1997 Boston Red Sox season

The 1997 Boston Red Sox season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Red Sox finishing 4th in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses.

Offseason

• December 9, 1996: Bret Saberhagen was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[1]
• January 22, 1997: Steve Avery was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[2]
• January 27, 1997: José Canseco was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Oakland Athletics for John Wasdin and cash.
• January 31, 1997: Mike Benjamin was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

Notable Transactions

• July 31, 1997: Heathcliff Slocumb was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Seattle Mariners for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek.
• August 30, 1997: Curtis Pride was signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Red Sox.^[4]

Opening Day Line Up

Roster

Wally the Green Monster

Wally the Green Monster is the official mascot for the Boston Red Sox. His name is derived from the Green Monster nickname of the 37-foot wall in left field at Fenway Park. Wally debuted in 1997 to the chagrin of many older Red Sox fans. Although he was a hit with children, the older fans did not immediately adopt him as part of the franchise. According to the Red Sox promotions department, Wally was a huge Red Sox fan who decided to move inside the left field wall of Fenway Park since it "eats up" hits that would easily be home runs at other parks in 1947. Apparently, he was very shy and lived the life of a hermit for 50 years. On the 50th anniversary of the Green Monster in 1997, he came out of the manual scoreboard and has been interacting with players and fans ever since.^[5] Thanks to former Red Sox second baseman and current broadcaster Jerry Remy, those older fans have adored him.

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

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Farm system

^[6]

References

1. ^ Bret Saberhagen Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
2. ^ Steve Avery Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
3. ^ Mike Benjamin Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
4. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pridecu01.shtml
5. ^ The Official Site of The Boston Red Sox: Community: Wally
6. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007

• 1997 Boston Red Sox team page at Baseball Reference
• 1997 Boston Red Sox season at baseball-almanac.com