# 1997–98 Melbourne Monarchs season

The 1997-98 Melbourne Monarchs season was the 7th season for the team. As was the case for the Monarchs's previous seasons they competed in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne Monarchs | 52 | 32 | 20 | .615 | — | Advance to Finals Series |
| 2 | Sydney Storm | 54 | 32 | 22 | .593 | 1 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 3 | Melbourne Reds | 51 | 30 | 21 | .588 | 1.5 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 4 | Gold Coast Cougars | 53 | 31 | 22 | .585 | 1.5 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 5 | Perth Heat | 53 | 30 | 23 | .566 | 2.5 | |
| 6 | Adelaide Giants | 53 | 26 | 27 | .491 | 6.5 | |
| 7 | Brisbane Bandits | 53 | 20 | 33 | .377 | 12.5 | |
| 8 | Hunter Eagles | 53 | 10 | 43 | .189 | 22.5 | |

#### Record vs opponents

| Opponent | W–L Record | Largest Victory | Largest Victory | Largest Victory | Largest Defeat | Largest Defeat | Largest Defeat | Current Streak |
| Opponent | W–L Record | Score | Date | Ground | Score | Date | Ground | Current Streak |
| Adelaide Giants | 2-6 | 3-1 | 7 November 1997 | Norwood Oval | 2-7 | 15 November 1997 | Melbourne Ballpark | L1 |
| Brisbane Bandits | 4-2 | 1 Run | Tied (3) | | 10-15 | 27 January 1998 | Melbourne Ballpark | L1 |
| Gold Coast Cougars | 6-1 | 6-0 | 28 December 1997 | Melbourne Ballpark | 3-4 | 24 January 1998 | Carrara Stadium | L1 |
| Hunter Eagles | 6-0 | 9-0 | 30 January 1998 | Melbourne Ballpark | - | | | W6 |
| Melbourne Reds | 6–3 | 14–4 | 10 January 1998 | Moorabbin Oval | 2–8 | 2 November 1997 | Moorabbin Oval | L1 |
| Perth Heat | 5-3 | 7-2 | 14 December 1997 | Melbourne Ballpark | 1-6 | 22 November 1997 | WACA | W3 |
| Sydney Storm | 3-5 | 8-4 | 6 December 1997 | Concord Oval | 5-18 | 7 December 1997 | Concord Oval | L1 |
| Total | 32–20 | | | | Sydney Storm | Sydney Storm | Sydney Storm | L1 |
| Total | 32–20 | 14–4 | 10 January 1998 | Moorabbin Oval | 5–18 | 7 December 1997 | Sydney Showgrounds | L1 |

### Game log

| W | Monarchs win |
| L | Monarchs loss |
| T | Monarchs tie |
| | Game postponed |
| Bold | Monarchs team member |
1997-98 Game Log :
October
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
1
31 October
@ Reds
8–6
1-0 :
November
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
2
1 November (DH 1)
Reds
10–6
2-0
3
1 November (DH 2)
Reds
7–2
3-0
4
2 November
@ Reds
2–8
3-1
5
7 November
@ Giants
3–1
4-1
6
8 November (DH 1)
@ Giants
0–3
4-2
7
8 November (DH 2)
@ Giants
4–9
4-3
8
9 November
@ Giants
4–7
4-4
9
14 November
Giants
4-5
10
15 November (DH 1)
Giants
2–7
4-6
11
15 November (DH 2)
Giants
5-6
12
16 November
Giants
5-7
13
21 November
Heat
7–6
6-7
14
22 November (DH 1)
Heat
1–6
6-8
15
22 November (DH 2)
Heat
5–9
6-9
16
23 November
Heat
2–0
7-9 :
December
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
17
5 December
@ Storm
2–3
7-10
18
6 December (DH 1)
@ Storm
5–6
7-11
19
6 December (DH 2)
@ Storm
8–4
8-11
20
7 December
@ Storm
5–18
8-12
21
14 December (DH 1)
@ Heat
9–10
8-13
22
14 December (DH 2)
@ Heat
7–2
P. Dale
9-13
23
15 December (DH 1)
@ Heat
3–0
E. Nelsen
R. Spear
10-13
24
15 December (DH 2)
@ Heat
6–4
11-13
25
19 December
Storm
3–5
11-14
26
20 December (DH 1)
Storm
6–3
12-14
27
20 December (DH 2)
Storm
1–0
13-14
28
21 December
Storm
5–6
13-15
29
26 December
Cougars
4–1
P. Dale
B. Cederbladd
14-15
30
27 December (DH 1)
Cougars
2–1
E. Nelson
15-15
31
27 December (DH 2)
Cougars
4–0
M. Bowie
16-15
32
28 December
Cougars
6–0
E. Byrne
17-15 :
January
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
33
3 January
@ Eagles
8–3
18-15
34
4 January
@ Eagles
7–5
19-15
35
5 January
@ Eagles
3–2
20-15
36
8 January
@ Reds
6–2
21-15
37
9 January
@ Reds
3–7
21-16
38
10 January
@ Reds
14-4
E. Nelson
22-16
39
16 January (DH 1)
Bandits
1–2
Williams
R Spear
22-17
40
16 January (DH 2)
Bandits
4–3
E. Nelson
Smith
23-17
41
17 January (DH 1)
Bandits
11–10
K. Gogos
Gooda
24-17
42
17 January (DH 2)
Bandits
12–11
K. Gogos
Foxover
25-17
43
22 January
@ Cougars
10–9
26-17
44
23 January
@ Cougars
5–1
27-17
45
24 January
@ Cougars
3–4
27-18
46
26 January
@ Bandits
28-18
47
27 January
@ Bandits
10–15
28-19
48
28 January
@ Bandits
Wash Out
28-19
49
30 January
Eagles
9–0
29-19
50
31 January (DH 1)
Eagles
9–5
30-19
51
31 January (DH 2)
Eagles
7–6
31-19 :
February
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
52
5 February
Reds
5-4
32-19
53
6 February
Reds
4-5
32-20
54
7 February
@ Monarchs
Wash Out
32-20 :

## Postseason
### Finals Series at Melbourne Ballpark

In previous years, the post season was played as home and away best of 3 games, with the two winner of each series meeting for a best of 5 series{fact}. In 1997-98, this was changed to a round robin play-off format with each team playing 3 games, 1 against each of the other 3 qualified teams, with the two highest places teams playing off in the Championship Series.
All games for the 9th ABL title were played at the Melbourne Ballpark from February, 10-12 with the best of three championship series February 14–15.

### Finals Series (Monarchs games)

Full series results

#### Game 1: 10 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Gold Coast Cougars | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 7 | ? | ? |
| Melbourne Monarchs | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 5 | ? | ? |
| WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Cougars: ? Monarchs: ? |||||||||||||

#### Game 3: 11 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Melbourne Monarchs | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1 | ? | ? |
| Sydney Storm | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 5 | ? | ? |
| WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Monarchs: ? Storm: ? |||||||||||||

#### Game 6: 12 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Melbourne Monarchs | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 12 | ? | ? |
| Melbourne Reds | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 5 | ? | ? |
| WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Monarchs: ? Reds: ? |||||||||||||

### Postseason Ladder

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne Reds | 3 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 18 | +7 | .667 | — | Advance to Championship series |
| 2 | Gold Coast Cougars | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 13 | +3 | .667 | — | Advance to Championship series |
| 3 | Melbourne Monarchs | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 17 | +1 | .333 | 1 | |
| 4 | Sydney Storm | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 27 | −11 | .333 | 1 | |

### Award Winners
#### ABL awards

| Award | Name | Stat | ref |
| Pitcher of the Year | Erick Nelson | | |

#### All-stars

| Position | Name | ref |
| Starting Pitcher | Erick Nelson | |

#### Monarchs Awards

| Award | Name | Stat | ref |