1996 American League Division Series

1996 American League Division Series
1996 American League Division Series
Teams
Team (Wins)
Team (Wins)
Baltimore Orioles (3)
Cleveland Indians (1)
Dates	October 1 – 5
Television	ESPN (Games 1–3); ESPN2 (Game 4)
TV announcers	Jon Miller, Dave Campbell, and Kirby Puckett (Game 1); Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (Game 2); Jon Miller and Buck Martinez (in Cleveland)
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	Ernie Harwell and Rick Cerone
Teams
Team (Wins)
Team (Wins)
New York Yankees (3)
Texas Rangers (1)
Dates	October 1 – 5
Television	NBC (Games 1, 3); Fox (Game 2); ESPN (Game 4)
TV announcers	Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, and Bob Uecker (Games 1, 3); Thom Brennaman and Bob Brenly (Game 2); Chris Berman and Dave Campbell (Game 4)
Radio	CBS; WABC (Yankees' broadcast); KRLD (Rangers' broadcast)
Radio announcers	CBS: Gary Cohen and Jim Hunter; WABC: John Sterling and Michael Kay; KRLD: Eric Nadel and Brad Sham
Umpires	Drew Coble, Greg Kosc, Tim Tschida, Tim Welke, John Shulock, Ted Hendry (Indians–Orioles, in Baltimore; Yankees–Rangers, in Arlington); Jim Evans, Ken Kaiser, Durwood Merrill, Larry Young, Al Clark, Mark Johnson (Yankees–Rangers, in New York; Indians–Orioles, in Cleveland)

The 1996 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1996 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:

(1) Cleveland Indians (Central Division champion, 99–62) vs. (4) Baltimore Orioles (Wild Card, 88–74): Orioles win series, 3–1.
(2) Texas Rangers (Western Division champion, 90–72) vs. (3) New York Yankees (Eastern Division champion, 92–70): Yankees win series, 3–1.

^[1]

The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees went on to meet in the AL Championship Series (ALCS). The Yankees became the American League champion, and defeated the National League champion Atlanta Braves in the 1996 World Series, the Yankees' first title since 1978.

^ The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined—a highly unpopular arrangement which was discontinued after the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field "advantage" was required to play the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. Had the 1996 ALDS been played under the 1998-2011 arrangement, then Cleveland (1) would have still faced off against Baltimore (4) and New York (2) would have likewise still faced off against Texas (3) but would also have had home field advantage. Under the format adopted in 2012, which removed the prohibition against teams from the same division meeting in the Division Series, the matchups also would have been Cleveland-Baltimore and New York-Texas, with the Yankees having home field advantage.

[1] The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined—a highly unpopular arrangement which was discontinued after the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field "advantage" was required to play the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. Had the 1996 ALDS been played under the 1998-2011 arrangement, then Cleveland (1) would have still faced off against Baltimore (4) and New York (2) would have likewise still faced off against Texas (3) but would also have had home field advantage. Under the format adopted in 2012, which removed the prohibition against teams from the same division meeting in the Division Series, the matchups also would have been Cleveland-Baltimore and New York-Texas, with the Yankees having home field advantage.

[1]