 | 9 | 3 | .333 | 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 |
| Mike Morgan | 31 | 162.0 | 9 | 12 | 4.78 | 103 |
| Dave Burba | 30 | 160.0 | 11 | 10 | 4.73 | 131 |
| Kent Mercker | 28 | 144.2 | 8 | 11 | 3.92 | 75 |
| Brett Tomko | 22 | 126.0 | 11 | 7 | 3.43 | 95 |
| John Smiley | 20 | 117.0 | 9 | 10 | 5.23 | 94 |
| Pete Schourek | 18 | 84.2 | 5 | 8 | 5.42 | 59 |
| Giovanni Carrara | 2 | 10.1 | 0 | 1 | 7.84 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Remlinger | 69 | 124.0 | 8 | 8 | 4.14 | 145 |
| Gabe White | 12 | 41.0 | 2 | 2 | 4.39 | 25 |
| Ricky Bones | 9 | 17.2 | 0 | 1 | 10.19 | 8 |
| Jim Crowell | 2 | 6.1 | 0 | 1 | 9.95 | 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 |
| Jeff Shaw | 78 | 4 | 2 | 42 | 2.38 | 74 |
| Stan Belinda | 84 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3.71 | 114 |
| Scott Sullivan | 59 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3.24 | 96 |
| Héctor Carrasco | 38 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.68 | 46 |
| Félix Rodríguez | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.30 | 34 |
| Jeff Brantley | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.86 | 16 |
| Danny Graves | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.14 | 7 |
| Kevin Jarvis | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10.13 | 12 |
| Pedro Martínez | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.45 | 4 |
| Scott Winchester | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 3 |
| Richie Lewis | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.35 | 4 |
| Scott Service | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.81 | 3 |
| Jeff Tabaka | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Joey Eischen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 |

## Awards and records

* Bret Boone, National League Record, Best Fielding Average in One Season by a National League Second Baseman (.997)
1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Barry Larkin, shortstop, starter

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Dave Miley |
| AA | Chattanooga Lookouts | Southern League | Mark Berry |
| A | Burlington Bees | Midwest League | Phillip Wellman |
| A | Charleston Alley Cats | South Atlantic League | Barry Lyons |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Donnie Scott |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings