YEAR IN REVIEW : 1996 American League

Off the field...

After years of investigation, federal law enforcement officials finally captured the Unabomber otherwise known as Ted Kaczynski. The anti-social academic, who developed mail bombs, was captured in a remote cabin after his own brother recognized his writing style in a lengthy manifesto that he anonymously submitted to the Washington Post.

The Summer Olympic Games celebrated its Centenary in Atlanta Georgia as a record-setting seventy-nine nations won medals and fifty-three won gold. Unfortunately, the festivities were interrupted after a terrorist bomb was detonated in Centennial Olympic Park killing one person and injuring one-hundred ten more.

After capturing an unprecedented third straight U.S. Amateur in August, twenty year-old Tiger Woods turned pro and promptly won two tourneys for $790,594. Sports Illustrated selected Woods as the 1996 Sportsman of the Year and he was only getting started.

In the American League...

The Texas Rangers showed no mercy in running up the largest score in the American League in forty-one years while massacring the league-leading Baltimore Orioles, 26-7. Sixteen of the runs came in the fifty-six minute eighth resulting in the largest eighth inning tally in baseball history.

As the Seattle Mariners hosted the Cleveland Indians on May 2nd, an earthquake, measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, rattled the Kingdome causing the officials to suspend the game. The incident occurred in the seventh inning as the Tribe led 6-3 and after the stadium's structure was thoroughly inspected, play resumed the following day.

The Oakland Athletics' Pedro Munoz hit the longest home run in the five-year history of Camden Yards on the way to a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. The 463-foot blast to dead center field came in the sixth inning (with two on) breaking through a 2-2 tie.

In the National League...

New York Mets closer John Franco recorded his 300th save in a 3-2 win over the division-leading Montreal Expos. The left-handed reliever became the first to reach the 300-save mark exactly twelve years to the day (April 29th) after his first one, for the Cincinnati Reds, in 1984.

Los Angeles Dodger, Chan Ho Park became the first South Korean pitcher to win in the majors. The right-handed sensation from Kongju tossed four scoreless innings in relief of injured starter Ramon Martinez for the 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Eric Davis belted his second grand slam in as many games leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 12-6 triumph over the home team San Francisco Giants. In doing so, the outfielder became the fifteenth player in Major League history to slam round-trippers in back-to-back outings and he went on to add a third slam later in the month.

Around the League...

Prior to the start of the season, major league baseball's Rules Committee announced that the strike zone would be enlarged, dropping it from the top of the knees to just below them. The change came in response to a series of recommendations to help speed up play and increase the television viewing audience that was rapidly depleting.

Popular umpire John McSherry died of a massive heart attack after calling time from behind home plate seven pitches into a Reds-Expos game at Riverfront Stadium. The twenty-one year veteran had been suffering from a series of medical problems that was aggravated by his obesity.

Roberto Alomar set off a national debate after spitting in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck following an argument and ejection over a called strike in the first inning of Baltimore's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. U.S. District Judge Edmund W. Ludwig later prevented other umpires from sitting out the playoffs in protest of the incident, citing a no-strike clause in their contract.

Milt Gaston, a former American League pitcher who played for five teams in the 1920s and 1930s (Yankees, Browns, Nationals, Red Sox, White Sox) died at age one-hundred. Gaston boasted eighteen Hall of Fame teammates and managers, more than any player in history of the game.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"The game has to be fun if you're going to be any good at all." - Don Zimmer

1996 American League Player Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls Tony Phillips Chicago 125 Top 25
Batting Average Alex Rodriguez Seattle .358 Top 25
Doubles Alex Rodriguez Seattle 54 Top 25
Hits Paul Molitor Minnesota 225 Top 25
Home Runs Mark McGwire Oakland 52 Top 25
On Base Percentage Mark McGwire Oakland .468 Top 25
RBI Albert Belle Cleveland 148 Top 25
Runs Alex Rodriguez Seattle 141 Top 25
Slugging Average Mark McGwire Oakland .730 Top 25
Stolen Bases Kenny Lofton Cleveland 75 Top 25
Total Bases Alex Rodriguez Seattle 379 Top 25
Triples Chuck Knoblauch Minnesota 14 Top 25

1996 American League Pitcher Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Pat Hentgen Toronto 10 Top 25
ERA Juan Guzman Toronto 2.93 Top 25
Games Eddie Guardado Minnesota 83 Top 25
Mike Myers Detroit
Saves John Wetteland New York 43 Top 25
Shutouts Pat Hentgen Toronto 3 Top 25
Ken Hill Texas
Rich Robertson Minnesota
Strikeouts Roger Clemens Boston 257 Top 25
Winning Percentage Charles Nagy Cleveland .773 Top 25
Wins Andy Pettitte New York 21 Top 25

1996 American League

Team Standings

New York Yankees 92 70 .568 0 $61,511,870
Baltimore Orioles 88 74 .543 4 $55,127,855
Boston Red Sox 85 77 .525 7 $38,516,402
Toronto Blue Jays 74 88 .457 18 $28,778,577
Detroit Tigers 53 109 .327 39 $17,955,500
Cleveland Indians 99 62 .615 0 $47,686,907
Chicago White Sox 85 77 .525 14½ $44,827,833
Milwaukee Brewers 80 82 .494 19½ $11,701,000
Minnesota Twins 78 84 .484 21½ $21,254,000
Kansas City Royals 75 86 .466 24 $19,980,250
Texas Rangers 90 72 .556 0 $41,080,028
Seattle Mariners 85 76 .528 $43,131,001
Oakland Athletics 78 84 .481 12 $22,524,093
California Angels 70 91 .435 19½ $25,140,142
American League Team Standings

1996 American League Team Review

Hitting Statistics League Leaderboard

Base on Balls Chicago 701
Batting Average Cleveland .293
Doubles Seattle 343
Hits Cleveland 1,665
Home Runs Baltimore 257
On Base Percentage Cleveland .372
Runs Seattle 993
Slugging Average Seattle .484
Stolen Bases Kansas City 195
Triples Minnesota 47

1996 American League Team Review

Pitching Statistics League Leaderboard

Complete Games Texas 19
Toronto
ERA Cleveland 4.34
Fewest Hits Allowed New York 1,469
Fewest Home Runs Allowed New York 143
Fewest Walks Allowed Kansas City 460
Saves New York 52
Shutouts Cleveland 9
New York
Strikeouts Boston 1,165
Seasonal Events: All-Star Game | Draft | Home Run Derby | World Series
Navigation: Year in Review Menu | Previous Season | Next Season
Miscellaneous: N.L. Leaderboard | Retirements | Rookies List
Average Salary: $1,176,967.00
Minimum Salary: $109,000.00
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

On July 15, 1996, Cal Ripken, Jr. played a game at third base making it the first time since 1982 that he has not started at shortstop.

On September 6, 1996, Eddie Murray hit home run number 500 making him only the 3rd player in Major League history with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

On September 27, 1996, Roberto Alomar had a dispute with umpire John Hirschbeck. Alomar spit in the face of the umpire and was suspended for five games. Alomar appealed the decision and was allowed to play the next day and help the Orioles clinch the wild card.