1996 American League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s) Season New York Yankees (4) Joe Torre 92–70, .568, GA: 4 Baltimore Orioles (1) Davey Johnson 88–74, .543, GB: 4
Dates	October 9–13
MVP	Bernie Williams (New York)
Umpires	Larry Barnett Dale Scott Mike Reilly Dan Morrison Rocky Roe Rich Garcia
Broadcast
Television	NBC (United States) MLB International (International)
TV announcers	Bob Costas,Joe Morgan andBob Uecker (NBC) Gary Thorne andRick Cerone (MLB International)
Radio	CBS
Radio announcers	John Rooney andGary Cohen
ALDS	Baltimore Orioles overCleveland Indians (3–1) New York Yankees overTexas Rangers (3–1)
← 1995 ALCS 1997 →

The1996American League Championship Series (ALCS) was a semifinal series inMajor League Baseball's1996 postseason played to decide the winner of theAmerican League pennant and the right to play in the1996 World Series. It was contested by the East division championNew York Yankees and the wild cardBaltimore Orioles. The Yankees won the series 4-1 and went on to win the World Series against theAtlanta Braves.

The two teams were victorious in theAL Division Series (ALDS), with the Yankees defeating the West Division championTexas Rangers three games to one, and the Orioles defeating the Central Division championCleveland Indians three games to one. The Orioles were the first wild card team to advance to the LCS. The Yankees won the series four games to one to become the American League champions, and won against theNational League championAtlanta Braves in the1996 World Series.

New York won the series, 4–1.

Wednesday, October 9, 1996, atYankee Stadium (I) inBronx, New York

The Yankees struck first in Game 1 whenTim Raines doubled to lead off the first offScott Erickson, moved to third on a groundout, and scored onBernie Williams's groundout, but the Orioles tied in the second offAndy Pettitte whenRafael Palmeiro drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on a double and scored onEddie Murray's ground out. The Yankees retook the lead in the second whenCecil Fielder drew a leadoff walk, moved two bases on an error and force out, then scored onJim Leyritz's groundout, butBrady Anderson's home run in the third tied the game again. Next inning, Palmeiro's home run put the Orioles up 3–2. In the sixth, inning the Orioles loaded the bases on two walks and a single beforeB.J. Surhoff's sacrifice fly put them up 4–2. In the bottom of the seventh, inningArmando Benitez walkedDarryl Strawberry with the bases loaded to cut Baltimore's lead to 4–3. Next inning, the game would become most notable for the infamous "Jeffrey Maier Incident." RookieDerek Jeter hit a fly ball to deep right field off Benítez. Right fielderTony Tarasco backed up to the wall, but 12-year-old Yankees fanJeffrey Maier reached over the fence and brought the ball into the stands and out of the field of play before Tarasco could attempt to catch the ball for a possible out. Tarasco immediately pointed above and protested that it wasfan interference, but right field umpireRich Garcia controversially ruled it a home run and his call was upheld by the other members of the umpiring crew. Baltimore manager Davey Johnson was ejected for arguing the ruling. The game then went into extra innings, whereBernie Williams ended it in the 11th inning with awalk-off home run into the left field seats off Baltimore'sRandy Myers.

Thursday, October 10, 1996, atYankee Stadium (I) inBronx, New York

The Yankees struck first in Game 2 on three consecutive leadoff singles in the first offDavid Wells, the last of which toBernie Williams scoredDerek Jeter and putTim Raines at third. Raines scored onCecil Fielder's double play to put the Yankees up 2–0, but the Orioles tied the game onTodd Zeiles' two-run home run in the third after a walk offDavid Cone. In the seventh,Rafael Palmeiro drove aJeff Nelsonslider high over the right field fence for a two-run home run to put Baltimore up 4–2. Wells allowed two singles in the bottom of the inning and was relieved byAlan Mills, who allowed an RBI single to Fielder to make it 4–3 Orioles, but in the eighth,Brady Anderson and Zeile hit back-to-back one-out singles off Nelson, who was relieved byGraeme Lloyd andRoberto Alomar's sacrifice fly made it 5–3 Orioles. In the ninth, the Yankees put runners on first and second with one out offRandy Myers beforeArmando Benítez came on to slam the door on the budding rally as the Orioles tied the series 1–1. Cone was wild, walking five batters in six innings of work, while Wells won for the tenth time in 11 career decisions atYankee Stadium. The Yankees continued a trend that started in Game 1 bystranding 11 men on base, bringing their total to 24 for the series.^[6]

Friday, October 11, 1996, atOriole Park at Camden Yards inBaltimore, Maryland

The Orioles got on the board in the first inning with aTodd Zeile two-run homer, his second of the series. After that,Jimmy Key cruised allowing only one more hit through eight innings. Meanwhile,Mike Mussina pitched well also, allowing just one run in the fourth whenBernie Williams walked with one out, moved to third on a single and scored onCecil Fielder's groundout, but unraveled with two outs in the top of the eighth inning. Jeter started the rally with a double and scored onBernie Williams' RBI single to tie the game. Tino Martinez followed by spanking an opposite field double to left. As the relay came in from left field, Todd Zeile caught the ball and then faked a throw towards second. However, the ball slipped out of his hand and straight towards the ground. As the ball trickled away from him and shortstopCal Ripken Jr. on the infield, Williams, who had been content to stay at third on the double, alertly scampered home to give the Yankees a 3–2 lead. Mussina then served up a hanging curveball to the next batterCecil Fielder, who blasted it into the left field stands making the score 5–2.John Wetteland earned a save with a perfect ninth to give the Yankees a 2–1 series lead.

Saturday, October 12, 1996, atOriole Park at Camden Yards inBaltimore, Maryland

The Yankees struck first onBernie Williams's two-run home run in the top of the first offRocky Coppinger. The Orioles cut the lead to 2–1 in the bottom of the inning onRafael Palmeiro's sacrifice fly with runners on first and third offKenny Rogers.Darryl Strawberry's leadoff home run next inning made it 3–1 Yankees, butChris Hoiles's leadoff home run in the third again cut their lead to one.Paul O'Neill's two-run home in the fourth extended the Yankees' lead to 5–2, but in the bottom of the inning, Rogers allowed a walk and single to put runners on first and third with no outs for the Orioles.David Weathers in relief allowed an RBI single toB.J. Surhoff and groundout to Hoiles that again cut the Yankees' lead to one. Weathers and three relieved held Baltimore scoreless for the rest of the game while the Yankees padded their lead in the eighth. Williams hit a one-out double offAlan Mills, who was relieved byJesse Orosco. AfterTino Martinez singled,Armando Benitez relieved Orosco and allowed an RBI groundout toCecil Fielder before Strawberry's second home run of the game made it 8–4 Yankees. The Orioles in the bottom of the inning hit three straight leadoff singles to load the bases with no outs offMariano Rivera, who struck out Hoiles andBrady Anderson, then gotTodd Zeile to pop up to short to end the inning.John Wetteland retired the Orioles in order in the ninth to give the Yankees a 3–1 series lead.

Sunday, October 13, 1996, atOriole Park at Camden Yards inBaltimore, Maryland

The Yankees clinched the series with a six-run third offScott Erickson.Jim Leyritz led off the inning with a home run, thenDerek Jeter andWade Boggs hit consecutive one-out singles. Second basemanRoberto Alomar's error onBernie Williams's ground ball let Jeter score and put runners on first and third. AfterTino Martinez hit into a fielder's choice at home,Cecil Fielder's three-run home run put the Yankees up 5–0.Darryl Strawberry's home run then made it 6–0. Though Erickson and three relievers held the Yankees scoreless for the rest of the game,Andy Pettitte pitched5+2⁄3 shutout innings beforeTodd Zeile's home run in the sixth put the Orioles on the board.Eddie Murray's leadoff home run in the eighth made it 6–2 Yankees. In the ninth,John Wetteland relieved Pettitte and allowed a two-out two-run home run toBobby Bonilla beforeCal Ripken Jr. grounded out to end the series and send the Yankees to the World Series for the first time since 1981.

1996 ALCS(4–1):New York Yankees overBaltimore Orioles

Jeffrey Maier became a mini-celebrity due to his role in the interference ofDerek Jeter’s controversial home run during Game 1.The New York Daily News allowed him to sit behind the Yankee dugout later in the postseason and he appeared on national talk shows throughout October 1996.^[7] Maier played college baseball atWesleyan University inMiddletown, Connecticut and was available to be drafted in the2006 MLB draft, but he was not selected by any team.

The Yankees would go on to win four out of the next five World Series, as well as two more pennants in2001 and2003. Meanwhile, the Orioles returned to theALCS the following year, but were defeated by theCleveland Indians. They were the first team to lose back-to-back League Championship Series since the ill-fated 1990-1992Pittsburgh Pirates lost three straight.

The Orioles and Yankees have been division rivals since there has been anAmerican League East, but the rivalry peaked from 1996 to 1998, and was highlighted by a near huge, multi-man brawl on May 19, 1998. The fight started when Orioles’ closerArmando Benitez threw a fastball nearTino Martinez’s shoulder after Benitez allowed a three-run homer to Yankees starBernie Williams. Yankee relieverGraeme Lloyd sprinted in from the home bullpen toward Benitez. Eventually the fight rolled toward the Orioles' dugout with designated hitterDarryl Strawberry throwing a sucker punch at Benitez. The force of Strawberry's swing carried him into the Orioles' dugout, with players from both teams following.Alan Mills led the way, and pounded Strawberry in the face multiple times. Strawberry emerged with a bloodied mouth and a sore left hand after being restrained by Orioles bench coach and his former teammateEddie Murray, third basemanCal Ripken and Yankees managerJoe Torre.^[8]

Long-time Orioles staff aceMike Mussina signed a six-year, $88.5 million contract with the New York on November 30, 2000.^[9] Baltimore had finished with losing records in three straight seasons, finishing fourth each year. Mussina's last contract talks with the Orioles were in August, but as he got closer to free agency, his desire was to pitch for a winning team. After losing Mussina, the Orioles went into a long re-build and did not make the postseason again until2012. Mussina continued to pitch well while with the Yankees, but was unlucky in that he arrived the year after a Yankees World Series (2000) and retired a year before one (2009). On January 22, 2019, Mussina was elected to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 76.71% of the vote. He chose not to have a logo on his bust, saying, "I don't feel like I can pick one team over the other because they were both great to me. I did a lot in Baltimore and they gave me the chance and then in New York we went to the playoffs seven of eight years, and both teams were involved. To go in with no logo was the only decision I felt good about".^[10]

In the2012 American League Division Series, theYankees once again defeated theOrioles, winning the series in five games.

• 1996 ALCS at Baseball-Reference

• American League Championship Series
• 1996 Major League Baseball season
• New York Yankees postseason
• Baltimore Orioles postseason
• 1996 in sports in Maryland
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• October 1996 sports events in the United States

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