# 1997 Chicago Cubs season

The 1997 Chicago Cubs season was the 126th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 122nd in the National League and the 82nd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth and last in the National League Central with a record of 68–94. The team never had a record above .500 at any point during the season.
The Cubs lost the first 14 games of the season, before finally winning the second game of a double-header against the New York Mets. The 0–14 start brought the superstition of the "billy goat curse" to the forefront, and at one point a goat was actually led around Wrigley Field in an effort to end the curse.
This was also Harry Caray's final season as broadcaster for the Cubs, as he died on February 18, 1998 (two months after his grandson Chip Caray was hired to share play-by-play duties with him). The team would wear a patch with his likeness that year.

## Offseason

* December 10, 1996: Mel Rojas was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs.

## Regular season

* June 16 – The first interleague game between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox took place at the new Comiskey Park. The Cubs won the game by a score of 8–3.

### 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 | 7–5 |
| 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

* July 12, 1997: Carlos Zambrano was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent.
* August 8, 1997: Brian McRae was traded by the Chicago Cubs with Mel Rojas and Turk Wendell to the New York Mets for players to be named later and Lance Johnson. The New York Mets sent Mark Clark (August 11, 1997) and Manny Alexander (August 14, 1997) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.

### 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 | Scott Servais | 122 | 385 | 100 | .260 | 6 | 45 |
| 1B | Mark Grace | 151 | 555 | 177 | .319 | 13 | 78 |
| 2B | Ryne Sandberg | 135 | 447 | 118 | .264 | 12 | 64 |
| SS | Shawon Dunston | 114 | 419 | 119 | .284 | 9 | 41 |
| 3B | Kevin Orie | 114 | 364 | 100 | .275 | 8 | 44 |
| LF | Doug Glanville | 146 | 474 | 142 | .300 | 4 | 35 |
| CF | Brian McRae | 108 | 417 | 100 | .240 | 6 | 28 |
| RF | Sammy Sosa | 162 | 642 | 161 | .251 | 36 | 119 |

#### 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 |
| Rey Sánchez | 97 | 205 | 51 | .249 | 1 | 12 |
| Tyler Houston | 72 | 196 | 51 | .260 | 2 | 28 |
| José Hernández | 121 | 183 | 50 | .273 | 7 | 26 |
| Dave Hansen | 90 | 151 | 47 | .311 | 3 | 21 |
| Lance Johnson | 39 | 145 | 44 | .303 | 4 | 15 |
| Dave Clark | 102 | 143 | 43 | .301 | 5 | 32 |
| Brant Brown | 46 | 137 | 32 | .234 | 5 | 15 |
| Manny Alexander | 33 | 99 | 29 | .293 | 1 | 7 |
| Brooks Kieschnick | 39 | 90 | 18 | .200 | 4 | 12 |
| Mike Hubbard | 29 | 64 | 13 | .203 | 1 | 2 |
| Miguel Cairo | 16 | 29 | 7 | .241 | 0 | 1 |
| Robin Jennings | 9 | 18 | 3 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Terrell Lowery | 9 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 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 |
| Steve Trachsel | 34 | 201.1 | 8 | 12 | 4.51 | 160 |
| Terry Mulholland | 25 | 157.0 | 6 | 12 | 4.07 | 74 |
| Kevin Foster | 26 | 146.1 | 10 | 7 | 4.61 | 118 |
| Geremi González | 23 | 144.0 | 11 | 9 | 4.25 | 93 |
| Frank Castillo | 20 | 98.0 | 6 | 9 | 5.42 | 67 |
| Kevin Tapani | 13 | 85.0 | 9 | 3 | 3.39 | 55 |
| Mark Clark | 9 | 63.0 | 6 | 1 | 2.86 | 51 |
| Dave Swartzbaugh | 2 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| Amaury Telemaco | 10 | 38.0 | 0 | 3 | 6.16 | 29 |
| Miguel Batista | 11 | 36.1 | 0 | 5 | 5.70 | 27 |
| Rodney Myers | 5 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Terry Adams | 74 | 2 | 9 | 18 | 4.62 | 64 |
| Bob Patterson | 76 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3.34 | 58 |
| Kent Bottenfield | 64 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3.86 | 74 |
| Ramón Tatís | 56 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.34 | 33 |
| Mel Rojas | 54 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4.42 | 61 |
| Turk Wendell | 52 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4.20 | 54 |
| Marc Pisciotta | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.18 | 21 |
| Larry Casian | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.45 | 7 |
| Dave Stevens | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9.64 | 13 |
| Ramón Morel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 3 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Iowa Cubs | American Association | Tim Johnson |
| AA | Orlando Rays | Southern League | Dave Trembley |
| A | Daytona Cubs | Florida State League | Steve Roadcap |
| A | Rockford Cubbies | Midwest League | Rubén Amaro, Sr. |
| A-Short Season | Williamsport Cubs | New York–Penn League | Bobby Ralston |
| Rookie | AZL Cubs | Arizona League | Terry Kennedy |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Cubs