1997 Atlanta Braves season

The 1997 Atlanta Braves season marked the franchise's 32nd season in Atlanta. The Braves won their sixth consecutive division title, taking the National League East title by 7 games over the second place Florida Marlins. However, the Marlins would later defeat the Braves in the National League Championship Series. 1997 was the first year that the Braves played their home games in Turner Field, which originally served as a venue for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

1997 Atlanta Braves
1997 National League East Champs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Eastern Division (since 1994)
Location
Turner Field (since 1997)
Atlanta (since 1966)
Results
Record	101–61 (.623)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	Time Warner
General manager(s)	John Schuerholz
Manager(s)	Bobby Cox
Local television	WTBS TBS Superstation (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson) SportSouth (Tim Brando, Ernie Johnson, Bob Rathbun)
Local radio	WSB (AM) (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
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Off season

• November 20, 1996: John Smoltz was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.
• November 25, 1996: Paul Byrd was traded by the New York Mets with a player to be named later to the Atlanta Braves for Greg McMichael. The New York Mets sent Andy Zwirchitz (minors) (May 25, 1997) to the Atlanta Braves to complete the trade.
• December 19, 1996: Mike Bielecki was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.
• March 25, 1997: Kenny Lofton was traded by the Cleveland Indians with Alan Embree to the Atlanta Braves for Marquis Grissom and David Justice.

Regular season

Opening day starters

• Kenny Lofton – CF
• Mark Lemke – 2B
• Chipper Jones – 3B
• Fred McGriff – 1B
• Ryan Klesko – LF
• Michael Tucker – RF
• Javy Lopez – C
• Jeff Blauser – SS
• John Smoltz – P

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	101	61	0.623	—	50–31	51–30
Florida Marlins	92	70	0.568	9	52–29	40–41
New York Mets	88	74	0.543	13	50–31	38–43
Montreal Expos	78	84	0.481	23	45–36	33–48
Philadelphia Phillies	68	94	0.420	33	38–43	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1997 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MON	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

Roster

1997 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 26 Mike Bielecki 50 Joe Borowski 49 Chris Brock 45 Paul Byrd 38 Mike Cather 30 Brad Clontz 40 Chad Fox 47 Tom Glavine 50 John LeRoy 46 Kerry Ligtenberg 31 Greg Maddux 34 Kevin Millwood 15 Denny Neagle 29 John Smoltz 36 Terrell Wade 43 Mark Wohlers		Catchers  8 Javy López 48 Greg Myers 12 Eddie Pérez  9 Tim Spehr Infielders  2 Rafael Belliard  4 Jeff Blauser 23 Greg Colbrunn 11 Ed Giovanola 14 Tony Graffanino 10 Chipper Jones 20 Mark Lemke  1 Keith Lockhart 27 Fred McGriff 16 Mike Mordecai 33 Randall Simon		Outfielders 17 Danny Bautista 19 Tommy Gregg 25 Andruw Jones 18 Ryan Klesko  7 Kenny Lofton 24 Michael Tucker		Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 37 Jim Beauchamp (bench) 39 Pat Corrales (third base) 22 Bobby Dews (first base) 28 Clarence Jones (hitting) 54 Leo Mazzone (pitching) 42 Ned Yost (bullpen)

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

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Turner Field

In 1997, the Braves moved into Turner Field. The ballpark was built across the street from the former home of the Braves, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which was demolished in the summer of 1997.

The most popular name choice among Atlanta residents for the new stadium at the time of its construction (according to a poll in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) was Hank Aaron Stadium. After the ballpark was instead named after Ted Turner, the city of Atlanta renamed the section of Capitol Avenue on which the stadium sits Hank Aaron Drive, giving Turner Field the street number 755, after Aaron's home run total.

After the 1996 Summer Olympics were complete the stadium was officially given as a gift to the Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. (the Atlanta Braves) Ted Turner, then owner of the Braves, agreed to pay a large sum of the cost to build Centennial Olympic Stadium (approximately $170 million of the $209 million bill), if in turn, the stadium was built in a way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium and that the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) paid for the conversion. This was considered a good agreement for both the Olympic Committee and the Braves, because there would be no use for a permanent 85,000 seat track and field stadium in Downtown Atlanta (as the 71,000 seat Georgia Dome was completed four years earlier by the state of Georgia) and the Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new stadium.

File:Turner field exterior.jpg

Turner Field exterior from Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard

1997 National League Division Series

Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves

Atlanta wins the series, 3-0

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Houston Astros – 1, Atlanta Braves – 2	September 30	Turner Field	46,467
2	Houston Astros – 3, Atlanta Braves – 13	October 1	Turner Field	49,200
3	Atlanta Braves – 4, Houston Astros – 1	October 3	Astrodome	53,688

1997 National League Championship Series

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Score	Record (FLA-ATL)	Attendance
1	October 7	Florida	5	Atlanta	3	1-0	49,244
2	October 8	Florida	1	Atlanta	7	1-1	48,933
3	October 10	Atlanta	2	Florida	5	2-1	53,857
4	October 11	Atlanta	4	Florida	0	2-2	54,890
5	October 12	Atlanta	1	Florida	2	3-2	46,496
6	October 14	Florida	7	Atlanta	4	4-2	50,466
Florida wins series 4–2 and advance to the World Series

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Bill Dancy
AA	Greenville Braves	Southern League	Randy Ingle
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Paul Runge
A	Macon Braves	South Atlantic League	Brian Snitker
A-Short Season	Eugene Emeralds	Northwest League	Jim Saul
Rookie	Danville Braves	Appalachian League	Rick Albert
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Frank Howard

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenville

External links

• 1997 Atlanta Braves at Baseball Reference
• Braves on Baseball Almanac