1976 Major League Baseball season

1976 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 8 – October 21, 1976
Number of games162
Number of teams24
TV partner(s)ABC, NBC
Draft
Top draft pickFloyd Bannister
Picked byHouston Astros
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Thurman Munson (NYY)
NL: Joe Morgan (CIN)
Postseason
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upKansas City Royals
NL championsCincinnati Reds
  NL runners-upPhiladelphia Phillies
World Series
ChampionsCincinnati Reds
  Runners-upNew York Yankees
World Series MVPJohnny Bench (CIN)
MLB seasons

The 1976 Major League Baseball season ended with the Cincinnati Reds winning their second consecutive World Series championship.

This was the last season of the expansion era (dating back to 1961) until 1993 in which the American League (AL) and the National League (NL) had the same number of teams.

A lockout occurred during March 1–17, but it did not impact the regular season.[1]

The All-Star Game, held at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, was a 7–1 victory for the NL over the AL.

The Reds won the 1976 World Series by sweeping the New York Yankees in four games; the Reds remain the only team to go undefeated in the postseason since the advent of the divisional era in 1969. It was the Reds' last title until Lou Piniella led the team to a championship in 1990. This was the second time that the Yankees were swept in a World Series, the first having been by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1963 World Series.

  1. ^ "Labor Pains". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2011 – via Wayback Machine.