1996 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | Major League Baseball |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | March 31 – October 26, 1996 |
Number of games | 162 |
Number of teams | 28 |
TV partner(s) | Fox, ESPN, NBC [n1 1] |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Kris Benson |
Picked by | Pittsburgh Pirates |
Regular Season | |
Season MVP | AL: Juan González (TEX) NL: Ken Caminiti (SD) |
Postseason | |
AL champions | New York Yankees |
AL runners-up | Baltimore Orioles |
NL champions | Atlanta Braves |
NL runners-up | St. Louis Cardinals |
World Series | |
Champions | New York Yankees |
Runners-up | Atlanta Braves |
World Series MVP | John Wetteland (NYY) |
The 1996 Major League Baseball season was the final season of league-only play before the beginning of interleague play the following season. The season ended with the New York Yankees defeating the defending champion Atlanta Braves in six games for the World Series title, the Yankees' first championship since 1978. The record for most home runs hit in an MLB regular season, set at 4,458 in 1987, [1] was broken, as the AL and NL combined to hit 4,962 home runs. [2] Only 196 shutouts were recorded in the 2,266 MLB regular-season games. [3] This was the first season in the Divisional Series era to be played to the full 162 games, as the 1994–95 player's strike caused the first two seasons of the era to be abbreviated.
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 49–31 | 43–39 |
Baltimore Orioles | 88 | 74 | .543 | 4 | 43–38 | 45–36 |
Boston Red Sox | 85 | 77 | .525 | 7 | 47–34 | 38–43 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 74 | 88 | .457 | 18 | 35–46 | 39–42 |
Detroit Tigers | 53 | 109 | .327 | 39 | 27–54 | 26–55 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland Indians | 99 | 62 | .615 | — | 51–29 | 48–33 |
Chicago White Sox | 85 | 77 | .525 | 14½ | 44–37 | 41–40 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 80 | 82 | .494 | 19½ | 38–43 | 42–39 |
Minnesota Twins | 78 | 84 | .481 | 21½ | 39–43 | 39–41 |
Kansas City Royals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 24 | 37–43 | 38–43 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Texas Rangers | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 50–31 | 40–41 |
Seattle Mariners | 85 | 76 | .528 | 4½ | 43–38 | 42–38 |
Oakland Athletics | 78 | 84 | .481 | 12 | 40–41 | 38–43 |
California Angels | 70 | 91 | .435 | 19½ | 43–38 | 27–53 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta Braves | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 56–25 | 40–41 |
Montreal Expos | 88 | 74 | .543 | 8 | 50–31 | 38–43 |
Florida Marlins | 80 | 82 | .494 | 16 | 52–29 | 28–53 |
New York Mets | 71 | 91 | .438 | 25 | 42–39 | 29–52 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 67 | 95 | .414 | 29 | 35–46 | 32–49 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis Cardinals | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 48–33 | 40–41 |
Houston Astros | 82 | 80 | .506 | 6 | 48–33 | 34–47 |
Cincinnati Reds | 81 | 81 | .500 | 7 | 46–35 | 35–46 |
Chicago Cubs | 76 | 86 | .469 | 12 | 43–38 | 33–48 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 73 | 89 | .451 | 15 | 36–44 | 37–45 |
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
San Diego Padres | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 45–36 | 46–35 |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 90 | 72 | .556 | 1 | 47–34 | 43–38 |
Colorado Rockies | 83 | 79 | .512 | 8 | 55–26 | 28–53 |
San Francisco Giants | 68 | 94 | .420 | 23 | 38–44 | 30–50 |
Division Series (ALDS, NLDS) | League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | World Series | ||||||||||||
East | NY Yankees | 3 | ||||||||||||
West | Texas | 1 | ||||||||||||
East | NY Yankees | 4 | ||||||||||||
American League | ||||||||||||||
WC | Baltimore | 1 | ||||||||||||
WC | Baltimore | 3 | ||||||||||||
Central | Cleveland | 1 | ||||||||||||
AL | NY Yankees | 4 | ||||||||||||
NL | Atlanta | 2 | ||||||||||||
East | Atlanta | 3 | ||||||||||||
WC | Los Angeles | 0 | ||||||||||||
East | Atlanta | 4 | ||||||||||||
National League | ||||||||||||||
Central | St. Louis | 3 | ||||||||||||
West | San Diego | 0 | ||||||||||||
Central | St. Louis | 3 |
Month | American League | National League |
---|---|---|
April | Frank Thomas | Barry Bonds |
May | Mo Vaughn | Jeff Bagwell |
June | Mark McGwire | Dante Bichette |
July | Juan González | Sammy Sosa |
August | Alex Rodriguez | Ken Caminiti |
September | Frank Thomas | Ken Caminiti |
Month | American League | National League |
---|---|---|
April | Juan Guzmán | John Smoltz |
May | Charles Nagy | John Smoltz |
June | Orel Hershiser | Jeff Fassero |
July | Pat Hentgen | Jeff Fassero |
August | Pat Hentgen | Kevin Brown |
September | Charles Nagy | Hideo Nomo |
Statistic | American League | National League | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
AVG | Alex Rodriguez SEA | .358 | Tony Gwynn SD | .353 |
HR | Mark McGwire OAK | 52 | Andrés Galarraga COL | 47 |
RBI | Albert Belle CLE | 148 | Andrés Galarraga COL | 150 |
Wins | Andy Pettitte NYY | 21 | John Smoltz ATL | 24 |
ERA | Juan Guzmán TOR | 2.93 | Kevin Brown FLA | 1.89 |
SO | Roger Clemens BOS | 257 | John Smoltz ATL | 276 |
SV | John Wetteland NYY | 43 | Jeff Brantley CIN Todd Worrell LA | 44 |
SB | Kenny Lofton CLE | 75 | Eric Young COL | 53 |
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game | Est. payroll | %± |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colorado Rockies [4] | 83 | 7.8% | 3,891,014 | 14.8% | 48,037 | $40,324,823 | 18.1% |
Baltimore Orioles [5] | 88 | 23.9% | 3,646,950 | 17.7% | 44,475 | $54,599,315 | 24.3% |
Cleveland Indians [6] | 99 | -1.0% | 3,318,174 | 16.7% | 41,477 | $48,216,360 | 26.7% |
Los Angeles Dodgers [7] | 90 | 15.4% | 3,188,454 | 15.3% | 39,364 | $35,355,000 | -10.0% |
Atlanta Braves [8] | 96 | 6.7% | 2,901,242 | 13.2% | 35,818 | $49,698,500 | 5.2% |
Texas Rangers [9] | 90 | 21.6% | 2,889,020 | 45.5% | 35,667 | $39,041,528 | 12.9% |
Seattle Mariners [10] | 85 | 7.6% | 2,723,850 | 65.8% | 33,628 | $41,328,501 | 13.3% |
St. Louis Cardinals [11] | 88 | 41.9% | 2,654,718 | 51.1% | 32,774 | $40,269,667 | 8.5% |
Toronto Blue Jays [12] | 74 | 32.1% | 2,559,573 | -9.4% | 31,600 | $30,555,083 | -39.6% |
Boston Red Sox [13] | 85 | -1.2% | 2,315,231 | 7.0% | 28,583 | $42,393,500 | 30.6% |
New York Yankees [14] | 92 | 16.5% | 2,250,877 | 32.0% | 28,136 | $54,191,792 | 10.9% |
Chicago Cubs [15] | 76 | 4.1% | 2,219,110 | 15.7% | 27,396 | $33,081,000 | 12.1% |
San Diego Padres [16] | 91 | 30.0% | 2,187,886 | 110.0% | 27,011 | $28,348,172 | 7.5% |
Houston Astros [17] | 82 | 7.9% | 1,975,888 | 44.9% | 24,394 | $28,487,000 | -16.6% |
Cincinnati Reds [18] | 81 | -4.7% | 1,861,428 | 1.3% | 22,981 | $42,526,334 | -1.4% |
California Angels [19] | 70 | -10.3% | 1,820,521 | 4.1% | 22,476 | $28,847,000 | -7.6% |
Philadelphia Phillies [20] | 67 | -2.9% | 1,801,677 | -11.8% | 22,243 | $34,314,500 | 12.3% |
Florida Marlins [21] | 80 | 19.4% | 1,746,767 | 2.7% | 21,565 | $31,132,000 | 27.0% |
Chicago White Sox [22] | 85 | 25.0% | 1,676,403 | 4.1% | 20,696 | $45,289,500 | -3.6% |
Montreal Expos [23] | 88 | 33.3% | 1,616,709 | 23.4% | 19,959 | $16,264,500 | 30.4% |
New York Mets [24] | 71 | 2.9% | 1,588,323 | 24.8% | 19,609 | $24,479,500 | -11.5% |
Minnesota Twins [25] | 78 | 39.3% | 1,437,352 | 35.9% | 17,529 | $23,117,000 | -9.0% |
Kansas City Royals [26] | 75 | 7.1% | 1,435,997 | 16.4% | 17,950 | $20,281,250 | -31.3% |
San Francisco Giants [27] | 68 | 1.5% | 1,413,922 | 13.9% | 17,243 | $37,144,725 | 1.9% |
Pittsburgh Pirates [28] | 73 | 25.9% | 1,332,150 | 47.1% | 16,652 | $23,017,500 | 25.4% |
Milwaukee Brewers [29] | 80 | 23.1% | 1,327,155 | 22.0% | 16,385 | $21,730,000 | 22.1% |
Detroit Tigers [30] | 53 | -11.7% | 1,168,610 | -1.0% | 14,427 | $23,438,000 | -36.7% |
Oakland Athletics [31] | 78 | 16.4% | 1,148,380 | -2.2% | 14,178 | $21,243,000 | -43.7% |
This was the first season under new five-year rights agreements with ESPN, Fox, and NBC. ESPN continued to air Sunday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball . Fox basically reinstated the Saturday afternoon Game of the Week with its own Fox Saturday Baseball broadcasts, initially offering up to four regionalized telecasts per week. NBC declined to broadcast any regular season games, and instead agreed to a limited deal in which the network aired the All-Star Game and the American League Championship Series in even-numbered years, the World Series and National League Championship Series in odd-numbered years, and three Division Series games in each of these five years. Fox handled the All-Star Game and the American League Championship Series in odd-numbered years, the World Series and National League Championship Series in even-numbered years, and five Division Series games each year. ESPN then aired any Division Series games not picked up by either Fox or NBC.
Network | Day of week | Announcers |
---|---|---|
ESPN | Sunday nights Wednesday nights | Jon Miller, Joe Morgan |
Fox | Saturday afternoons | Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Thom Brennaman, Bob Brenly |
NBC | None [n1 1] | Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, Bob Uecker |
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