1996 Cleveland Indians season

Last updated

1996  Cleveland Indians
American League Central champions
League American League
Division Central
Ballpark Jacobs Field
City Cleveland, Ohio
Record99–62 (.615)
Divisional place1st
Owners Richard Jacobs
General managers John Hart
Managers Mike Hargrove
Television WUAB
Jack Corrigan, Mike Hegan
SportsChannel
John Sanders, Rick Manning
Radio WKNR (1220 AM)
Herb Score, Tom Hamilton, Matt Underwood
  1995 Seasons 1997  

The 1996 Cleveland Indians season was the 96th season for the franchise and the third season at Jacobs Field. For the second consecutive season, the Indians had the best record in Major League Baseball. This was the first time in franchise history that the Indians had accomplished that feat. [1] Between May 30 and August 19, the Indians hit at least one double in each of 75 games, the longest such streak in MLB since 1901. [2]

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

Once again, the Indians had a formidable offensive lineup. They led the Majors in hits (1,665), batting average (.293), on-base percentage (.369). They also struck out an MLB-low 844 times. [9]

Season standings

AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cleveland Indians 9962.61551294833
Chicago White Sox 8577.52514½44374140
Milwaukee Brewers 8082.49419½38434239
Minnesota Twins 7884.48121½39433941
Kansas City Royals 7586.4662437433843

Record vs. opponents

TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore 7–66–64–85–711–29–39–37–53–109–47–53–10–18–5
Boston 6–78–46–61–1112–13–97–56–67–68–57–66–68–5
California 6–64–86–64–96–64–87–54–87–66–75–84–97–5
Chicago 8–46–66–65–810–37–66–76–76–75–75–78–47–5
Cleveland 7–511–19–48–512–07–67–610–33–96–68–44–87–5
Detroit 2–111–126–63–100–126–64–86–65–84–86–64–96–7
Kansas City 3–99–38–46–76–76–64–96–74–85–77–56–65–8
Milwaukee 3–95–75–77–66–78–49–49–46–67–54–96–75–7
Minnesota 5–76–68–47–63–106–67–64–95–76–76–67–58–5
New York 10–36–76–77–69–38–58–46–67–59–33–95–78–5
Oakland 4–95–87–67–56–68–47–55–77–63–98–57–64–8
Seattle 5–76–78–57–54–86–65–79–46–69–35–810–35–7
Texas 10–3–16–69–44–88–49–46–67–65–77–56–73–1010–2
Toronto 5–85–85–75–75–77–68–57–55–85–88–47–52–10

Game log

1996 Game Log: 99–62 (Home: 51–29; Away: 48–33)
April: 16–8 (Home: 8–3; Away: 8–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 2 Yankees 1–7ConeMartinez (0–1)42,2890–1
2April 3 Yankees 1–5PettitteMcDowell (0–1)Nelson41,8430–2
3April 5 Blue Jays 1–7GuzmanHershiser (0–1)41,7820–3
4April 6 Blue Jays 5–3Nagy (1–0)HansonMesa (1)41,8521–3
5April 7 Blue Jays 8–3Martinez (1–1)Quantrill41,6892–3
6April 10@ Orioles 2–3 (10)OroscoTavarez (0–1)45,0972–4
7April 11@ Orioles 4–14EricksonHershiser (0–2)Rhodes43,1892–5
8April 12@ Red Sox 3–1Nagy (2–0)SeleMesa (2)26,7033–5
9April 13@ Red Sox 14–2Martinez (2–1)Moyer31,8274–5
10April 14@ Red Sox 7–6 (11)Tavarez (1–1)StantonMesa (3)31,7965–5
11April 15@ Red Sox 8–0McDowell (1–1)Wakefield32,8616–5
12April 16@ Twins 7–2Hershiser (1–2)Radke13,1037–5
13April 17@ Twins 8–9HansellShuey (0–1)Stevens11,2767–6
14April 19 Red Sox 9–4Martinez (3–1)Gordon40,5218–6
15April 20 Red Sox 2–1McDowell (2–1)WakefieldMesa (4)40,4989–6
16April 21 Red Sox 11–7Ogea (1–0)Pennington42,25610–6
17April 22 Orioles 6–3Nagy (3–0)EricksonMesa (5)42,23611–6
18April 23 Orioles 9–8Ogea (2–0)MussinaMesa (6)40,77012–6
19April 24@ Yankees 8–10KamienieckiMartinez (3–2)20,18712–7
20April 25@ Yankees 4–3Poole (1–0)PettitteMesa (7)18,58013–7
21April 26@ Blue Jays 6–3Hershiser (2–2)HansonMesa (8)30,22714–7
22April 27@ Blue Jays 6–11CastilloNagy (3–1)40,14014–8
23April 28@ Blue Jays 17–3Lopez (1–0)Viola31,14315–8
24April 30 White Sox 5–3Martinez (4–2)TapaniMesa (9)40,26816–8
May: 19–9 (Home: 8–2; Away: 11–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
25May 1 White Sox 9–5McDowell (3–1)McCaskillPlunk (1)40,44717–8
26May 2@ Mariners 6–4Hershiser (3–2)WolcottMesa (10)21,71118–8
27May 3@ Mariners 5–2Nagy (4–1)HitchcockMesa (11)38,08619–8
28May 4@ Mariners 1–5MenhartLopez (1–1)57,13319–9
29May 5@ Mariners 2–0Martinez (5–2)BosioMesa (12)56,88320–9
30May 6@ Athletics 3–5TaylorAssenmacher (0–1)Mohler47,31320–10
31May 7@ Athletics 4–8JohnsHershiser (3–3)10,12620–11
32May 8@ Athletics 7–3Nagy (5–1)Reyes9,28821–11
33May 10@ Angels 8–13BoskieLopez (1–2)23,52221–12
34May 11@ Angels 6–5McDowell (4–1)SandersonMesa (13)32,10222–12
35May 12@ Angels 4–1Poole (2–0)PercivalMesa (14)22,76823–12
36May 14 Tigers 5–1Nagy (6–1)Gohr40,76524–12
37May 15 Tigers 5–2Martinez (6–2)LimaMesa (15)42,25925–12
38May 16 Tigers 8–3McDowell (5–1)Williams42,33026–12
39May 17 Rangers 12–10Embree (1–0)HerediaMesa (16)41,22527–12
40May 18 Rangers 3–6OliverAnderson (0–1)Henneman40,97327–13
41May 19 Rangers 8–5Nagy (7–1)WittMesa (17)43,29928–13
42May 21 Brewers 6–5Tavarez (2–1)Boze39,97429–13
43May 22 Brewers 8–10KarlMcDowell (5–2)Fetters41,02729–14
44May 23 Brewers 5–1Hershiser (4–3)Miranda42,39530–14
45May 24@ Tigers 6–3Plunk (1–0)VeresMesa (18)26,96731–14
46May 25@ Tigers 7–6Nagy (8–1)LewisMesa (19)41,52732–14
47May 26@ Tigers 5–0Martinez (7–2)Williams39,05633–14
48May 27@ Rangers 2–3PavlikMcDowell (5–3)46,52133–15
49May 28@ Rangers 3–11OliverHershiser (4–4)35,72733–16
50May 29@ Rangers 4–5CookTavarez (2–2)Henneman35,89333–17
51May 30@ Brewers 2–0Nagy (9–1)BonesMesa (20)11,54334–17
52May 31@ Brewers 10–4Martinez (8–2)McDonald24,05035–17
June: 14–14 (Home: 8–8; Away: 6–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
53June 1@ Brewers 1–2GarciaMcDowell (5–4)Fetters22,00435–18
54June 2@ Brewers 11–6Poole (3–0)Karl21,15036–18
55June 4 Mariners 7–10CarmonaMesa (0–1)Charlton42,17936–19
56June 5 Mariners 13–5Plunk (2–0)Milacki42,27437–19
57June 6 Mariners 2–5WellsMartinez (8–3)Charlton42,23637–20
58June 7 Angels 4–3McDowell (6–4)BoskieMesa (21)42,26038–20
59June 8 Angels 5–0Hershiser (5–4)Finley42,26739–20
60June 9 Angels 6–8 (13)HancockTavarez (2–3)42,23739–21
61June 10 Athletics 5–4Nagy (10–1)JohnsMesa (22)42,16740–21
62June 11 Athletics 6–5 (13)Ogea (3–0)Reyes42,24941–21
63June 12 Athletics 6–9MontgomeryMcDowell (6–5)Mohler40,67341–22
64June 13@ Yankees 6–2Hershiser (6–4)RogersShuey (1)30,70742–22
65June 14@ Yankees 3–4GoodenOgea (3–1)Wetteland32,58042–23
66June 15@ Yankees 10–3Nagy (11–1)Boehringer42,03243–23
67June 16@ Yankees 4–5PettitteMartinez (8–4)Wetteland51,18043–24
68June 18 Red Sox 9–7Swindell (1–0)SeleMesa (23)42,20944–24
69June 19 Red Sox 11–4Hershiser (7–4)Gordon42,27645–24
70June 20 Red Sox 5–4Shuey (1–1)Stanton42,30646–24
71June 21 Yankees 7–8 (10)NelsonMesa (0–2)Wetteland42,17646–25
72June 21 Yankees 3–9MendozaTavarez (2–4)42,45446–26
73June 22 Yankees 9–11BrewerMartinez (8–5)Wetteland42,46146–27
74June 23 Yankees 5–6GoodenMcDowell (6–6)Wetteland41,76746–28
75June 25@ Red Sox 4–0Hershiser (8–4)Gordon33,57647–28
76June 26@ Red Sox 4–6 (15)GarcesEmbree (1–1)33,72747–29
77June 27@ White Sox 10–15FernandezSwindell (1–1)27,78247–30
78June 28@ White Sox 2–4BaldwinTavarez (2–5)Hernandez33,13647–31
79June 29@ White Sox 3–2 (10)Shuey (2–1)Karchner43,60148–31
80June 30@ White Sox 4–2Hershiser (9–4)TapaniMesa (24)30,35149–31
July: 16–11 (Home: 7–6; Away: 9–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
81July 1 Royals 2–4HaneyNagy (11–2)40,81449–32
82July 2 Royals 3–2Poole (4–0)Belcher42,28350–32
83July 3 Royals 6–4Tavarez (3–5)MagnanteShuey (2)42,47051–32
84July 4 White Sox 5–6 (10)KarchnerMesa (0–3)Hernandez42,35551–33
85July 5 White Sox 0–7AlvarezHershiser (9–5)42,53651–34
86July 6 White Sox 2–3KarchnerShuey (2–2)Hernandez42,45451–35
87July 7 White Sox 6–1Ogea (4–1)FernandezAssenmacher (1)42,34352–35
88July 11@ Twins 11–7McDowell (7–6)Radke16,43853–35
89July 12@ Twins 7–5Mesa (1–3)StevensShuey (3)18,24654–35
90July 13@ Twins 19–11Ogea (5–1)Aguilera31,55255–35
91July 14@ Twins 4–5GuardadoPlunk (2–1)25,31255–36
92July 15@ Royals 3–6MagnanteTavarez (3–6)Montgomery22,29455–37
93July 16@ Royals 10–4McDowell (8–6)Haney16,87156–37
94July 17@ Royals 2–3BelcherHershiser (9–6)Montgomery19,53256–38
95July 18 Twins 5–4Graves (1–0)Guardado40,93457–38
96July 19 Twins 2–3RodriguezNagy (11–3)Naulty42,37357–39
97July 20 Twins 6–5 (11)Shuey (3–2)Stevens43,43358–39
98July 21 Twins 7–5McDowell (9–6)RadkeShuey (4)42,34159–39
99July 22@ Blue Jays 4–2Hershiser (10–6)HansonMesa (25)35,51760–39
100July 23@ Blue Jays 1–3HentgenOgea (5–2)Timlin35,19460–40
101July 24@ Blue Jays 10–0Martinez (9–5)Janzen35,21861–40
102July 25@ Orioles 10–7Nagy (12–3)Coppinger47,02562–40
103July 26@ Orioles 14–9Assenmacher (1–1)Mussina46,75163–40
104July 27@ Orioles 2–14WellsHershiser (10–7)47,36063–41
105July 28@ Orioles 6–3 (13)Mesa (2–3)Stephenson46,27364–41
106July 30 Blue Jays 1–3FlenerMartinez (9–6)Timlin42,35564–42
107July 31 Blue Jays 4–2Assenmacher (2–1)Timlin42,30165–42
August: 15–13 (Home: 7–7; Away: 8–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
108August 1 Blue Jays 3–5HansonLopez (1–3)Timlin42,24965–43
109August 2 Orioles 11–1Hershiser (11–7)Erickson42,46566–43
110August 3 Orioles 4–9OroscoOgea (5–3)42,44866–44
111August 4 Orioles 14–2Anderson (1–1)Coppinger42,34967–44
112August 5 Orioles 10–13WellsAssenmacher (2–2)40,86367–45
113August 6@ Mariners 4–3Lopez (2–3)WellsMesa (26)31,47268–45
114August 7@ Mariners 5–4Tavarez (4–6)CharltonMesa (27)30,43169–45
115August 8@ Mariners 2–1Ogea (6–3)MulhollandMesa (28)36,82270–45
116August 9@ Athletics 10–4McDowell (10–6)Telgheder20,12271–45
117August 10@ Athletics 1–5AdamsNagy (12–4)30,23871–46
118August 11@ Athletics 3–9WasdinLopez (2–4)21,91471–47
119August 12@ Angels 5–4Hershiser (12–7)FinleyMesa (29)19,49972–47
120August 13@ Angels 2–4BoskieOgea (6–4)Percival19,56972–48
121August 14@ Angels 7–8GohrMcDowell (10–7)Percival23,88772–49
122August 16 Tigers 3–1 (12)Assenmacher (3–2)Lewis42,48573–49
123August 17 Tigers 6–3Hershiser (13–7)ThompsonMesa (30)42,51174–49
124August 18 Tigers 11–3Ogea (7–4)Williams42,33775–49
125August 19 Rangers 3–10PavlikMcDowell (10–8)42,39375–50
126August 20 Rangers 10–4Lopez (3–4)Witt42,37076–50
127August 21 Rangers 8–10 (10)VosbergTavarez (4–7)42,34576–51
128August 23 Brewers 5–6 (11)JonesMesa (2–4)Fetters42,40576–52
129August 24 Brewers 3–4 (10)WickmanPlunk (2–2)Fetters42,43776–53
130August 25 Brewers 8–5Shuey (4–2)MirandaMesa (31)42,33577–53
131August 26@ Tigers 2–1Nagy (13–4)Lira22,34978–53
132August 27@ Tigers 12–2Lopez (4–4)Thompson19,60279–53
133August 28@ Tigers 9–3Hershiser (14–7)Sager21,09180–53
134August 30@ Rangers 3–5PavlikOgea (7–5)Russell40,38380–54
135August 31@ Rangers 3–6OliverMcDowell (10–9)Vosberg46,31980–55
September: 19–7 (Home: 13–3; Away: 6–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
136September 1@ Rangers 8–2Nagy (14–4)Burkett46,08481–55
137September 2@ Brewers 6–7JonesMesa (2–5)18,01581–56
138September 3@ Brewers 2–8KarlHershiser (14–8)10,59981–57
139September 4@ Brewers 7–0Ogea (8–5)D'Amico12,66682–57
140September 8 Mariners 2–1Nagy (15–4)Mulholland42,30783–57
141September 8 Mariners 5–6CharltonMesa (2–6)42,21783–58
142September 9 Angels 4–3Shuey (5–2)HoltzMesa (32)42,20884–58
143September 10 Angels 7–5Assenmacher (4–2)Percival42,18185–58
144September 11 Angels 2–0McDowell (11–9)FinleyMesa (33)42,26486–58
145September 12 Angels 11–2Anderson (2–1)Boskie42,24487–58
146September 14 Athletics 9–2Nagy (16–4)Wengert88–58
147September 14 Athletics 9–8Plunk (3–2)SmallMesa (34)42,23389–58
148September 15 Athletics 9–10 (10)ReyesMesa (2–7)42,22689–59
149September 16@ White Sox 4–3McDowell (12–9)Alvarez25,39290–59
150September 17@ White Sox 9–4Anderson (3–1)FernandezPlunk (2)18,76391–59
151September 18@ White Sox 4–3Lopez (5–4)BaldwinMesa (35)20,28992–59
152September 19 Royals 9–1Ogea (9–5)Appier42,29793–59
153September 20 Royals 4–6BevilNagy (16–5)Bluma42,35893–60
154September 21 Royals 13–4Hershiser (15–8)Rosado42,33994–60
155September 22 Royals 6–5McDowell (13–9)JacomeMesa (36)42,29195–60
156September 23 Twins 7–6Graves (2–0)ParraMesa (37)42,29996–60
157September 24 Twins 7–5Ogea (10–5)RodriguezMesa (38)42,27297–60
158September 25 Twins 6–3Nagy (17–5)Robertson42,46998–60
159September 27@ Royals 6–11RosadoHershiser (15–9)15,93998–61
160September 28@ Royals 5–4Mercker (1–0)ScanlanMesa (39)19,82099–61
161September 29@ Royals 1–4BelcherOgea (10–6)Pichardo14,55699–62
Legend:       = Win       = Loss
Bold = Indians team member

Detailed records

Notable transactions

Roster

1996 Cleveland Indians
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Sandy Alomar Jr. 127418110.2631150
1B Julio Franco 112432139.3221476
2B Carlos Baerga 100424113.2671055
SS Omar Vizquel 151542161.297964
3B Jim Thome 151505157.31138116
LF Albert Belle 158602187.31148148
CF Kenny Lofton 154662210.3171467
RF Manny Ramirez 152550170.30933112
DH Eddie Murray 8833688.2621245

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
José Vizcaíno 4817951.285013
Tony Peña 6717434.195127
Mark Carreon 3814246.324214
Jeromy Burnitz 7112836.281726
Brian Giles 5112143.355527
Álvaro Espinoza 5911225.223411
Jeff Kent 3910227.265316
Kevin Seitzer 228332.386116
Casey Candaele 244411.25014
Scott Leius 27436.14013
Ryan Thompson 8227.31815
Wayne Kirby 27164.25001
Nigel Wilson 10123.25025
Herbert Perry 7121.08300
Damian Jackson 5103.30001
Gerónimo Peña 591.11112
Einar Díaz 410.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Charles Nagy 32222.01753.41167
Orel Hershiser 33206.01594.24125
Jack McDowell 30192.01395.11141
Chad Ogea 29146.21064.79101
Dennis Martínez 20112.0964.5048
Brian Anderson 1051.1314.9121

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Albie Lopez 1362.0546.3945
Greg Swindell 1328.2116.5921

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
José Mesa 6927393.7364
Paul Assenmacher 634213.0944
Eric Plunk 563222.4385
Julián Tavárez 514705.3646
Paul Shuey 425242.8544
Jim Poole 324003.0419
Alan Embree 241106.3933
Danny Graves 152004.5522
Kent Mercker 101003.097
Joe Roa 100010.800

Award winners

All-Star Game

Postseason

Game log

1996 Postseason Game Log
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecord
1October 1@ Orioles 4–10 Wells (1–0) Nagy (0–1) Oriole Park at Camden Yards 47,6440–1
2October 2@ Orioles 4–7 Benitez (1–0) Plunk (0–1) Myers (1) Oriole Park at Camden Yards 48,9700–2
3October 4 Orioles 9–4 Assenmacher (1–0) Orosco (0–1) Jacobs Field 44,2501–2
4October 5 Orioles 3–4 (12) Benitez (2–0) Mesa (0–1) Myers (2) Jacobs Field 44,2801–3
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Indians team member

Minor league affiliates

Classification levelTeamLeagueSeason article
AAA Buffalo Bisons International League 1996 Buffalo Bisons season
AA Canton–Akron Indians Eastern League 1996 Canton–Akron Indians season
Advanced A Kinston Indians Carolina League
A Columbus RedStixx South Atlantic League
Short Season A Watertown Indians New York–Penn League
Rookie Burlington Indians Appalachian League

References

  1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 371, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
  2. "Team Batting Streak Finder: Consecutive games with Doubles >= 1, In the Regular Season, since 1901". Stathead Baseball. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  3. Ruben Amaro Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. "Casey Candaele Stats".
  5. Julio Franco Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. Jack McDowell Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  7. "Mario Diaz Stats".
  8. Mark Clark Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  9. "1996 Major League Baseball Season Summary".
  10. "Greg Cadaret Stats".
  11. Greg Swindell Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  12. "Hutch Award | Baseball Almanac".