# 1997 Anaheim Angels season

The 1997 Anaheim Angels season was the 37th season of the Anaheim Angels franchise in the American League, the 32nd in Anaheim, and their 32nd season playing their home games at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels finished second in the American League West with a record of 84 wins and 78 losses. It was the first season for the franchise as the "Anaheim Angels", after playing under the name of the "California Angels" for the previous 31 seasons, plus part of another. It was also the first season that the team introduced a new logo: the word angels on the front of the jerseys (which were now in a vest style) with wings coming out of the A (the winged A was also used on the team's caps). This look would last until 2001 when it was retired immediately after that season.

## Offseason

* October 28, 1996: Chili Davis was traded by the Angels to the Kansas City Royals for Mike Bovee and Mark Gubicza.
* November 12, 1996: Todd Van Poppel was selected off waivers by the Anaheim Angels from the Detroit Tigers.
* November 26, 1996: J. T. Snow was traded by the Anaheim Angels to the San Francisco Giants for Allen Watson and Fausto Macey (minors).
* December 5, 1996: Jim Leyritz was traded by the New York Yankees to the Anaheim Angels for players to be named later. The Anaheim Angels sent Jeremy Blevins (minors) (December 9, 1996) and Ryan Kane (minors) (December 9, 1996) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.
* December 6, 1996: Craig Grebeck was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels.
* March 26, 1997: Todd Van Poppel was released by the Anaheim Angels.
* March 31, 1997: Jim Abbott was released by the Anaheim Angels.

## Regular season

* June 17, 1997: The first interleague game between the Anaheim Angels and the Los Angeles Dodgers took place at Dodger Stadium. The rivalry would be known as the Freeway Series. The Dodgers won the game by a score of 4–3.

### Notable transactions

* May 18, 1997: Tony Phillips was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Chad Kreuter to the Anaheim Angels for Chuck McElroy and Jorge Fábregas.
* June 3, 1997: Matt Wise was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 6th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 8, 1997.
* July 10, 1997: Greg Cadaret was signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels.
* July 29, 1997: Jim Leyritz was traded by the Anaheim Angels with a player to be named later to the Texas Rangers for Ken Hill. The Anaheim Angels sent Rob Sasser (October 31, 1997) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.
* August 13, 1997: Rickey Henderson was traded by the San Diego Padres to the Anaheim Angels for a player to be named later, Ryan Hancock, and Stevenson Agosto (minors). The Anaheim Angels sent George Arias (August 19, 1997) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Seattle Mariners | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 45‍–‍36 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Anaheim Angels | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6 | 46‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍42 |
| Texas Rangers | 77 | 85 | .475 | 13 | 39‍–‍42 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Oakland Athletics | 65 | 97 | .401 | 25 | 35‍–‍46 | 30‍–‍51 |

### 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 |

### Roster
## Game log
### Regular season

1997 regular season game log: 84–78 (Home: 46–36; Away: 38–42) :
April: 12–12 (Home: 7–7; Away: 5–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
3April 4IndiansW 8–6 (11)4:1217,7582–1W2
4April 5IndiansL 5–73:0923,9132–2L1
5April 6IndiansL 8–103:2429,3632–3L2
6April 7YankeesL 3–53:2416,5142–4L3
7April 8YankeesW 10–9 (12)4:1817,2023–4W1
8April 9YankeesL 5–122:5219,2423–5L1
9April 11@ IndiansL 3–153:1242,6433–6L2
–April 12@ IndiansPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: July 28)
10April 13@ IndiansW 8–33:2941,2184–6W1
11April 14@ YankeesW 5–12:4015,0825–6W2
12April 15@ YankeesW 6–53:4916,9446–6W3 :
May: 16–12 (Home: 10–2; Away: 6–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
–May 2@ White SoxPostponed (Rain) (Makeup date: May 3)
24 (1)May 3@ White Sox
25 (2)May 3@ White Sox
26May 4@ White Sox
28May 5@ OriolesW 7–23:0041,29614–14W1
29May 6@ OriolesL 4–82:4337,15014–15L1
30May 7@ OriolesL 0–32:4343,85814–16L2
34May 12White Sox
35May 13White Sox
36May 14OriolesW 6–52:5515,78017–19W3
37May 15OriolesW 3–22:5815,96618–19W4
41May 19MarinersL 4–133:0817,27921–20L1
42May 20MarinersW 11–93:2717,49222–20W1
43May 21MarinersW 18–33:1820,29523–20W2 :
June: 13–15 (Home: 6–5; Away: 7–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
63June 12PadresW 8–43:1122,16434–29W1
64June 13PadresL 7–8 (14)5:0324,66434–30L1
65June 14GiantsL 3–103:2127,87534–31L2
66June 15GiantsL 1–43:2830,40434–32L3
67June 17@ DodgersL 3–42:5541,42834–33L4
68June 18@ DodgersL 5–73:1045,95334–34L5
76June 26@ MarinersL 3–62:5131,24840–36L2
77June 27@ MarinersL 1–82:4232,24740–37L3
78June 28@ MarinersW 6–12:4638,75041–37W1
79June 29@ MarinersL 2–32:5542,76041–38L1
80June 30@ RockiesL 7–113:3248,35941–39L2 :
July: 19–9 (Home: 8–5; Away: 11–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
81July 1@ RockiesW 4–12:5348,23542–39W1
82July 2DodgersL 4–53:3834,50742–40L1
83July 3DodgersL 2–83:3335,29542–41L2
84July 4MarinersL 3–72:5034,83942–42L3
85July 5MarinersW 5–43:1726,30143–42W1
86July 6MarinersW 8–02:4322,91644–42W2
68th All-Star Game in Cleveland, OH
98July 22@ YankeesL 2–92:4525,81654–44L1
99July 23@ YankeesL 4–53:0726,75054–45L2
–July 24@ YankeesPostponed (Rain; Site change) (Makeup date: August 20)
104 (1)July 28@ IndiansW 2–02:3743,03357–47W1
105 (2)July 28@ IndiansW 10–74:0042,85758–47W2
106July 29@ IndiansW 7–22:3142,97559–47W3
107July 30@ IndiansW 5–23:0942,89860–47W4
108July 31White Sox :
August: 14–15 (Home: 10–8; Away: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
109August 1White Sox
110August 2White Sox
111August 3White Sox
115August 8OriolesL 2–63:1024,94465–50L1
116August 9OriolesW 4–33:0532,20766–50
W1
117August 10OriolesL 3–43:3334,06066–51L1
118August 12@ White Sox
119August 13@ White Sox
122August 16@ OriolesL 9–103:2547,81568–54L1
123August 17@ OriolesL 4–5 (10)3:4747,34068–55L2
124August 18@ OriolesL 1–23:2947,80468–56L3
125August 19YankeesW 12–43:0022,59669–56W1
126 (1)August 20YankeesL 3–73:0469–57L1
127 (2)August 20YankeesL 5–83:2432,34369–58L2
128August 21YankeesL 3–4 (12)4:1127,10269–59L3
132August 26IndiansW 8–73:0721,01272–60W1
133August 27IndiansL 4–103:0320,14072–61L1
134August 28@ PadresL 2–92:4118,20372–62L2
135August 29@ PadresW 3–12:3760,23073–62W1
136August 30@ GiantsL 3–72:4326,20073–63L1
137August 31@ GiantsW 7–43:1524,75174–63W1 :
September: 10–15 (Home: 5–9; Away: 5–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
138September 1RockiesL 1–42:5519,61474–64L1
139September 2RockiesL 2–73:0118,26674–65L2
157September 23@ MarinersL 3–43:0152,88482–75L1
158September 24@ MarinersW 9–32:5141,97583–75W1 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Angels team member :

## 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 | Chad Kreuter | 70 | 218 | 51 | .234 | 4 | 18 |
| 1B | Darin Erstad | 139 | 539 | 161 | .299 | 16 | 77 |
| 2B | Luis Alicea | 128 | 388 | 98 | .253 | 5 | 37 |
| 3B | Dave Hollins | 149 | 572 | 165 | .288 | 16 | 85 |
| SS | Gary DiSarcina | 154 | 549 | 135 | .246 | 4 | 47 |
| LF | Garret Anderson | 154 | 624 | 189 | .303 | 8 | 92 |
| CF | Jim Edmonds | 133 | 502 | 146 | .291 | 26 | 80 |
| RF | Tim Salmon | 157 | 582 | 172 | .296 | 33 | 129 |
| DH | Eddie Murray | 46 | 160 | 35 | .219 | 3 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Tony Phillips | 105 | 405 | 107 | .264 | 6 | 48 |
| Jim Leyritz | 84 | 294 | 81 | .276 | 11 | 50 |
| Jack Howell | 77 | 174 | 45 | .259 | 14 | 34 |
| Orlando Palmeiro | 74 | 134 | 29 | .216 | 0 | 8 |
| Craig Grebeck | 63 | 126 | 34 | .270 | 1 | 6 |
| Todd Greene | 34 | 124 | 36 | .290 | 9 | 24 |
| Rickey Henderson | 32 | 115 | 21 | .183 | 2 | 7 |
| Jorge Fábregas | 21 | 38 | 3 | .079 | 0 | 3 |
| Chris Turner | 13 | 23 | 6 | .261 | 1 | 2 |
| Robert Eenhoorn | 11 | 20 | 7 | .350 | 1 | 6 |
| Angelo Encarnación | 11 | 17 | 7 | .412 | 1 | 4 |
| George Arias | 3 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Randy Velarde | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Jason Dickson | 33 | 203.2 | 13 | 9 | 4.29 | 115 |
| Allen Watson | 35 | 199.0 | 12 | 12 | 4.93 | 141 |
| Dennis Springer | 32 | 194.2 | 9 | 9 | 5.18 | 75 |
| Chuck Finley | 25 | 164.0 | 13 | 6 | 4.23 | 155 |
| Ken Hill | 12 | 79.0 | 4 | 4 | 3.65 | 38 |
| Mark Langston | 9 | 48.0 | 2 | 4 | 5.85 | 30 |
| Mark Gubicza | 2 | 5.0 | 0 | 1 | 25.07 | 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 |
| Shigetoshi Hasegawa | 50 | 116.2 | 3 | 7 | 3.93 | 83 |
| Matt Perisho | 11 | 45.0 | 0 | 2 | 6.00 | 35 |
| Kevin Gross | 12 | 25.0 | 2 | 1 | 6.75 | 20 |

#### 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 |
| Troy Percival | 55 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 3.46 | 72 |
| Mike Holtz | 66 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3.32 | 40 |
| Pep Harris | 61 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3.62 | 56 |
| Mike James | 58 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4.31 | 57 |
| Rich DeLucia | 33 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3.61 | 42 |
| Darrell May | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.23 | 42 |
| Greg Cadaret | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.29 | 11 |
| Chuck McElroy | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.45 | 18 |
| Anthony Chavez | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.93 | 10 |
| Mike Bovee | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 5 |
| Shad Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Vancouver Canadians | Pacific Coast League | Bruce Hines |
| AA | Midland Angels | Texas League | Mitch Seoane |
| A | Lake Elsinore Storm | California League | Don Long |
| A | Cedar Rapids Kernels | Midwest League | Mario Mendoza |
| A-Short Season | Boise Hawks | Northwest League | Tom Kotchman |
| Rookie | Butte Copper Kings | Pioneer League | Bill Lachemann |