The 1996 AtlantaBraves season was the 126th season in the history of the franchise and 31st season in the city of Atlanta. They secured a regular season record of 96-66 and reached the World Series, where it lost to the New York Yankees in six games, failing to defend its championship in 1995. Despite taking a 2-0 lead the Braves unexpectedly lost the next 4 games. This World Series appearance was their fourth appearance in the last 5 years as a franchise. Atlanta won its seventh division title and its fifth in six years. In the previous round, Atlanta completed a miraculous comeback. After trailing in the NLCS to St. Louis three games to one, Atlanta outscored St. Louis 32-1 in games five through seven to complete the comeback. The collapse was remembered as one of the largest in North American sports history.
Offseason
January 3, 1996: Jerome Walton was signed as a Free Agent by the Braves.
January 9, 1996: Mike Kelly was traded by the Braves to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later and Chad Fox. The Reds sent Ray King to the Braves to complete the trade.
March 31, 1996: Mike Bielecki was signed as a Free Agent with the Braves.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Game log
Postseason Game log
Detailed records
Month
Games
Won
Lost
Win %
April
27
16
11
126
91
May
25
19
6
154
76
June
28
15
13
132
140
July
26
15
11
116
103
August
29
19
10
131
99
September
27
12
15
114
139
Total
162
96
66
773
648
Opening Day starters
Jeff Blauser
Marquis Grissom
David Justice
Ryan Klesko
Mark Lemke
Javy Lopez
Greg Maddux
Fred McGriff
Mike Mordecai
Notable transactions
June 4, 1996: Marcus Giles was drafted by the Braves in the 53rd round of the 1996 amateur draft. Player signed May 26, 1997.
June 24, 1996: Mark Whiten signed as a Free Agent with the Braves.
August 14, 1996: Mark Whiten was traded by the Braves to the Seattle Mariners for Roger Blanco.
August 17, 1996: Luis Polonia was signed as a Free Agent with the Braves.
August 30, 1996: Jason Schmidt was sent by the Braves to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete an earlier deal made on August 28, 1996. The Braves sent a player to be named later, Ron Wright, and Corey Pointer to the Pirates for Denny Neagle. The Braves sent Jason Schmidt to the Pirates to complete the trade.
Roster
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
138
489
138
.282
23
69
1B
159
617
182
.295
28
107
2B
135
498
127
.255
5
37
SS
83
265
65
.245
10
35
3B
157
598
185
.309
30
110
LF
153
528
149
.282
34
93
CF
158
671
207
.308
23
74
RF
98
292
82
.281
12
37
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
42
162
33
.204
4
17
101
153
31
.203
3
16
68
156
40
.256
4
17
40
140
45
.321
6
25
86
142
24
.169
0
3
66
108
26
.241
2
8
31
106
23
.217
5
13
36
90
23
.256
3
17
43
82
19
.232
0
7
37
47
16
.340
1
4
22
46
8
.174
0
2
22
31
13
.419
0
2
33
27
6
.222
1
8
17
20
3
.150
0
1
7
5
1
.200
0
0
4
2
1
.500
0
0
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
35
253.2
24
8
2.94
276
35
245
15
11
2.72
172
36
235.1
15
10
2.98
181
24
131
7
10
4.47
86
13
58.2
3
4
6.75
48
6
38.2
2
3
5.59
18
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
44
69.2
5
0
2.97
79
40
75.1
4
3
2.63
71
8
19.2
2
2
7.32
20
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
