1996 Toronto Blue Jays season

1996 Toronto Blue Jays
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 74–88 (.457)
Divisional place 4th
Other information
Owner(s) Interbrew,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
General manager(s) Gord Ash
Manager(s) Cito Gaston
Local television CBC Television
(Brian Williams, Tommy Hutton)
Baton
(Don Chevrier, Tommy Hutton, Fergie Olver)
The Sports Network
(Dan Shulman, Buck Martinez)
Local radio CJCL (AM)
(Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek)
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The 1996 Toronto Blue Jays season was the 20th season in franchise history. The season involved the Blue Jays finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. The Blue Jays had a losing record for the third consecutive season.

Offseason

Regular season

A new tradition would start in 1996 as the Blue Jays donned red uniforms for the first time. These uniforms would be worn only on Canada Day and would feature "Canada" on the back of their jerseys rather than a player's name. Eventual Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen would start the Canada Day match against the Baltimore Orioles.

The final series of the season would be embroiled in controversy. Against the American League East champion Baltimore Orioles, two events would define the Orioles season. The game on Friday, September 27, 1996 would go down as one of the most infamous events in baseball history, as former Blue Jay Roberto Alomar would spit at umpire John Hirschbeck. The Sunday game would be a coming-out party for Brady Anderson, as he would hit his 50th home run of the regular season off Pat Hentgen. The total would break Frank Robinson's team record for most home runs in a season.

1996 also marked the end of an era for the Blue Jays, as they would redesign their logo and uniforms in the following year and also radically shake up their roster.

Season standings

AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 92 70 0.568 49–31 43–39
Baltimore Orioles 88 74 0.543 4 43–38 45–36
Boston Red Sox 85 77 0.525 7 47–34 38–43
Toronto Blue Jays 74 88 0.457 18 35–46 39–42
Detroit Tigers 53 109 0.327 39 27–54 26–55

Record vs. opponents

1996 American League Records

Sources:

Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore 7–6 6–6 4–8 5–7 11–2 9–3 9–3 7–5 3–10 9–4 7–5 3–10–1 8–5
Boston 6–7 8–4 6–6 1–11 12–1 3–9 7–5 6–6 7–6 8–5 7–6 6–6 8–5
California 6–6 4–8 6–6 4–9 6–6 4–8 7–5 4–8 7–6 6–7 5–8 4–9 7–5
Chicago 8–4 6–6 6–6 5–8 10–3 7–6 6–7 6–7 6–7 5–7 5–7 8–4 7–5
Cleveland 7–5 11–1 9–4 8–5 12–0 7–6 7–6 10–3 3–9 6–6 8–4 4–8 7–5
Detroit 2–11 1–12 6–6 3–10 0–12 6–6 4–8 6–6 5–8 4–8 6–6 4–9 6–7
Kansas City 3–9 9–3 8–4 6–7 6–7 6–6 4–9 6–7 4–8 5–7 7–5 6–6 5–8
Milwaukee 3–9 5–7 5–7 7–6 6–7 8–4 9–4 9–4 6–6 7–5 4–9 6–7 5–7
Minnesota 5–7 6–6 8–4 7–6 3–10 6–6 7–6 4–9 5–7 6–7 6–6 7–5 8–5
New York 10–3 6–7 6–7 7–6 9–3 8–5 8–4 6–6 7–5 9–3 3–9 5–7 8–5
Oakland 4–9 5–8 7–6 7–5 6–6 8–4 7–5 5–7 7–6 3–9 8–5 7–6 4–8
Seattle 5–7 6–7 8–5 7–5 4–8 6–6 5–7 9–4 6–6 9–3 5–8 10–3 5–7
Texas 10–3–1 6–6 9–4 4–8 8–4 9–4 6–6 7–6 5–7 7–5 6–7 3–10 10–2
Toronto 5–8 5–8 5–7 5–7 5–7 7–6 8–5 7–5 5–8 5–8 8–4 7–5 2–10

Game log

1996 Game Log: 74–88 (Home: 35–46; Away: 39–42)
Legend:           = Win           = Loss
Bold = Blue Jays team member

Detailed records

American League
Opponent W L WP RS RA
AL East
Baltimore Orioles 5 8 0.385 55 58
Boston Red Sox 5 8 0.385 72 77
Detroit Tigers 7 6 0.538 81 71
New York Yankees 5 8 0.385 46 61
Toronto Blue Jays
Total 22 30 0.423 254 267
AL Central
Chicago White Sox 5 7 0.417 46 55
Cleveland Indians 5 7 0.417 45 66
Kansas City Royals 8 5 0.615 51 40
Milwaukee Brewers 7 5 0.583 79 63
Minnesota Twins 5 8 0.385 44 59
Total 30 32 0.484 265 283
AL West
California Angels 5 7 0.417 61 58
Oakland Athletics 8 4 0.667 59 50
Seattle Mariners 7 5 0.583 82 79
Texas Rangers 2 10 0.167 45 72
Total 22 26 0.458 247 259
Season Total 74 88 0.457 766 809

Month Games Won Lost Win % RS RA
April 25 11 14 0.440 150 160
May 28 13 15 0.464 123 127
June 27 12 15 0.444 145 146
July 27 13 14 0.481 132 135
August 29 14 15 0.483 126 142
September 26 11 15 0.423 90 99
Total 162 74 88 0.457 766 809
Games Won Lost Win % RS RA
Home 81 35 46 0.432 364 433
Away 81 39 42 0.481 402 376
Total 162 74 88 0.457 766 809

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1996 Toronto Blue Jays
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

Game log

1996 Game Log

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

= Indicates team leader
Pos Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
C Charlie O'Brien 109 324 33 77 .238 13 44 0
1B John Olerud 125 398 59 109 .274 18 61 1
2B Tomás Pérez 91 295 24 74 .251 1 19 1
3B Ed Sprague 159 591 88 146 .247 36 101 0
SS Gonzalez, AlexAlex Gonzalez 147 527 64 124 .235 14 64 16
LF Joe Carter 157 625 84 158 .253 30 107 7
CF Otis Nixon 125 496 87 142 .286 1 29 54
RF Shawn Green 132 422 52 118 .280 11 45 5
DH Carlos Delgado 138 488 68 132 .270 25 92 0

[14]

Other batters

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jacob Brumfield 90 308 79 .256 12 52
Domingo Cedeño 77 282 79 .280 2 17
Sandy Martínez 76 229 52 .227 3 18
Robert Pérez 86 202 66 .327 2 21
Juan Samuel 69 188 48 .255 8 26
Tilson Brito 26 80 19 .238 1 7
Mike Huff 11 29 5 .172 0 0
Shannon Stewart 7 17 3 .176 0 2

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Erik Hanson 35 214.2 13 17 5.41 156
Pat Hentgen 35 265.7 20 10 3.22 177
Juan Guzmán 27 187.7 11 8 2.93 165
Frank Viola 6 30.3 1 3 7.71 18

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Paul Quantrill 38 134.3 5 14 5.43 86
Jeff Ware 13 32.7 1 5 9.09 11
Luis Andújar 3 14.3 1 1 5.02 5

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Mike Timlin 59 1 6 31 3.65 52
Paul Spoljaric 28 2 2 1 3.08 38
Scott Brow 18 1 0 0 5.59 23
Dane Johnson 10 0 0 0 3.00 7
José Silva 2 0 0 0 13.50 0

Award winners

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Richie Hebner
AA Knoxville Smokies Southern League Omar Malavé
A Dunedin Blue Jays Florida State League Dennis Holmberg
A Hagerstown Suns South Atlantic League J. J. Cannon
A-Short Season St. Catharines Stompers New York–Penn League Rocket Wheeler
Rookie Medicine Hat Blue Jays Pioneer League Marty Pevey

[19]

References

  1. Howard Battle at Baseball Reference
  2. Otis Nixon at Baseball Reference
  3. Charlie O'Brien at Baseball Reference
  4. Mike Huff at Baseball Reference
  5. Juan Samuel at Baseball Reference
  6. Dane Johnson at Baseball Reference
  7. 1 2 Frank Viola at Baseball Reference
  8. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1996&t=TOR
  9. Jacob Brumfield at Baseball Reference
  10. Billy Koch at Baseball Reference
  11. Joe Lawrence at Baseball Reference
  12. Orlando Hudson at Baseball Reference
  13. Luis Lopez at Baseball Reference
  14. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1996.shtml
  15. Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
  16. Carchidi, Sam (July 9, 1996). "Carter Likes Even the Boos at the Vet". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D6.
  17. 1 2 Bodley, Hal (July 10, 1996). "To Phillie fans, Carter still Public Enemy No. 1". USA Today. p. 3C. Joe Carter...walked out onto the sizzling Veterans Stadium turf...held his head high...and heard the boos even before he was introduced. Hard-core Philly baseball fans...(will) never forgive Carter for the dramatic ninth-inning home run that won the 1993 World Series.
  18. Griffin, Richard (July 9, 1996). "This time, Phillies pitcher shuts down Carter". Toronto Star. p. C3. As Carter took his first swing and the on-field introduction was made, the boos rained down.
  19. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

Preceded by
1995 Toronto Blue Jays season
1996 Toronto Blue Jays Season
1996
Succeeded by
1997 Toronto Blue Jays season
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