1996 Toronto Blue Jays season

Updated on Oct 09, 2024

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Record 74–88 (.457) Dates 1 Apr 1996 – 29 Sep 1996 General manager Gord Ash		Divisional place 4th Manager Cito Gaston
Owner(s) Interbrew,Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Local television CBC Television(Brian Williams, Tommy Hutton)Baton(Don Chevrier, Tommy Hutton, Fergie Olver)The Sports Network(Dan Shulman, Buck Martinez) Local radio CJCL (AM)(Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek) Location Rogers Centre, Toronto Entertainment District, Canada Similar 1996 Minnesota Twins se, 1996 New York Yankees, 2016 Toronto Blue Jays, 1998 New York Yankees

The 1996 Toronto Blue Jays season was the 20th season in franchise history. The season involved the Blue Jays finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. The Blue Jays had a losing record for the third consecutive season.

Offseason

December 6, 1995: Howard Battle and Ricardo Jordan were traded by the Blue Jays to the Philadelphia Phillies for Paul Quantrill.

December 7, 1995: Otis Nixon was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Blue Jays.

December 14, 1995: Charlie O'Brien was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.

December 20, 1995: Mike Huff was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.

January 16, 1996: Juan Samuel was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.

February 10, 1996: Dane Johnson was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.

February 22, 1996: Frank Viola signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Regular season

A new tradition would start in 1996 as the Blue Jays donned red uniforms for the first time. These uniforms would be worn only on Canada Day and would feature "Canada" on the back of their jerseys rather than a player's name. Eventual Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen would start the Canada Day match against the Baltimore Orioles.

The final series of the season would be embroiled in controversy. Against the American League East champion Baltimore Orioles, two events would define the Orioles season. The game on Friday, September 27, 1996, would go down as one of the most infamous events in baseball history, as former Blue Jay Roberto Alomar would spit at umpire John Hirschbeck. The Sunday game would be a coming-out party for Brady Anderson, as he would hit his 50th home run of the regular season off Pat Hentgen. The total would break Frank Robinson's team record for most home runs in a season.

1996 also marked the end of an era for the Blue Jays, as they would redesign their logo and uniforms in the following year and also radically shake up their roster.