YEAR IN REVIEW : 1897 National League

Off the field...

Bram Stoker's groundbreaking horror novel "Dracula" was published. Although not the first vampire tale, Stoker's version became the blueprint for all those that have followed. Dracula was seven long years in the writing, from first notes to finished book and it sold reasonably well when it was published, even though the critics were not so generous. A popular bestseller in Victorian England, Stoker's hypnotic tale of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, whose nocturnal feedings are symbolic of an evil both old and new, still endures as the greatest story of suspense and horror ever written to date.

In the National League...

The Chicago Colts set a Major League record after scoring thirty-six runs on thirty hits against the Louisville Colonels on June 29th.

On June 18th, Chicago's player / manager Cap Anson became the first Major League player to reach three-thousand hits after tapping a single off the Baltimore Orioles for a 6-3 win.

Philadelphia's rookie sensation Napoleon Lajoie hit .361 and led the National League with nine home runs and a .569 slugging average.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"A hard-driving disciplinarian, (Cap) Anson was perhaps the most influential player in the nineteenth century." - Palmer, Pete. Author. Total Baseball. The 400 Greatest Ballplayers. Page 158.

1897 National League Player Review

1896 | 1897 Hitting Statistics League Leaders | 1898

Base on Balls Billy Hamilton Boston 105 Top 25
Batting Average Willie Keeler Baltimore .424 Top 25
Doubles Jake Stenzel Baltimore 43 Top 25
Hits Willie Keeler Baltimore 239 Top 25
Home Runs Hugh Duffy Boston 11 Top 25
On Base Percentage John McGraw Baltimore .471 Top 25
RBI George Davis New York 136 Top 25
Runs Billy Hamilton Boston 152 Top 25
Slugging Average Nap Lajoie Philadelphia .569 Top 25
Stolen Bases Bill Lange Chicago 73 Top 25
Total Bases Nap Lajoie Philadelphia 310 Top 25
Triples Harry Davis Pittsburgh 28 Top 25
1897 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1897 National League Pitcher Review

1896 | 1897 Pitching Statistics League Leaders | 1898

Complete Games Red Donahue St. Louis 38 Top 25
Clark Griffith Chicago
Frank Killen Pittsburgh
ERA Amos Rusie New York 2.54 Top 25
Games Red Donahue St. Louis 46 Top 25
Kid Nichols Boston
Win Mercer Washington
Cy Young Cleveland
Saves Kid Nichols Boston 3 Top 25
Win Mercer Washington
Shutouts Doc McJames Washington 3 Top 25
Win Mercer
Strikeouts Doc McJames Washington 156 Top 25
Winning Percentage Fred Klobedanz Boston .788 Top 25
Wins Kid Nichols Boston 31 Top 25
1897 N.L. History | Year-by-Year History

1897 National League

Team Standings

Boston Beaneaters 93 39 3 .705 0
Baltimore Orioles 90 40 6 .692 2
New York Giants 83 48 7 .634
Cincinnati Reds 76 56 2 .576 17
Cleveland Spiders 69 62 1 .527 23½
Washington Senators 61 71 4 .462 32
Brooklyn Bridegrooms 61 71 3 .462 32
Pittsburgh Pirates 60 71 4 .458 32½
Chicago Colts 59 73 6 .447 34
Philadelphia Phillies 55 77 2 .417 38
Louisville Colonels 52 78 6 .400 40
St. Louis Browns 29 102 2 .221 63½
1897 National League Team Standings

1897 National League Team Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls Baltimore 437
Batting Average Baltimore .325
Doubles Baltimore 243
Hits Baltimore 1,584
Home Runs Boston 45
On Base Percentage Baltimore .394
Runs Boston 1,025
Slugging Average Boston .426
Stolen Bases Baltimore 401
Triples Pittsburgh 108

1897 National League Team Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Chicago 131
ERA New York 3.47
Fewest Hits Allowed New York 1,214
Fewest Home Runs Allowed Baltimore 18
Cincinnati
Fewest Walks Allowed Cleveland 289
Saves Boston 7
Shutouts Boston 8
New York
Strikeouts New York 456
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

On April 22, 1897, Wee Willie Keeler hit a single and double. This was game one of a forty-four consecutive game batting streak that went unmatched until Joe DiMaggio broke the record during the "streak" in 1941.

In a highly unusual feat, catcher Duke Farrell of Washington threw out eight Orioles who attempted to steal second, but the Senators lost 6-3.

Cap Anson hit what some baseball historians consider hit number three-thousand on July 18, 1897. However, in that total were sixty base on balls which during the 1887 season were counted as hits. Those hits were counted at first, removed by Major League Baseball, then restored again in 2001.