# 1897 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1897 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. After three straight first-place finishes, the Orioles slipped to second place with a record of 90–40, 2 games behind the National League-leading Boston Beaneaters. After the season, the two teams met in what would be the final Temple Cup competition, with the Orioles winning 4 games to 1. In all, Baltimore played in all four Temple Cups, losing the first two and winning the last two.

## 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 | Boileryard Clarke | 64 | 241 | 65 | .270 | 1 | 38 |
| 1B | Jack Doyle | 114 | 460 | 163 | .354 | 2 | 87 |
| 2B | Heinie Reitz | 128 | 477 | 138 | .289 | 2 | 84 |
| SS | Hughie Jennings | 117 | 439 | 156 | .355 | 2 | 79 |
| 3B | John McGraw | 106 | 391 | 127 | .325 | 0 | 48 |
| OF | Willie Keeler | 129 | 564 | 239 | .424 | 0 | 74 |
| OF | Joe Kelley | 131 | 505 | 183 | .362 | 5 | 118 |
| OF | Jake Stenzel | 131 | 536 | 189 | .353 | 4 | 116 |

#### 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 |
| Joe Quinn | 75 | 285 | 74 | .260 | 1 | 45 |
| Wilbert Robinson | 48 | 181 | 57 | .315 | 0 | 23 |
| Tom O'Brien | 50 | 147 | 37 | .252 | 0 | 32 |
| Frank Bowerman | 38 | 130 | 41 | .315 | 1 | 21 |

### 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 |
| Joe Corbett | 37 | 313.0 | 24 | 8 | 3.11 | 149 |
| Bill Hoffer | 38 | 303.1 | 22 | 11 | 4.30 | 62 |
| Arlie Pond | 32 | 248.0 | 18 | 9 | 3.52 | 59 |
| Jerry Nops | 30 | 220.2 | 20 | 6 | 2.81 | 69 |
| George Blackburn | 5 | 33.0 | 2 | 2 | 6.82 | 1 |
| Al Maul | 2 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 7.04 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Doc Amole | 11 | 70.0 | 4 | 4 | 2.57 | 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 |
| Dick Cogan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |