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CNN/SI brings you a month-by-month look at the season. Scroll through the
calendar to check out the highlights and click on the microphones to hear the
players come to life.
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Pete Rose Jr. makes his major league debut against the
Kansas City Royals. With his dad, the disgraced Hit King,
sitting in the stands, Rose goes 1-for-3.
 Pete Rose Jr. on his major league debut (153K WAV) |
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The San Diego Padres beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5,
bringing an end to interleague play. Despite stumbling to
an early 36-48 interleague mark, the National League
recovered to win the season-long series
117-97. |
 Mark McGwire hits his 50th home run. McGwire becomes only
the second player to hit 50 or more home runs in
consecutive seasons. Babe Ruth was the first (1920, 1921
and 1927, 1928). "Any time you can have your name
associated with Babe Ruth, it's a
pretty awesome thing to think about," says McGwire.
"I'm blown away. I think I'm sort of in awe of
myself." |
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 Curt Schilling of the Philadelphia Phillies strikes out six
in a 5-3 win over the Florida Marlins. Schilling finishes
the year with 319 strikeouts, a National League record for
righthanders and the 10th-best single-season total in
baseball
history. |
The San Francisco Giants become the last team to clinch a
spot in the 1997 playoffs. The Giants,
NL West champs after staving off the Dodgers in the season's
only pennant race, join Atlanta, Houston and wild-card
Florida in the Division Series. In the
American League, division champs Baltimore, Cleveland and
Seattle will duel to dethrone the Yankees, who defend their
1996 World Series title as a wild-card
entry.
photographs by Stephen Green (top), Al Tielemans
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Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 50th home run. "I'll just echo
what everyone says about Junior," Mariners' coach Lee
Elia said. "As time goes on, there's no way of knowing
what he might do in the
game."
Five days after his latest round of chemotherapy for colon
cancer, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Eric Davis returns to
the O's lineup. Against the Indians, Davis goes 0-for-3.
Somehow, stats don't
matter.
Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres wins the National League
batting title for the fourth year in a row and the eighth
time in 14 seasons. With a .372 average, Gwynn finishes six
points ahead of Colorado's Larry
Walker.
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