# 1897 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1897 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 16th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; their 11th in the National League. The Pirates finished eighth in the league standings with a record of 60–71.

## 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 | Joe Sugden | 84 | 288 | 64 | .222 | 0 | 38 |
| 1B | Harry Davis | 111 | 429 | 131 | .305 | 2 | 63 |
| 2B | Dick Padden | 134 | 517 | 146 | .282 | 2 | 58 |
| SS | Bones Ely | 133 | 516 | 146 | .283 | 2 | 74 |
| 3B | Jesse Hoffmeister | 48 | 188 | 58 | .309 | 3 | 36 |
| OF | Steve Brodie | 100 | 370 | 108 | .292 | 2 | 53 |
| OF | Mike Smith | 123 | 467 | 145 | .310 | 6 | 54 |
| OF | Patsy Donovan | 120 | 479 | 154 | .322 | 0 | 57 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Merritt | 62 | 209 | 55 | .263 | 1 | 26 |
| Jesse Tannehill | 56 | 184 | 49 | .266 | 0 | 22 |
| Jim Donnelly | 44 | 161 | 31 | .193 | 0 | 14 |
| Denny Lyons | 37 | 131 | 27 | .206 | 2 | 17 |
| Jack Rothfuss | 35 | 115 | 36 | .313 | 2 | 18 |
| Tom Leahy | 24 | 92 | 24 | .261 | 0 | 12 |
| Jim Gardner | 27 | 76 | 12 | .158 | 1 | 8 |
| Charlie Kuhns | 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 |
| Frank Killen | 42 | 337.1 | 17 | 23 | 4.46 | 99 |
| Pink Hawley | 40 | 311.1 | 18 | 18 | 4.80 | 88 |
| Jim Hughey | 25 | 149.1 | 6 | 10 | 5.06 | 38 |
| Jesse Tannehill | 21 | 142.0 | 9 | 9 | 4.25 | 40 |
| Jim Gardner | 14 | 95.1 | 5 | 5 | 5.19 | 35 |

#### 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 |
| Charlie Hastings | 16 | 118.0 | 5 | 4 | 4.58 | 42 |

## Uniforms

The team wore white and brown uniforms at home and gray and brown on the road.