1996 Major League Baseball season

1996 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 31 – October 26, 1996
Number of games162
Number of teams28
TV partner(s)Fox, ESPN, NBC[n1 1]
Draft
Top draft pickKris Benson
Picked byPittsburgh Pirates
Regular Season
Season MVPAL: Juan González (TEX)
NL: Ken Caminiti (SD)
Postseason
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upBaltimore Orioles
NL championsAtlanta Braves
  NL runners-upSt. Louis Cardinals
World Series
ChampionsNew York Yankees
  Runners-upAtlanta Braves
World Series MVPJohn Wetteland (NYY)
MLB seasons

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.


Cite error: There are <ref group=n1> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=n1}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "1987 Major League Baseball Standard Batting".
  2. ^ "1996 Major League Baseball Standard Batting".
  3. ^ "1996 Major League Baseball Standard Pitching".