1996 American League Division Series

File:Alds1996.jpg

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.

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.

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.

Managers:

• Joe Torre, New York; Johnny Oates, Texas
• Davey Johnson, Baltimore; Mike Hargrove, Cleveland

Umpires: Drew Coble, Greg Kosc, Tim Tschida, Tim Welke, John Shulock, Ted Hendry (Indians-Orioles, Games 1-2; Yankees-Rangers, Games 3-4); Jim Evans, Ken Kaiser, Durwood Merrill, Larry Young, Al Clark, Mark Johnson (Yankees-Rangers, Games 1-2; Indians-Orioles, Games 3-4)

Television:

Series	Network(s)	Play-by-play	Color Commentator(s)
New York Yankees/Texas Rangers	NBC (Games 1, 3) FOX (Game 2) ESPN (Game 4)	Bob Costas (Games 1, 3) Thom Brennaman (Game 2) Jon Miller (Game 4)	Bob Uecker and Joe Morgan (Games 1, 3) Bob Brenly (Game 2) Dave Campbell (Game 4)
Baltimore Orioles/Cleveland Indians	ESPN (Games 1, 2, 3) and ESPN2 (Game 4)	Jon Miller (Games 1, 2) Chris Berman (Games 3, 4)	Dave Campbell (Game 1) and Kirby Puckett (Game 1) Joe Morgan (Game 2) Buck Martinez (Games 3, 4)

Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles

Game 1, October 1

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
It was Baltimore's first playoff game since the clinching Game 5 of the 1983 World Series. For the Indians, it was their second consecutive division title. Charles Nagy and David Wells matched each other, but in the wrong way. Brady Anderson's leadoff homer in the bottom of the 1st gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead. In the top of the 2nd, Manny Ramirez led off with a homer of his own to tie the game. Then B.J. Surhoff's one out homer gave the Orioles the lead back. In the 3rd, the Orioles added two more runs on an RBI double by Rafael Palmeiro and an RBI single by Cal Ripken Jr. But Sandy Alomar Jr. would single home a run and Omar Vizquel would follow with a sac fly that made it a one run game in the 4th. That made it 4-3 and the Orioles needed to put the game away. With one out in the 6th, the Orioles loaded the bases and chased Nagy out of the game. But his reliever, Alan Embree, made things worse for Cleveland. He allowed a sac fly that made it 5-3, then hit Palmeiro. With the bases loaded, Bobby Bonilla got his only hit of the game: a grand slam which made it 9-3 Orioles. The Indians would threaten in the next two innings but it was all too late. Surhoff would hit another homer in the 7th to seal the deal and the Orioles won their first postseason game in 13 years.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	4	10	0
Baltimore	1	1	2	0	0	5	1	0	X	10	10	1
WP: David Wells (1-0)   LP: Charles Nagy (0-1) Home runs: Cle: Manny Ramirez (1) Bal: Brady Anderson (1), B.J. Surhoff (1, 2), Bobby Bonilla (1)

Game 2, October 2

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
After a 37 minute rain delay, Game 2 commensed. Veterans Orel Hershiser and Scott Erickson met in this crucial game for the Indians. In the bottom of the 1st, Kevin Seitzer's error gave the Orioles the lead. In the bottom of the 5th, a Brady Anderson homer, a Cal Ripken Jr. single, and an Eddie Murray double made it 4-0. But the Indians rallied for three runs in the 6th on a groundout by Seitzer and a two out, two run homer by Albert Belle. In the 8th, a misjudged fly ball by Brady Anderson led to the Indians tying the game at 4. But in the bottom of the 8th, the Orioles got three runs on a groundout, a sac fly, and an RBI hit by Roberto Alomar. In the 9th, Randy Myers had a 1-2-3 inning for the save.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cleveland	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	4	8	2
Baltimore	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	X	7	9	0
WP: Armando Benitez (1-0)   LP: Eric Plunk (0-1)   Sv: Randy Myers (1) Home runs: Cle: Albert Belle (1) Bal: Brady Anderson (2)

Game 3, October 4

Jacobs Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Game 3 was critical with Cleveland facing elimination. Mike Mussina was sent to the mound against Jack McDowell to try and end the series in Cleveland. The Indians scored first thanks to an error by Bobby Bonilla. But in the top of the 2nd, the Orioles managed to load the bases and force home a run when McDowell hit Brady Anderson with a pitch. But a Manny Ramirez homer and an RBI double by Jose Vizcaino made it 3-1 in the bottom half. But in the top of the 4th, B.J. Surhoff silenced the crowd with a towering three run homer that gave the Orioles their first lead of the night. But Kevin Seitzer would deliver the game tying RBI single in the bottom of the 4th. The game would remain tied until the bottom of the 7th when Albert Belle unleashed a grand slam that broke the game wide open. The Indians added another run on another RBI hit by Seitzer to ensure a Game 4.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	2
Cleveland	1	2	0	1	0	0	4	1	X	9	10	0
WP: Paul Assenmacher (1-0)   LP: Jesse Orosco (0-1) Home runs: Bal: B.J. Surhoff (3) Cle: Manny Ramirez (2), Albert Belle (2)

Game 4, October 5

Jacobs Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Game 4 saw a rematch of Game 1: David Wells vs. Charles Nagy. In the top of the 2nd, back-to-back homers by Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Bonilla to lead off the inning gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead. But Sandy Alomar Jr.'s two run single tied the game in the 4th. In the 5th, the Indians broke the tie with an RBI hit by Omar Vizquel. The bats on both sides were now silenced for the first time in the series. In the top of the 9th, Jose Mesa came on in a save situation and looked to extend the series to a deciding 5th game. However, the Orioles threatened and managed to tie the game with one out left to go. The score was tied 3-3 and it looked like the Indians might win the game in the bottom half with two runners in scoring position and two out for Kenny Lofton. But he struck out to force extra innings. In the top of the 12th, the Orioles recaptured the lead when Roberto Alomar hit the go-ahead homerun. Randy Myers would finish off the Indians and send the Orioles to the 1996 American League Championship Series.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Baltimore	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	4	14	1
Cleveland	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
WP: Armando Benitez (2-0)   LP: Jose Mesa (0-1)   Sv: Randy Myers (2) Home runs: Bal: Rafael Palmeiro (1), Bobby Bonilla (2), Roberto Alomar (1) Cle: None

Texas Rangers vs. New York Yankees

Game 1, October 1

Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York
This was the Rangers' first ever postseason game. And in their first playoff game, John Burkett faced David Cone. The Yankees would get a run in the 1st on a groundout by Bernie Williams. But the Yankees' luck would run out in the 4th. Juan Gonzalez smashed a three run homer to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. Later in the inning, Dean Palmer's two run shot made it 5-1. The Yankees would get a run in the bottom half on Mariano Duncan's RBI hit but they would get no more. The Rangers added an insurance run in the 6th on Mark McLemore's RBI single. Burkett would go the distance for the win. He would allow only 2 runs despite giving up 10 hits. The Rangers' win in Game 1 was their first and only postseason win.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	6	8	0
New York	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
WP: John Burkett (1-0)   LP: David Cone (0-1) Home runs: Tex: Juan Gonzalez (1), Dean Palmer (1) NYY: None

Game 2, October 2

Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York
Game 2 proved memorable as Ken Hill faced 21-game winner Andy Pettitte. In the top of the 2nd, Juan González's 2nd homer of the series gave the Rangers a 1-0 edge. But a pair of defensive double clutches allowed the Yankees to tie the game in the bottom half on Jim Leyritz's forceout. In the 3rd, Gonzalez hit his 3rd homer of the series, this time a towering three run shot, to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. With the Yankees behind once again and the Rangers looking like the better team, they would chip away at their lead. Cecil Fielder's solo shot in the 4th gave the Yankees hope. With the score 4-2 until the 7th, time was running out. But Charlie Hayes lifted a sac fly to make it a one run game. In the 8th, the Yankees were five outs away from losing when Fielder tied the game with an RBI hit. The game moved to extra innings and the Rangers blew scoring opportunities in the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings. They would put their leadoff men on but get nothing. In the 12th, the Yankees put their first two men on when Hayes laid down a sacrifice bunt. But Dean Palmer made an error on that bunt down the third base line and Jeter managed to score all the way from second base on it and the Yankees walked the game off in dramatic fashion.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Texas	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	1
New York	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	5	8	0
WP: Brian Boehringer (1-0)   LP: Mike Stanton (0-1) Home runs: Tex: Juan González (2, 3) NYY: Cecil Fielder (1)

Game 3, October 4

The Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Game 3 saw Jimmy Key face Darren Oliver. In the 1st, Oliver gave up a solo shot to Bernie Williams. That's all the Yankees would be able to muster as Oliver began to settle in. In the bottom of the 4th, Juan Gonzalez's 4th homer in 3 games tied the game and earned him the reputation of "Senor October." Then in the 5th, Ivan Rodriguez's RBI double gave the Rangers a 2-1 edge. Oliver, along with the Rangers' bullpen, kept the Yankees scoreless until the 9th. The Yankees rallied to tie the game on Williams' sac fly and later in the inning they would take the lead on Mariano Duncan's RBI single. In the 9th, the Rangers put their leadoff man on with a walk. He would advance to third on a sacrifice and a groundout. That put the tying run 90 feet away and the winning run at the plate. But John Wetteland got Darryl Hamilton to strike out to end the game.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	7	1
Texas	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
WP: Jeff Nelson (1-0)   LP: Darren Oliver (0-1)   Sv: John Wetteland (1) Home runs: NYY: Bernie Williams (1) Tex: Juan Gonzalez (4)

Game 4, October 5

The Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Kenny Rogers faced Bobby Witt in the potential clincher. Rogers pitched a scoreless first but in the 2nd the Rangers struck for two on RBI hits by Mickey Tettleton and Ivan Rodriguez. In the 3rd, Rogers was replaced by Brian Boehringer. Juan Gonzalez led off the inning with his 5th homer of the series to make it 3-0. Then an error by Derek Jeter led to another Texas run later in the inning. The Rangers had built a commanding 4-0 lead. But in the top of the 4th, the Yankees scored three runs on two RBI hits and a forceout. Witt's night was also through. In the 5th, the Yankees tied the game at 4 when Bernie Williams hit a leadoff homer. In the 7th, the Yankees completed a 4 run comeback by taking the lead on Cecil Fielder's RBI single. In the 9th, Williams once again provided insurance by hitting his second homer of the game. That made it 6-4 Yankees. In the bottom half, the Rangers put the tying runs on against John Wetteland. But he got Will Clark and Dean Palmer, both potential homerun threats, to fly out and strike out to end the game and the series.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	1	6	12	1
Texas	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	0
WP: David Weathers (1-0)   LP: Roger Pavlik (0-1)   Sv: John Wetteland (2) Home runs: NYY: Bernie Williams (2, 3) Tex: Juan Gonzalez (5)

External links

• Orioles-Indians at Baseball-Reference
• Yankees-Rangers at Baseball-Reference