1996 Toronto Blue Jays season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Toronto Blue Jays
season = 1996
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1977
division = Eastern Division
y2 = 1977
Uniform logo =
ballpark = SkyDome
y4 = 1989
city = Toronto, Ontario
y5 = 1977
owners = Interbrew,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
managers = Cito Gaston
television = CBC Television
(Brian Williams, Tommy Hutton)
Baytone
(Don Chevrier, Tommy Hutton, Fergie Olver)
The Sports Network
(Buck Martinez, Dan Schulman)
radio = CJCL (AM)
(Jerry Howarth, Tom Cheek)|The by|1996 Toronto Blue Jays season was the 20th season in franchise history. The season involved the Blue Jays finishing 4th 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 was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Ricardo Jordan to the Philadelphia Phillies for Paul Quantrill. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/battlho01.shtml Howard Battle Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*December 6, 1995: Danny Cox was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/coxda01.shtml]
* December 7, 1995: Otis Nixon was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nixonot01.shtml Otis Nixon Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*December 14, 1995: Charlie O’Brien was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/o/o'brich01.shtml Charlie O'Brien Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
* December 20, 1995: Mike Huff was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/huffmi01.shtml Mike Huff Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*January 16, 1996: Juan Samuel was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/samueju01.shtml Juan Samuel Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*January 24, 1996: Ruben Amaro Jr. was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/amaroru02.shtml Ruben Amaro Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*February 10, 1996: Dane Johnson was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/johnsda05.shtml]
* 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.

eason standings

Opening Day starters

*Tilson Brito
*Joe Carter
*Alex Gonzalez
*Pat Hentgen
*Otis Nixon
*Charlie O'Brien
*John Olerud
*Robert Perez
*Juan Samuel
*Ed Sprague [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1996&t=TOR]

Notable transactions

* May 5, 1996: Ruben Amaro Jr. was released by the Toronto Blue Jays.
*May 15, 1996: Jacob Brumfield was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Toronto Blue Jays for D. J. Boston (minors). [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/brumfja01.shtml Jacob Brumfield Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*May 24, 1996: Felix Jose was signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/j/josefe01.shtml]
* June 4, 1996: Orlando Hudson was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 33rd round of the 1996 amateur draft, but did not sign. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hudsoor01.shtml Orlando Hudson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
* June 4, 1996: Billy Koch was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1996 amateur draft. Player signed August 23, 1996. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kochbi01.shtml]
* June 5, 1996: Frank Viola was released by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Roster

[http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1996.shtml]

Other batters

Relief pitchers

Award Winners

* Juan Guzmán, Pitcher of the Month Award, April
* Pat Hentgen, Pitcher of the Month Award, July
* Pat Hentgen, Pitcher of the Month Award, August
* Pat Hentgen, Cy Young Award

All-Star Game
* Joe Carter, OF [ [http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/tor/history/all_stars.jsp Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History ] ]

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/1996.shtml 1996 Toronto Blue Jays team page at Baseball Reference]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1996&t=TOR 1996 Toronto Blue Jays team page at www.baseball-almanac.com]