1996 Oakland Athletics season

1996 Oakland Athletics
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (since 1968)
Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	78–84 (.481)
Other information
Owner(s)	Stephen Schott Ken Hofmann
General manager(s)	Sandy Alderson
Manager(s)	Art Howe
Local television	KRON-TV Sports Channel Pacific (Ray Fosse, Greg Papa)
Local radio	KFRC (Bill King, Ken Korach, Ray Fosse)
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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.

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. 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 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	90	72	0.556	—	50–31	40–41
Seattle Mariners	85	76	0.528	4½	43–38	42–38
Oakland Athletics	78	84	0.481	12	40–41	38–43
California Angels	70	91	0.435	19½	43–38	27–53

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	—

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 55 Mark Acre 40 Willie Adams 53 John Briscoe 54 Bobby Chouinard 41 Jim Corsi 58 Paul Fletcher 42 Buddy Groom 51 Doug Johns 32 Mike Mohler 37 Steve Montgomery 48 Ariel Prieto 17 Carlos Reyes 30 Aaron Small 22 Billy Taylor 50 Dave Telgheder 59 Todd Van Poppel 31 John Wasdin 56 Don Wengert 52 Jay Witasick 39 Steve Wojciechowski		Catchers 21 Izzy Molina 36 Terry Steinbach 19 George Williams Infielders 28 Tony Batista 14 Mike Bordick 26,40 Rafael Bournigal  7 Scott Brosius 49 Webster Garrison  8 Brent Gates  6 Torey Lovullo 25 Mark McGwire		Outfielders  2 Allen Battle 29 Gerónimo Berroa 16 Jason Giambi 44 José Herrera 24 Brian Lesher 33 Damon Mashore 45 Kerwin Moore  5 Pedro Muñoz 23 Phil Plantier 13 Scott Spiezio 12 Matt Stairs 11 Ernie Young		Manager 18 Art Howe Coaches  5 Bob Cluck 11 Duffy Dyer 35 Brad Fischer 15 Denny Walling 38 Ron Washington

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Terry Steinbach	145	514	140	.272	35	100
1B	Mark McGwire	130	423	132	.312	52	113
2B	Brent Gates	64	247	65	.263	2	30
3B	Scott Brosius	114	428	130	.304	22	71
SS	Mike Bordick	155	525	126	.240	5	54
LF	Phil Plantier	73	231	49	.212	7	31
CF	Ernie Young	141	462	112	.242	19	64
RF	Jose Herrera	108	320	86	.269	6	30
DH	Gerónimo Berroa	153	586	170	.290	36	106

^[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 Giambi	140	536	156	.291	20	79
Rafael Bournigal	88	252	61	.242	0	18
Tony Batista	74	238	71	.298	6	25
Matt Stairs	61	137	38	.277	10	23
George Williams	56	132	20	.152	3	10
Allen Battle	47	130	25	.192	1	5
Pedro Munoz	34	121	31	.256	6	18
Damon Mashore	50	105	28	.267	3	12
Brian Lesher	26	82	19	.232	5	16
Torey Lovullo	65	82	18	.220	3	9
Scott Spiezio	9	29	9	.310	2	8
Izzy Molina	14	25	5	.200	0	1
Kerwin Moore	22	16	1	.063	0	0
Webster Garrison	5	9	0	.000	0	0

^[10]

Pitching

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
Wojciechowski, SteveSteve Wojciechowski	16	79.2	5	5	5.65	30

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

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

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

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. http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/groombu01.shtml
2. http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lovulto01.shtml
3. Danny Tartabull Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
4. http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bournra01.shtml
5. http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smallaa01.shtml
6. Pedro Munoz Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
7. Webster Garrison Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
8. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chaveer01.shtml
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hincha.01.shtml
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.