# 1897 Louisville Colonels season

The 1897 Louisville Colonels baseball team finished with a 52–87 record and eleventh place 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 | Bill Wilson | 105 | 381 | 81 | .213 | 1 | 41 |
| 1B | Perry Werden | 133 | 512 | 154 | .301 | 5 | 83 |
| 2B | Jim Rogers | 41 | 150 | 22 | .147 | 2 | 22 |
| SS | General Stafford | 113 | 441 | 122 | .277 | 7 | 54 |
| 3B | Billy Clingman | 115 | 403 | 92 | .228 | 2 | 47 |
| OF | Tom McCreery | 91 | 344 | 96 | .279 | 4 | 40 |
| OF | Fred Clarke | 128 | 518 | 202 | .390 | 6 | 67 |
| OF | Ollie Pickering | 64 | 249 | 62 | .249 | 1 | 21 |

#### 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 |
| Charlie Dexter | 76 | 257 | 72 | .280 | 2 | 46 |
| Honus Wagner | 62 | 242 | 81 | .335 | 2 | 39 |
| Abbie Johnson | 49 | 165 | 40 | .242 | 0 | 23 |
| Joe Dolan | 36 | 133 | 28 | .211 | 0 | 7 |
| Kid Nance | 35 | 120 | 29 | .242 | 3 | 17 |
| Heinie Smith | 21 | 76 | 20 | .263 | 1 | 7 |
| Irv Hach | 16 | 51 | 11 | .216 | 0 | 3 |
| Dick Butler | 10 | 38 | 7 | .184 | 0 | 2 |
| Win Clark | 4 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 0 | 2 |
| Frank Martin | 2 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Ducky Holmes | 2 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Delahanty | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Ossee Schrecongost | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Chick Fraser | 36 | 294.1 | 15 | 19 | 4.04 | 70 |
| Bert Cunningham | 30 | 242.2 | 14 | 13 | 4.15 | 49 |
| Bill Hill | 27 | 199.0 | 7 | 17 | 3.62 | 55 |
| Bill Magee | 23 | 156.1 | 4 | 12 | 5.41 | 44 |
| George Hemming | 9 | 67.0 | 3 | 4 | 5.10 | 7 |
| Roy Evans | 9 | 59.1 | 5 | 4 | 4.10 | 20 |
| Dad Clarke | 7 | 54.2 | 2 | 4 | 3.95 | 7 |
| Pete Dowling | 4 | 26.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.88 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| Art Herman | 3 | 18.0 | 0 | 1 | 4.00 | 4 |
| Bert Miller | 4 | 17.0 | 0 | 1 | 7.94 | 3 |
| Rube Waddell | 2 | 14.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.21 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Jones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.90 | 0 |