1996 American League Championship Series

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

1996 American League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season
New York Yankees (4) Joe Torre 92–70, .568, GA: 4
Baltimore Orioles (1) Davey Johnson 88–74, .543, GB: 4
DatesOctober 9–13
MVPBernie Williams (New York)
UmpiresLarry Barnett
Dale Scott
Mike Reilly
Dan Morrison
Rocky Roe
Rich Garcia
Broadcast
TelevisionNBC (United States)
MLB International (International)
TV announcersBob Costas, Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker (NBC)
Gary Thorne and Rick Cerone (MLB International)
RadioCBS
Radio announcersJohn Rooney and Gary Cohen
ALDS
← 1995 ALCS 1997 →

The 1996 American League Championship Series (ALCS) was played to decide the winner of the American League pennant and the right to play in the 1996 World Series. It was contested by the East division champion New York Yankees and the wild card Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees won the series 4-1 and went on to win the World Series against the Atlanta Braves.

Background

The two teams were victorious in the AL Division Series (ALDS), with the Yankees defeating the West Division champion Texas Rangers three games to one, and the Orioles defeating the Central Division champion Cleveland Indians three games to one. The Orioles were the first wild card team to advance to the LCS. The Yankees won the series four games to one to become the American League champions, and won against the National League champion Atlanta Braves in the 1996 World Series.

Summary

New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles

New York won the series, 4–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 9 Baltimore Orioles – 4, New York Yankees – 5 (11 innings) Yankee Stadium (I) 4:23 56,495[1] 
2 October 10 Baltimore Orioles – 5, New York Yankees – 3 Yankee Stadium (I) 4:13 58,432[2] 
3 October 11 New York Yankees – 5, Baltimore Orioles – 2 Oriole Park at Camden Yards 2:50 48,635[3] 
4 October 12 New York Yankees – 8, Baltimore Orioles – 4 Oriole Park at Camden Yards 3:45 48,974[4] 
5 October 13 New York Yankees – 6, Baltimore Orioles – 4 Oriole Park at Camden Yards 2:57 48,718[5]

Game summaries

Game 1

Wednesday, October 9, 1996, at

Bronx, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Baltimore 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 11 1
New York 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 5 11 0
WP: Mariano Rivera (1–0)   LP: Randy Myers (0–1)
Home runs:
BAL: Brady Anderson (1), Rafael Palmeiro (1)
NYY: Derek Jeter (1), Bernie Williams (1)

The Yankees struck first in Game 1 when

Armando Benitez walked Darryl Strawberry with the bases loaded to cut Baltimore's lead to 4–3. Next inning, the game would become most notable for the infamous "Jeffrey Maier Incident." Rookie Derek Jeter hit a fly ball to deep right field off Benítez. Right fielder Tony Tarasco backed up to the wall, but 12-year-old Yankees fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence and brought the ball into the stands and out of the field of play before Tarasco could attempt to catch the ball for a possible out. Tarasco immediately pointed above and protested that it was fan interference, but right field umpire Rich Garcia controversially ruled it a home run and his call was upheld by the other members of the umpiring crew. The game then went into extra innings, where Bernie Williams ended it in the 11th inning with a walk-off home run into the left field seats off Baltimore's Randy Myers
.

Game 2

Thursday, October 10, 1996, at

Bronx, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Baltimore 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 5 10 0
New York 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 11 1
WP: David Wells (1–0)   LP: Jeff Nelson (0–1)   Sv: Armando Benítez (1)
Home runs:
BAL: Todd Zeile (1), Rafael Palmeiro (2)
NYY: None

The Yankees struck first in Game 2 on three consecutive leadoff singles in the first off

stranding 11 men on base, bringing their total to 24 for the series.[6]

Game 3

Friday, October 11, 1996, at

Baltimore, Maryland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 5 8 0
Baltimore 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 2
WP: Jimmy Key (1–0)   LP: Mike Mussina (0–1)   Sv: John Wetteland (1)
Home runs:
NYY: Cecil Fielder (1)
BAL: Todd Zeile (2)

The Orioles got on the board in the first inning with a

Cal Ripken on the infield, Williams, who had been content to stay at third on the double, alertly scampered home to give the Yankees a 3–2 lead. Mussina then served up a hanging curveball to the next batter Cecil Fielder, who blasted it into the left field stands making the score 5–2. John Wetteland
earned a save with a perfect ninth to give the Yankees a 2–1 series lead.

Game 4

Saturday, October 12, 1996, at

Baltimore, Maryland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 8 9 0
Baltimore 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 11 0
WP: David Weathers (1–0)   LP: Rocky Coppinger (0–1)
Home runs:
NYY: Bernie Williams (2), Darryl Strawberry 2 (2), Paul O'Neill (1)
BAL: Chris Hoiles (1)

The Yankees struck first on

Armando Benitez relieved Orosco and allowed an RBI groundout to Cecil Fielder before Strawberry's second home run of the game made it 8–4 Yankees. The Orioles in the bottom of the inning hit three straight leadoff singles to load the bases with no outs off Mariano Rivera, who struck out Hoiles and Brady Anderson, then got Todd Zeile to pop up to short to end the inning. John Wetteland
retired the Orioles in order in the ninth to give the Yankees a 3–1 series lead.

Game 5

Sunday, October 13, 1996, at

Baltimore, Maryland

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 11 0
Baltimore 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 4 4 1
WP: Andy Pettitte (1–0)   LP: Scott Erickson (0–1)
Home runs:
NYY: Jim Leyritz (1), Cecil Fielder (2), Darryl Strawberry (3)
BAL: Todd Zeile (3), Eddie Murray (1), Bobby Bonilla (1)

The Yankees clinched the series with a six-run third off

Cal Ripken
grounded out to end the series and send the Yankees to the World Series for the first time since 1981.

Composite box

1996 ALCS (4–1): New York Yankees over Baltimore Orioles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
New York Yankees 5 2 6 3 0 0 2 8 0 0 1 27 50 1
Baltimore Orioles 3 1 4 3 0 2 2 2 2 0 0 19 39 4
Total attendance: 261,254   Average attendance: 52,251

Aftermath

2006 MLB draft
, but he was not selected by any team.

After winning this series, the Yankees went on to defeat the

ALCS the following year, but were defeated by the Cleveland Indians
.

The Orioles and Yankees have been division rivals since there has been an American League East, but the rivalry peaked from 1996 to 1998, and was highlighted by a near 15-minute brawl on May 19, 1998. The fight started when Orioles’ closer Armando Benitez threw a fastball near Tino Martinez’s shoulder after Benitez allowed a three-run homer to Yankees star Bernie Williams. Yankee reliever Graeme Lloyd sprinted in from the home bullpen toward Benitez. Eventually the fight rolled toward the Orioles' dugout with designated hitter Darryl Strawberry throwing a sucker punch at Benitez. The force of Strawberry's swing carried him into the Orioles' dugout, with players from both teams following. Alan Mills led the way, and pounded Strawberry in the face multiple times. Strawberry emerged with a bloodied mouth and a sore left hand after being restrained by Orioles bench coach and his former teammate Eddie Murray, third baseman Cal Ripken and Yankees manager Joe Torre.[8]

Long-time Orioles staff ace

National Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 76.71% of the vote. He chose not to have a logo on his bust, saying, "I don't feel like I can pick one team over the other because they were both great to me. I did a lot in Baltimore and they gave me the chance and then in New York we went to the playoffs seven of eight years, and both teams were involved. To go in with no logo was the only decision I felt good about".[10]

In the 2012 American League Division Series, the Orioles would once again face the Yankees. New York won the series in five games.

References

  1. ^ "1996 ALCS Game 1 – Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "1996 ALCS Game 2 – Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "1996 ALCS Game 3 – New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  4. ^ "1996 ALCS Game 4 – New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  5. ^ "1996 ALCS Game 5 – New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  6. ^ Curry, Jack (October 11, 2009). "Not This Time: Oriole Muscle Foils Yankees". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
  7. ^ Kepner, Tyler (October 15, 2017). "21 Years Later, Jeff Maier Gets to Relive His Big Moment (Published 2017)". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Strauss, Joe. "Orioles go down fighting Benitez ignites brawl with Yanks in eighth; bullpen fails again, 9-5; O's blow 5-1 lead, fall 12 out; Reliever drills Martinez after HR, starting fights". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  9. ^ "ESPN.com: MLB - Mussina, Yankees agree on six-year, $88.5M deal". static.espn.go.com. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  10. ^ Memmott, Zachary. "Baseball Hall of Fame: Mike Mussina was equally brilliant for both Yankees and Orioles". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved July 22, 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1996_American_League_Championship_Series&oldid=1137193546"