1996 Cleveland Indians season
For the second consecutive season, the Indians had the best record in Major League Baseball. This was the first time in franchise history that the Indians had accomplished that feat.
Offseason
- November 9, 1995: Rubén Amaro Jr. was released by the Cleveland Indians.
- December 6, 1995: Casey Candaele was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
- December 7, 1995: Julio Franco was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
- December 14, 1995: Jack McDowell signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
- January 4, 1996: Mario Díaz was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
- March 31, 1996: Mark Clark was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the New York Mets for Reid Cornelius and Ryan Thompson.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Game log
Detailed records
| Month | Games | Won | Lost | Win % | ||
| April | 24 | 16 | 8 | 152 | 118 | |
| May | 28 | 19 | 9 | 154 | 126 | |
| June | 28 | 14 | 14 | 165 | 149 | |
| July | 27 | 16 | 11 | 152 | 128 | |
| August | 28 | 15 | 13 | 167 | 135 | |
| September | 26 | 19 | 7 | 162 | 113 | |
| Total | 161 | 99 | 62 | 952 | 769 |
Notable transactions
- May 14, 1996: Greg Cadaret was signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
- June 15, 1996: Greg Swindell signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
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 | Sandy Alomar Jr. | 127 | 418 | 110 | .263 | 11 | 50 |
| 1B | Julio Franco | 112 | 432 | 139 | .322 | 14 | 76 |
| 2B | Carlos Baerga | 100 | 424 | 113 | .267 | 10 | 55 |
| SS | Omar Vizquel | 151 | 542 | 161 | .297 | 9 | 64 |
| 3B | Jim Thome | 151 | 505 | 157 | .311 | 38 | 116 |
| LF | Albert Belle | 158 | 602 | 187 | .311 | 48 | 148 |
| CF | Kenny Lofton | 154 | 662 | 210 | .317 | 14 | 67 |
| RF | Manny Ramirez | 152 | 550 | 170 | .309 | 33 | 112 |
| DH | Eddie Murray | 88 | 336 | 88 | .262 | 12 | 45 |
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 |
| José Vizcaíno | 48 | 179 | 51 | .285 | 0 | 13 |
| Tony Peña | 67 | 174 | 34 | .195 | 1 | 27 |
| Mark Carreon | 38 | 142 | 46 | .324 | 2 | 14 |
| Jeromy Burnitz | 71 | 128 | 36 | .281 | 7 | 26 |
| Brian Giles | 51 | 121 | 43 | .355 | 5 | 27 |
| Álvaro Espinoza | 59 | 112 | 25 | .223 | 4 | 11 |
| Jeff Kent | 39 | 102 | 27 | .265 | 3 | 16 |
| Kevin Seitzer | 22 | 83 | 32 | .386 | 1 | 16 |
| Casey Candaele | 24 | 44 | 11 | .250 | 1 | 4 |
| Scott Leius | 27 | 43 | 6 | .140 | 1 | 3 |
| Ryan Thompson | 8 | 22 | 7 | .318 | 1 | 5 |
| Wayne Kirby | 27 | 16 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Nigel Wilson | 10 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 2 | 5 |
| Herbert Perry | 7 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Damian Jackson | 5 | 10 | 3 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
| Gerónimo Peña | 5 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 1 | 2 |
| Einar Díaz | 4 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Charles Nagy | 32 | 222 | 17 | 5 | 3.41 | 167 |
| Orel Hershiser | 33 | 206 | 15 | 9 | 4.24 | 125 |
| Jack McDowell | 30 | 192 | 13 | 9 | 5.11 | 141 |
| Chad Ogea | 29 | 146.2 | 10 | 6 | 4.79 | 101 |
| Dennis Martínez | 20 | 112 | 9 | 6 | 4.50 | 48 |
| Brian Anderson | 10 | 51.1 | 3 | 1 | 4.91 | 21 |
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 |
| Albie Lopez | 13 | 62 | 5 | 4 | 6.39 | 45 |
| Greg Swindell | 13 | 28.2 | 1 | 1 | 6.59 | 21 |
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 |
| José Mesa | 69 | 2 | 7 | 39 | 3.73 | 64 |
| Paul Assenmacher | 63 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3.09 | 44 |
| Eric Plunk | 56 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2.43 | 85 |
| Julián Tavárez | 51 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 5.36 | 46 |
| Paul Shuey | 42 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2.85 | 44 |
| Jim Poole | 32 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3.04 | 19 |
| Alan Embree | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.39 | 33 |
| Danny Graves | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.55 | 22 |
| Kent Mercker | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.09 | 7 |
| Joe Roa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 0 |
Award winners
- Omar VIzquel, Hutch Award
Postseason
ALDS: Cleveland Indians vs. Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore wins the series, 3-1| Game | Score ' | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Cleveland Indians – 4, Baltimore Orioles – 10 | October 1 | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | 47,644 |
| 2 | Cleveland Indians – 4, Baltimore Orioles – 7 | October 2 | Oriole Park at Camden Yards | 48,970 |
| 3 | Baltimore Orioles – 4, Cleveland Indians – 9 | October 4 | Jacobs Field | 44,250 |
| 4 | Baltimore Orioles – 4, Cleveland Indians – 3 ' | October 5 | Jacobs Field | 44,280 |