| 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.
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