1996 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 1996 season was the team's 29th in Oakland, California. It was also the 96th season in franchise history. The team finished third in the American League West with a record of 78-84.

1996 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record78–84 (.481)
Divisional place3rd
Other information
OwnersStephen Schott
Ken Hofmann
General managersSandy Alderson
ManagersArt Howe
Local televisionKRON-TV
Sports Channel Pacific
(Ray Fosse, Greg Papa)
Local radioKFRC
(Bill King, Ken Korach, Ray Fosse)
< Previous season     Next season >

The 1996 season was the Athletics' first under manager Art Howe. It was also the team's fourth consecutive losing season. The reasons behind Oakland's mediocrity remained the same; a below-average offense failed to offset an awful pitching staff. The Athletics' starting rotation, once again, was in shambles; none of the Athletics' six primary starters (Don Wengert, Doug Johns, John Wasdin, Ariel Prieto, Steve Wojciechowski, and Dave Telgheder) managed to win more than eight games. Oakland's bullpen also ranked among the league's worst. Reliever Carlos Reyes lead all pitchers in strikeouts with 78. All told, the A's boasted a team ERA of 5.20; this was the 10th best total in the 14-team American League.

The Athletics' offense was only slightly better. As had been the case in prior years, slugger Mark McGwire (his final full season as an Athletic) was the main draw; he crushed a league-high (and Oakland franchise record) 52 home runs in 1996. Designated hitter Gerónimo Berroa and catcher Terry Steinbach belted 36 and 35 home runs, respectively; secondary hitters Scott Brosius, Jason Giambi, and Ernie Young contributed 22, 20, and 19. The Athletics, as a team, hit 243 home runs (the American League's third-most); a low team batting average, however, ensured that they would finish the season with only 861 runs (the American League's 10th best total).

The Athletics hovered around the .500-mark for almost all of the season. They were not expected to contend in 1996, and indeed did not; they ultimately finished 12 games behind the first-time AL West Champion Texas Rangers.

Offseason
  • November 27, 1995: Buddy Groom was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.[1]
  • December 5, 1995: Torey Lovullo was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.[2]
  • January 22, 1996: Danny Tartabull was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Andrew Lorraine and Charles Poe (minors).[3]
  • January 22, 1996: Rafael Bournigal was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.[4]
  • January 29, 1996: Aaron Small was selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Seattle Mariners.[5]
  • January 29, 1996: Pedro Munoz was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.[6]
  • February 13, 1996: Dennis Eckersley was traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Montgomery.
  • March 10, 1996: Webster Garrison was signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics.[7]

Regular season

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Texas Rangers 9072 0.556 — 50–31 40–41
Seattle Mariners 8576 0.528 4½ 43–38 42–38
Oakland Athletics 7884 0.481 12 40–41 38–43
California Angels 7091 0.435 19½ 43–38 27–53

Record vs. opponents
1996 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —7–66–64–85–711–29–39–37–53–109–47–53–10–18–5
Boston 6–7—8–46–61–1112–13–97–56–67–68–57–66–68–5
California 6–64–8—6–64–96–64–87–54–87–66–75–84–97–5
Chicago 8–46–66–6—5–810–37–66–76–76–75–75–78–47–5
Cleveland 7–511–19–48–5—12–07–67–610–33–96–68–44–87–5
Detroit 2–111–126–63–100–12—6–64–86–65–84–86–64–96–7
Kansas City 3–99–38–46–76–76–6—4–96–74–85–77–56–65–8
Milwaukee 3–95–75–77–66–78–49–4—9–46–67–54–96–75–7
Minnesota 5–76–68–47–63–106–67–64–9—5–76–76–67–58–5
New York 10–36–76–77–69–38–58–46–67–5—9–33–95–78–5
Oakland 4–95–87–67–56–68–47–55–77–63–9—8–57–64–8
Seattle 5–76–78–57–54–86–65–79–46–69–35–8—10–35–7
Texas 10–3–16–69–44–88–49–46–67–65–77–56–73–10—10–2
Toronto 5–85–85–75–75–77–68–57–55–85–88–47–52–10—

Game log
1996 Game Log: 78–84 (Home: 40–41; Away: 38–43)
April: 13–12 (Home: 5–7; Away: 8–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 1Blue Jays6–9HansonReyes (0–1)Timlin7,2940–1
2April 3Blue Jays4–10HentgenPrieto (0–1)—8,0500–2
3April 4Tigers9–10 (15)KeagleSmall (0–1)—8,3460–3
4April 5Tigers13–2Johns (1–0)Gohr—11,1491–3
5April 6Tigers1–6LiraReyes (0–2)—10,4241–4
6April 7Tigers7–6Corsi (1–0)Williams—9,7232–4
7April 9@ Brewers4–10McDonaldVan Poppel (0–1)—42,0902–5
8April 11@ Brewers11–0Johns (2–0)Karl—12,2363–5
9April 12@ White Sox7–2Reyes (1–2)Fernandez—13,6234–5
10April 13@ White Sox5–6 (12)KarchnerWengert (0–1)—15,8124–6
11April 14@ White Sox10–5Groom (1–0)Simas—15,2365–6
12April 15@ Rangers8–3Mohler (1–0)Heredia—19,3126–6
13April 16@ Rangers3–5WittJohns (2–1)Henneman20,9486–7
14April 17@ Rangers1–12HillReyes (1–3)—24,1206–8
15April 19White Sox3–4KarchnerBriscoe (0–1)Hernandez31,3206–9
16April 20White Sox3–8TapaniVan Poppel (0–2)—16,4806–10
17April 21White Sox6–5Corsi (2–0)SimasMohler (1)16,1257–10
18April 22Brewers6–2Reyes (2–3)BonesBriscoe (1)6,0218–10
19April 23Brewers9–6Wojciechowski (1–0)SparksMohler (2)7,0269–10
20April 24@ Blue Jays7–6Prieto (1–1)HentgenCorsi (1)28,02910–10
21April 25@ Blue Jays4–3 (11)Mohler (2–0)Crabtree—26,16311–10
22April 26@ Tigers5–14ChristopherJohns (2–2)—7,94111–11
23April 27@ Tigers4–1Reyes (3–3)LiraTaylor (1)13,06712–11
24April 28@ Tigers6–3Wojciechowski (2–0)GohrTaylor (2)8,90713–11
25April 30Angels3–7LangstonPrieto (1–2)—7,15413–12
May: 11–16 (Home: 7–7; Away: 4–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
26May 1Angels4–6BoskieVan Poppel (0–3)Percival6,72113–13
27May 2Angels1–3AbbottJohns (2–3)Percival9,10213–14
28May 3@ Royals1–3AppierReyes (3–4)Montgomery14,45213–15
29May 4@ Royals5–2Wojciechowski (3–0)GubiczaGroom (1)15,98714–15
30May 5@ Royals0–2HaneyPrieto (1–3)—16,58914–16
31May 6Indians5–3Taylor (1–0)AssenmacherMohler (3)47,31315–16
32May 7Indians8–4Johns (3–3)Hershiser—10,12616–16
33May 8Indians3–7NagyReyes (3–5)—9,28816–17
34May 10Twins15–5Wojciechowski (4–0)Rodriguez—8,27817–17
35May 11Twins12–5Prieto (2–3)Radke—15,79118–17
36May 12Twins8–3Wengert (1–1)Parra—13,43019–17
37May 13Orioles3–4KrivdaJohns (3–4)Myers8,20419–18
38May 14Orioles1–9MussinaReyes (3–6)—8,46619–19
39May 17@ Red Sox3–5 (11)StantonVan Poppel (0–4)—28,69019–20
40May 18@ Red Sox6–5 (10)Groom (2–0)GarcesTaylor (3)31,66320–20
41May 19@ Red Sox2–12SeleWengert (1–2)—32,60120–21
42May 20@ Red Sox4–16GordonJohns (3–5)—20,89020–22
43May 21@ Yankees3–7GoodenReyes (3–7)—15,61420–23
44May 22@ Yankees5–1Wojciechowski (5–0)PettitteMohler (4)18,54421–23
45May 23@ Yankees3–4RogersTaylor (1–1)Wetteland19,31521–24
46May 24@ Orioles4–5 (10)McDowellReyes (3–8)—45,02421–25
47May 25@ Orioles6–3Johns (4–5)WellsGroom (2)47,35322–25
48May 26@ Orioles1–6MerckerChouinard (0–1)McDowell47,40122–26
49May 27Red Sox3–10WakefieldWojciechowski (5–1)—21,68822–27
50May 28Red Sox6–2Wasdin (1–0)Clemens—9,33823–27
51May 29Red Sox7–6 (10)Mohler (3–0)Slocumb—8,28224–27
52May 31Yankees1–4KeyJohns (4–6)Wetteland13,27924–28
June: 14–15 (Home: 4–7; Away: 10–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
53June 1Yankees3–6PettitteChouinard (0–2)Wetteland21,35424–29
54June 2Yankees4–11RogersWojciechowski (5–2)Wetteland26,33124–30
55June 3Royals2–1Wasdin (2–0)AppierTaylor (4)6,46525–30
56June 4Royals8–3Wengert (2–2)Gubicza—11,52426–30
57June 5Royals2–5HaneyJohns (4–7)Montgomery8,11326–31
58June 7@ Twins6–4Reyes (4–8)RadkeCorsi (2)14,99927–31
59June 8@ Twins2–4RobertsonWojciechowski (5–3)Guardado—27–32
60June 8@ Twins13–7Wasdin (3–0)Mahomes—22,16428–32
61June 9@ Twins3–5RodriguezWengert (2–3)—13,29128–33
62June 10@ Indians4–5NagyJohns (4–8)Mesa42,16728–34
63June 11@ Indians5–6 (13)OgeaReyes (4–9)—42,24928–35
64June 12@ Indians9–6Montgomery (1–0)McDowellMohler (5)40,67329–35
65June 13@ Brewers3–16KarlWojciechowski (5–4)—12,43929–36
66June 14@ Brewers2–6BonesWasdin (3–1)—14,40429–37
67June 15@ Brewers9–12GivensWengert (2–4)Garcia21,06429–38
68June 16@ Brewers10–9Taylor (2–1)FettersMohler (6)26,74430–38
69June 17@ Tigers8–4 (10)Corsi (3–0)Myers—9,23131–38
70June 18@ Tigers8–5Van Poppel (1–4)UrbaniTaylor (5)8,54332–38
71June 19@ Tigers10–3Wasdin (4–1)Keagle—9,87533–38
72June 20Blue Jays0–1HentgenWengert (2–5)Timlin8,02733–39
73June 21Blue Jays5–7QuantrillJohns (4–9)Timlin10,27833–40
74June 22Blue Jays8–4Chouinard (1–2)Ware—20,12434–40
75June 23Blue Jays4–5GuzmanWojciechowski (5–5)Timlin14,40734–41
76June 24Tigers4–2Wasdin (5–1)SodowskyTaylor (6)10,12235–41
77June 25Tigers8–10OlivaresWengert (2–6)Olson9,65235–42
78June 27@ Angels18–2Johns (5–9)Boskie—23,50336–42
79June 28@ Angels6–3Chouinard (2–2)Finley—32,38037–42
80June 29@ Angels11–9Groom (3–0)Monteleone—26,56538–42
81June 30@ Angels0–1HancockWasdin (5–2)Percival19,28438–43
July: 17–10 (Home: 8–5; Away: 9–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
82July 1@ Mariners6–4Wengert (3–6)WagnerTaylor (7)18,16639–43
83July 2@ Mariners11–6Mohler (4–0)Charlton—19,63240–43
84July 3@ Mariners3–4AyalaReyes (4–10)—36,61940–44
85July 4Angels8–7 (11)Taylor (3–1)Monteleone—14,14441–44
86July 5Angels16–8Wasdin (6–2)Hancock—36,12942–44
87July 6Angels6–5 (10)Taylor (4–1)James—14,29443–44
88July 7Angels4–9BoskieJohns (5–10)—16,52643–45
89July 11Rangers8–3Chouinard (3–2)Oliver—13,43744–45
90July 12Rangers4–8 (10)RussellTaylor (4–2)—12,07444–46
91July 13Rangers1–8PavlikWengert (3–7)—16,79244–47
92July 14Rangers9–1Johns (6–10)Gross—20,70445–47
93July 15Mariners1–5WolcottTelgheder (0–1)—11,18345–48
94July 16Mariners12–5Chouinard (4–2)Hitchcock—15,20646–48
95July 17Mariners7–6Corsi (4–0)MinorTaylor (8)14,38747–48
96July 18@ Rangers5–4 (11)Reyes (5–10)BrandenburgVan Poppel (1)28,58548–48
97July 19@ Rangers9–6Reyes (6–10)HellingTaylor (9)37,45549–48
98July 20@ Rangers4–8WittVan Poppel (1–5)—46,05249–49
99July 21@ Rangers11–8Groom (4–0)BrandenburgMohler (7)36,03950–49
100July 22@ White Sox6–5Taylor (5–2)Karchner—23,57251–49
101July 23@ White Sox8–4Wengert (4–7)FernandezCorsi (3)18,52752–49
102July 24@ White Sox6–5Corsi (5–0)SimasTaylor (10)23,35053–49
103July 25@ Blue Jays3–4CrabtreeWitasick (0–1)—30,17453–50
104July 26@ Blue Jays5–3Groom (5–0)CastilloTaylor (11)32,24154–50
105July 27@ Blue Jays4–6HansonWasdin (6–3)Timlin32,16254–51
106July 28@ Blue Jays0–1HentgenPrieto (2–4)—31,15054–52
107July 30White Sox1–2BaldwinTelgheder (0–2)Hernandez14,21054–53
108July 31White Sox5–4Witasick (1–1)KarchnerTaylor (12)13,12755–53
August: 11–19 (Home: 8–10; Away: 3–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
109August 1White Sox3–8TapaniWasdin (6–4)Hernandez10,51455–54
110August 2Brewers3–4 (10)MirandaTaylor (5–3)Fetters10,05655–55
111August 3Brewers0–7BonesJohns (6–11)—15,17155–56
112August 4Brewers4–2Telgheder (1–2)Van EgmondTaylor (13)10,28156–56
113August 5Brewers3–13EldredAdams (0–1)—8,61656–57
114August 6@ Royals2–9BelcherWasdin (6–5)—14,02856–58
115August 7@ Royals0–7AppierPrieto (2–5)—15,51756–59
116August 8@ Royals2–1Wengert (5–7)LintonTaylor (14)19,19757–59
117August 9Indians4–10McDowellTelgheder (1–3)—20,12257–60
118August 10Indians5–1Adams (1–1)Nagy—30,23858–60
119August 11Indians9–3Wasdin (7–5)Lopez—21,91459–60
120August 12Twins11–1Prieto (3–5)Robertson—10,07160–60
121August 13Twins2–6AguileraWengert (5–8)—11,15660–61
122August 14Twins7–13RodriguezTelgheder (1–4)—12,72960–62
123August 15Orioles5–18MussinaAdams (1–2)—14,02660–63
124August 16Orioles3–14EricksonWasdin (7–6)——60–64
125August 16Orioles4–5 (10)MyersMohler (4–1)—15,64560–65
126August 17Orioles3–1Prieto (4–5)CoppingerAcre (1)20,23161–65
127August 18Orioles9–6Wengert (6–8)Wells—18,12262–65
128August 20@ Red Sox3–4GarcesMohler (4–2)Slocumb25,09462–66
129August 21@ Red Sox4–6BrandenburgJohns (6–12)Slocumb26,36262–67
130August 22@ Red Sox1–2ClemensAcre (0–1)—30,50362–68
131August 23@ Yankees3–5GoodenWengert (6–9)Rivera34,24462–69
132August 24@ Yankees4–5WhitehurstTelgheder (1–5)Pavlas32,12562–70
133August 25@ Yankees6–4Mohler (5–2)NelsonAcre (2)50,80863–70
134August 26@ Orioles11–12 (10)MyersAcre (0–2)—43,36163–71
135August 27@ Orioles1–3WellsPrieto (4–6)Myers43,64163–72
136August 28@ Orioles3–0Wengert (7–9)Mussina—45,28264–72
137August 30Red Sox7–0Telgheder (2–5)Maddux—17,18265–72
138August 31Red Sox8–0Adams (2–2)Wakefield—32,11666–72
September: 12–12 (Home: 8–5; Away: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
139September 1Red Sox3–8SeleWasdin (7–7)—15,02166–73
140September 2Yankees0–5ConePrieto (4–7)—20,15966–74
141September 3Yankees10–9Acre (1–2)BoehringerJohns (1)11,62167–74
142September 4Yankees3–10PettitteTelgheder (2–6)—9,89267–75
143September 6Royals7–1Adams (3–2)Haney—14,40468–75
144September 7Royals13–6Prieto (5–7)Belcher—13,17569–75
145September 8Royals8–7 (10)Corsi (6–0)Pichardo—17,20870–75
146September 10@ Twins7–0Telgheder (3–6)Robertson—9,67671–75
147September 11@ Twins2–7RadkeAdams (3–3)—9,49371–76
148September 12@ Twins3–4 (12)StevensMohler (5–3)—9,71271–77
149September 14@ Indians2–9NagyWengert (7–10)——71–78
150September 14@ Indians8–9PlunkSmall (0–2)Mesa42,23371–79
151September 15@ Indians10–9 (10)Reyes (7–10)Mesa—42,22672–79
152September 17@ Angels5–1Prieto (6–7)Springer—17,82773–79
153September 18@ Angels1–3FinleyAdams (3–4)Percival18,21373–80
154September 20@ Mariners2–12CarmonaWengert (7–11)Meacham56,53573–81
155September 21@ Mariners2–9MoyerTelgheder (3–7)—56,10373–82
156September 22@ Mariners13–11Mohler (6–3)MulhollandTaylor (15)54,19474–82
157September 23Rangers5–3Wasdin (8–7)WittTaylor (16)10,16475–82
158September 24Rangers3–7CookSmall (0–3)—9,69475–83
159September 26Mariners7–5Taylor (6–3)Charlton—11,14176–83
160September 27Mariners8–1Telgheder (4–7)Mulholland—25,13277–83
161September 28Mariners3–5 (10)CarmonaAcre (1–3)Charlton30,05777–84
162September 29Mariners3–1Small (1–3)TorresTaylor (17)34,46278–84
Legend:        = Win        = Loss
Bold = Athletics team member

Detailed records

Transactions
  • June 4, 1996: Eric Chavez was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 1st round (10th overall) of the 1996 amateur draft. Signed August 27, 1996.[8]
  • June 4, 1996: A. J. Hinch was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 3rd round of the 1996 amateur draft. Signed June 22, 1996.[9]

Roster
1996 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Starters by position

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CTerry Steinbach145514140.27235100
1BMark McGwire130423132.31252113
2BBrent Gates6424765.263230
3BScott Brosius114428130.3042271
SSMike Bordick155525126.240554
LFPhil Plantier7323149.212731
CFErnie Young141462112.2421964
RFJosé Herrera10832086.269630
DHGerónimo Berroa153586170.29036106

[10]

Other batters

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jason Giambi140536156.2912079
Rafael Bournigal8825261.242018
Tony Batista7423871.298625
Matt Stairs6113738.2771023
George Williams5613220.152310
Allen Battle4713025.19215
Pedro Muñoz3412131.256618
Damon Mashore5010528.267312
Brian Lesher268219.232516
Torey Lovullo658218.22039
Scott Spiezio9299.31028
Izzy Molina14255.20001
Kerwin Moore22161.06300
Webster Garrison590.00000

[10]

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
John Wasdin25131.1875.9675
Ariel Prieto21125.2674.1575
Steve Wojciechowski1679.2555.6530
Dave Telgheder1679.1474.6543
Willie Adams1276.1344.0168
Bobby Chouinard1359.0426.1032

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Don Wengert36161.17115.5875
Doug Johns40158.06125.9871
Carlos Reyes46122.17104.7878
Todd Van Poppel2863.0157.7137
Aaron Small1228.2138.1617

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Billy Taylor5563174.3367
Mike Mohler726373.6764
Buddy Groom725023.8457
Jim Corsi566034.0343
Mark Acre221326.1218
John Briscoe170113.7614
Jay Witasick121106.2312
Steve Montgomery81009.228
Paul Fletcher100020.250

Awards and records
  • Mark McGwire, Silver Slugger Award
  • Mark McGwire, Major League record, 1st player to reach 50 Home Runs in one season before reaching 400 at-bats in a season[11]

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Edmonton Trappers Pacific Coast League Gary Jones
AA Huntsville Stars Southern League Dick Scott
A Modesto A's California League Jim Colborn
A West Michigan Whitecaps Midwest League Mike Quade
A-Short Season Southern Oregon Timberjacks Northwest League Tony DeFrancesco
Rookie AZL Athletics Arizona League Juan Navarrette

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Edmonton, West Michigan

References
  1. "Buddy Groom Stats".
  2. "Torey Lovullo Stats".
  3. Danny Tartabull Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. "Rafael Bournigal Stats".
  5. "Aaron Small Stats".
  6. Pedro Munoz Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  7. Webster Garrison Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  8. "Eric Chavez Stats".
  9. "AJ Hinch Stats".
  10. 1996 Oakland Athletics Statistics and Roster Baseball-Reference.com
  11. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.371, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  • 1996 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Reference
  • 1996 Oakland Athletics at Baseball Almanac
  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
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