Friday, November 4, 2011

1997 MLB


1.       Ken Griffey Jr. : Was the 1997 AL MVP. He was voted Player of the Year by the Player’s Choice and Sporting News in all of MLB, and was considered my many the top player in baseball at the time.

He was the Player of the Month in April when he set the MLB record with 13 Home Runs in a month.

He also earned the starting spot for the AL All-Stars in CF, an eighth straight Gold Glove, and the Silver Slugger award.

He was also given the 1998 (after 1997 season) ESPY by ESPN as the co-Male Athlete of the Year (July 1997-July1998).

Junior Griffey led the American League in most offensive categories. HR with 56 (6th most in a season), RBI with 147, runs (125), total bases (393), and slugging (.646)

He was also 1st in position player and offensive WAR.

Griffey was 2nd in the AL in OPS with 1.028, 6th in hits (185), and hit .304 in 158 games.

He was 1-3 with a RBI and 2 SB in a Game Two loss to Baltimore in the ALDS.

His two-out RBI single in Game Three gave Seattle a 2-0 lead in the fifth.

Seattle went on to win Game Three but lost the series in four to the Orioles.

The Mariners went 90-72 and won the AL West by six games, and had the third best record in the AL.

Griffey led Seattle to baseball’s best offensive by scoring 5.71 runs/game, and hitting 264 HR.

2.       Moises Alou: Was named the Babe Ruth award winner (NY baseball writers World Series MVP). For the Series he hit .321 with a team high three Home runs and nine RBI.

He was an All-Star and finshed 10th in NL MVP voting.


Alou gave the Marlins a 2-0 series lead over the Giants with a walk off RBI single to break a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the ninth.
Alou got Florida off to a hot start in NLCS with a bases clearing double in the top of the 1st of Game One vs. Atlanta. He tacked on another RBI in the 3rd on a groundout, as the Marlins won 5-3.

In the pennant clinching Game Six, he drove in another run and walked twice.

In Game One of the World Series his three-run bomb put Florida ahead 4-1 in the 4th.

Alou struck again in Game Five with a 3-5 2 R and 3 RBI performance. Another three-run homer put Florida in front 5-4 in the 6th. The Marlins would hang on 8-7 and take a 3-2 series advantage.

He singled to start the ninth and would score the tying run on Craig Counsell’s sac fly. Florida would eventually take the Series in seven by winning dramatically in the 11th inning.

For the playoffs in 16 games, Moises drove in 15 runs and scored seven more.

Florida finished with the second best record in the NL with 92 wins and won the wild card. They swept the Giants in three games in the NLDS.

The fifth year franchise beat the two time reigning NL champion Braves in six games in the NLCS. They would then beat the favored Indians in seven games to win the World Series.

3.       Sandy Alomar Jr.: Was an AL All-Star and earned MVP with the go ahead 2-R Home Run in the 7th in his home park.

He earned his spot in the Mid-Summer Classic by hitting .372 in the first half, which included a 30 game hitting streak.

He finished the season with a .324 average 21 HR and 83 RBI.

In Game One of the ALDS vs. New York he was a 2-4 with 3 RBI on a 3-R HR off David Cone in the 1st 
 
He helped the Indians even the series in Game Two with a RBI and run scored in the a five-run fourth. 

Alomar saved Cleveland’s season with a two-out eighth inning HR off Mariano Rivera in Game Four. The Indians would win in the bottom of the ninth, and take the series in Game Five.

He homered, drove in four, and scored two on a 3-5 night in Game Four of the ALCS win over Baltimore.

He was the top player in World Series for Cleveland with 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5 R and 11-30 (.367).

He drove in and scored two runs in the Indians Game Two 6-1 win.



Alomar had three more hits and three RBI in Game Four as the Indians tied the series at two.

Cleveland won the AL Central with a 86-75 record. The returned to the World Series for the 2nd time in three years after knocking out Baltimore in six games. 

They would lose in seven games to Florida in the Fall Classic.

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