1897 Pittsburg Pirates season

1897 Pittsburg Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Location
Exposition Park (since 1891)
Allegheny, Pennsylvania (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s)	William Kerr and Phil Auten
Manager(s)	Patsy Donovan
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The 1897 Pittsburg Pirates season was the 16th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates^[1] franchise; their 11th in the National League. The Pirates finished eighth in the league standings with a record of 60–71.

Regular season

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Boston Beaneaters	93	39	0.705	—	54–12	39–27
Baltimore Orioles	90	40	0.692	2	51–15	39–25
New York Giants	83	48	0.634	9½	51–19	32–29
Cincinnati Reds	76	56	0.576	17	49–18	27–38
Cleveland Spiders	69	62	0.527	23½	49–16	20–46
Washington Senators	61	71	0.462	32	40–26	21–45
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	61	71	0.462	32	38–29	23–42
Pittsburg Pirates	60	71	0.458	32½	38–27	22–44
Chicago Colts	59	73	0.447	34	36–30	23–43
Philadelphia Phillies	55	77	0.417	38	32–34	23–43
Louisville Colonels	52	78	0.400	40	34–31	18–47
St. Louis Browns	29	102	0.221	63½	18–41	11–61

Record vs. opponents

1897 National League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	BR	CHI	CIN	CLE	LOU	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL	WSH
Baltimore	—	6–6	9–3–2	9–3–3	6–6	7–4	10–1	5–7	10–2–1	9–3	10–2	9–3
Boston	6–6	—	9–3	8–4–1	9–3	7–5	9–3	8–4	10–2–1	10–2	10–2	7–5–1
Brooklyn	3–9–2	3–9	—	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–7	3–9–2	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5
Chicago	3–9–3	4–8–1	6–6	—	5–7	4–8	6–6–1	5–7–1	5–7	6–6	8–4	7–5
Cincinnati	6–6	3–9	5–7	7–5	—	7–5	9–3	7–5–1	8–4	5–7–1	11–1	8–4
Cleveland	4–7	5–7	5–7	8–4	5–7	—	5–7	3–9	9–3	6–6	11–1–1	8–4
Louisville	1–10	3–9	7–5	6–6–1	3–9	7–5	—	6–6–1	3–9	4–8–2	8–3–1	4–8–1
New York	7–5	4–8	9–3–2	7–5–1	5–7–1	9–3	6–6–1	—	7–5	8–3–1	12–0	9–3–1
Philadelphia	2–10–1	2–10–1	6–6	7–5	4–8	3–9	9–3	5–7	—	5–7	8–4	4–8
Pittsburg	3–9	2–10	5–7	6–6	7–5–1	6–6	8–4–2	3–8–1	7–5	—	8–4	5–7
St. Louis	2–10	2–10	5–7	4–8	1–11	1–11–1	3–8–1	0–12	4–8	4–8	—	3–9
Washington	3–9	5–7–1	5–7	5–7	4–8	4–8	8–4–1	3–9–1	8–4	7–5	9–3	—

Record vs. opponents

1897 National League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	BR	CHI	CIN	CLE	LOU	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL	WSH
Baltimore	—	6–6	9–3–2	9–3–3	6–6	7–4	10–1	5–7	10–2–1	9–3	10–2	9–3
Boston	6–6	—	9–3	8–4–1	9–3	7–5	9–3	8–4	10–2–1	10–2	10–2	7–5–1
Brooklyn	3–9–2	3–9	—	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–7	3–9–2	6–6	7–5	7–5	7–5
Chicago	3–9–3	4–8–1	6–6	—	5–7	4–8	6–6–1	5–7–1	5–7	6–6	8–4	7–5
Cincinnati	6–6	3–9	5–7	7–5	—	7–5	9–3	7–5–1	8–4	5–7–1	11–1	8–4
Cleveland	4–7	5–7	5–7	8–4	5–7	—	5–7	3–9	9–3	6–6	11–1–1	8–4
Louisville	1–10	3–9	7–5	6–6–1	3–9	7–5	—	6–6–1	3–9	4–8–2	8–3–1	4–8–1
New York	7–5	4–8	9–3–2	7–5–1	5–7–1	9–3	6–6–1	—	7–5	8–3–1	12–0	9–3–1
Philadelphia	2–10–1	2–10–1	6–6	7–5	4–8	3–9	9–3	5–7	—	5–7	8–4	4–8
Pittsburg	3–9	2–10	5–7	6–6	7–5–1	6–6	8–4–2	3–8–1	7–5	—	8–4	5–7
St. Louis	2–10	2–10	5–7	4–8	1–11	1–11–1	3–8–1	0–12	4–8	4–8	—	3–9
Washington	3–9	5–7–1	5–7	5–7	4–8	4–8	8–4–1	3–9–1	8–4	7–5	9–3	—

Roster

1897 Pittsburg Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Jim Gardner Charlie Hastings Pink Hawley Jim Hughey Frank Killen		Catchers Bill Merritt Joe Sugden Infielders Harry Davis Jim Donnelly Bones Ely Jesse Hoffmeister Charlie Kuhns Denny Lyons Dick Padden Jack Rothfuss		Outfielders Steve Brodie Patsy Donovan Tom Leahy Mike Smith Jesse Tannehill		Manager Patsy Donovan

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
1B	Davis, HarryHarry Davis	111	429	131	.305	2	63
OF	Smith, MikeMike Smith	123	467	145	.310	6	54
OF	Donovan, PatsyPatsy Donovan	120	479	154	.322	0	57

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
Merritt, BillBill Merritt	62	209	55	.263	1	26
Tannehill, JesseJesse Tannehill	56	184	49	.266	0	22
Leahy, TomTom Leahy	24	92	24	.261	0	12

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
Hawley, PinkPink Hawley	40	311.1	18	18	4.80	88
Tannehill, JesseJesse Tannehill	21	142	9	9	4.25	40
Gardner, JimJim Gardner	14	95.1	5	5	5.19	35

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
Hastings, CharlieCharlie Hastings	16	118	5	4	4.58	42

References

1. In 1891 the United States Board on Geographic Names forced the city of Pittsburgh to undergo a controversial name change by having them drop the "h" at the end of the name, making the team's official name the "Pittsburg Pirates" from the adoption of the Pirates nickname until Pittsburgh was able to get the "h" restored to its name in 1911.

• 1897 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1897 Pittsburgh Pirates Page at Baseball Almanac