1997 National League Division Series

1997 National League Division Series
1997 National League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins)
Team (Wins)
Florida Marlins (3)
San Francisco Giants (0)
Dates	September 30 – October 3
Television	ESPN (in Florida); NBC (in San Francisco)
TV announcers	Chris Berman and Ray Knight (in Florida); Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, and Bob Uecker (in San Francisco)
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	Jerry Coleman and Hank Greenwald
Teams
Team (Wins)
Team (Wins)
Atlanta Braves (3)
Houston Astros (0)
Dates	September 30 – October 3
Television	ESPN
TV announcers	Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (Game 1); Jon Miller and Reggie Jackson (Games 2–3)
Radio	CBS (National); WSB (Braves' broadcast); KILT (Astros' broadcast)
Radio announcers	CBS: Gene Elston and Gary Cohen; WSB: Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson; KILT: Milo Hamilton, Vince Controneo
Umpires	Mark Hirschbeck, Gary Darling, Tom Hallion, Dana DeMuth, Terry Tata, Brian Gorman (Giants–Marlins, Games 1–2; Astros–Braves, Game 3); Greg Bonin, Ed Rapuano, Charlie Reliford, Steve Rippley, Harry Wendelstedt, Angel Hernandez (Astros–Braves, Games 1–2; Giants–Marlins, Game 3)

The 1997 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1997 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, September 30, and ended on Friday, October 3, with the champions of the three NL divisions along with a wild card team participating in two best-of-five series. They were:

(1) San Francisco Giants (Western Division champions, 90–72) vs. (4) Florida Marlins (Wild Card, 92–70): Marlins win series, 3–0.
(2) Houston Astros (Central Division champions, 84–78) vs. (3) Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champions, 101–61): Braves win series, 3–0.^[1]

The Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins went on to meet in the NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Marlins became the National League champions, and defeated the American League champion Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series.

^ The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined—a highly unpopular arrangement which was discontinued after the conclusion of the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field "advantage" was required to play the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. Had the 1997 NLDS been played under the 1998-2011 arrangement, then Atlanta (1) would still have faced off against Houston (3) and San Francisco (2) would likewise have faced off against the wild card winners in Florida (4). Under the format adopted in 2012, which removed the prohibition against teams from the same division meeting in the Division Series, the matchups instead would have been Atlanta-Florida and San Francisco-Houston, with the Braves and Giants having home field advantage.

[1] The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined—a highly unpopular arrangement which was discontinued after the conclusion of the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field "advantage" was required to play the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. Had the 1997 NLDS been played under the 1998-2011 arrangement, then Atlanta (1) would still have faced off against Houston (3) and San Francisco (2) would likewise have faced off against the wild card winners in Florida (4). Under the format adopted in 2012, which removed the prohibition against teams from the same division meeting in the Division Series, the matchups instead would have been Atlanta-Florida and San Francisco-Houston, with the Braves and Giants having home field advantage.

[1]