[Moriarty9]

1996: Title Defense Falls Short
Team repeats as division champs

In their first title defense since the 1919 season, the Red Sox cruised to the AL East championship for the second consecutive year but were ousted in five games during the division series.

The team's 91-71 record was good enough to win the division with the Baltimore Orioles, finishing 12 games back at 79-83, good enough for second place.

The team drew more than 3.15 million fans (3rd highest total in AL) to Fenway Park with a $59.3 million payroll (6th highest in AL).

KEY OFFENSIVE CONTRIBUTORS
Mo Vaughn, 1B (All Star)
After signing a three-year contract extension worth $25.8 million in the off-season, Mo Vaughn responded with another MVP-type season by hitting .334 with 48 home runs, 130 RBI and 128 runs. The Hit Dawg performed well in the post-season, hitting .421 (8-for-19) with three homers and five RBI.
Vaughn led the league in total bases (380), second in hits (209) and runs (128), third in home runs (48) and RBI (130), and fourth in batting average (.334).

John Valentin, SS/2B (All Star with 42-game hit streak)
John Valentin was a key to the middle of the Boston lineup while playing middle infield (87 games at shortstop, 58 games at secondbase) all season long. Val hit .315 with career highs in home runs (26) and RBI (108) while scoring 102 runs. He was sixth in the league in hits with 196 and seventh in total bases with 317.

Manny Ramirez, RF
Acquired in an off-season trade, 24-year-old Manny Ramirez battled a couple of injuries during the season but still hit .276 with 26 HR and 91 RBI with 97 runs scored.

Reggie Jefferson, DH
Jefferson earned a four-year contract extension worth just more than $40 million after appearing in 147 games, hitting .319 with 17 HR and 87 RBI.

OFFENSIVE DISAPPOINTMENTS
Jose Valentin, 2B (traded to Tigers)
After helping the Red Sox to a World Series championship in 1995, Valentin's offensive production dropped off with Boston in 1996. Valentin hit .218 with nine homers and 21 RBI in 79 games before being sent to Detroit for Travis Fryman on July 19. He rebounded a little with Detroit, hitting .250 with eight round trippers and 26 RBI in 61 games for the Tigers.
Valentin spent the 1997 and 1998 seasons with the Tigers before moving on to eight years with the Cleveland Indians and two years with the Milwaukee Brewers. He retired following the 2008 season with a .257 career average, 1,676 hits and 992 RBI.

Travis Fryman, SS (acquired from Tigers)
After winning a gold glove at third base in 1995 and starting the 1996 season with a .283 average, 13 HR and 64 RBI in 92 games, the Red Sox dealt Jose Valentin to the Tigers for Fryman. The infielder struggled mightily for Boston, hitting just .208 with seven homers and 24 RBI in 59 games down the stretch. His struggled continued throughout the playoffs, hitting .217 (5-for-23) with two runs scored and no RBI.


KEY PITCHING CONTRIBUTORS
Mike Hampton (Southpaw Starter)
Hampton, 23, stepped up for the Boston rotation and put together a 15-7 record, 3.80 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 30 starts. He opened up the ALDS for the Red Sox, going 1-1 with a 4.22 ERA in two postseason starts.

Mark Acre (Surprise Closer)
Acquired in 1995 trade with Oakland as a throw-in, Acre filled the hole left by Ken Ryan when the closer was injured and later faltered. Acre went 4-3 with 23 saves and a 2.66 ERA in 51 appearances.

Ken Ryan (Closer)
Boston's closer went 4-5 with 37 saves, posting a 4.08 ERA in 62 relief appearances for the Red Sox.

PITCHING DISAPPOINTMENTS
David West (Lefty Reliever; Traded to Reds)
An All Star with the Phillies in 1995, West was claimed off waivers in December and was expected to be a key member of the Boston bullpen as a left-handed specialist. West made 33 appearances with the Red Sox, posting a 3-5 record and 6.15 ERA. He was traded on July 22 to the Cincinnati Reds for lefty reliever C.J. Nitkowski and struggled upon his return to the National League. West went 0-5 with a 12.06 ERA in 23 games with the Reds and spent the next three seasons in the minor leagues before retiring in September 1999.

NOTEABLE TRANSACTIONS
Valentin dealt to Tigers for Fryman
To Boston Red Sox: Travis Fryman
To Detroit Tigers: Jose Valentin
Struggling through the first half of the season, Boston dealt secondbaseman Jose Valentin to the Detroit Tigers for shortstop Travis Fryman. The acquistion led to John Valentin moving from shortstop to second base for the Red Sox. Fryman struggled during his stay with Boston and spent the next seven seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals before playing his final season with the San Francisco Giants in 2004.

Young slugger comes to Boston, Greene to Cleveland
To Boston Red Sox: Manny Ramirez
To Cleveland Indians: Willie Greene
Content with their infield, the Red Sox dealt 23-year-old Willie Greene to the Indians for 24-year-old outfielder Manny Ramirez. Greene had performed well in limited action for the 1995 Red Sox (.310, 6 HR, 11 RBI in 18 games) and put up impressive power numbers over the next few seasons. In 1996, Greene hit just .224 but did slug 35 homers and 97 RBI, following up with a .259/30/95 campaign in 1997. Greene's last big league season came with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006 before retiring with a .239 career average and 159 home runs in 15 years.
Ramirez performed well in his first season with the Red Sox (.276, 26 HR, 91 RBI in 135 games) and became a future Hall of Famer with Boston over the next several seasons. Through the 2008 season, Ramirez had a .301 lifetime average with 494 home runs and 1,540 RBI.

Boston bolsters bullpen
To Boston Red Sox: Troy Percival
To California Angels: Lee Tinsley
In an effort to help out the bullpen, the Red Sox dealt extra outfielder Lee Tinsley to the Angels for reliever Troy Percival. The 26-year-old Percival (1-1, 1 save, 3.68 ERA in 17 games with California) pitched effectively for Boston after the June 10 trade, going 2-0 with three saves and a 4.24 ERA in 35 games. Percival spent parts of four seasons with the Red Sox, including one as the team's closer, before spending the final years of his career with St. Louis Cardinals. He retired with 121 saves in 459 relief appearances over 10 years.

THE DRAFT
Cruz, Lowe taken by Red Sox
Working with the 27th pick of the amateur draft, the Boston Red Sox took 22-year-old outfielder Jose Cruz, Jr. He put on a clinic with AAA Pawtucket (.416, 16 HR, 48 RBI in 39 games), Cruz was called up to the big leagues where he hit .200 with 12 homers and 37 RBI in 78 games. He spent five years with Boston, highlighted by his 1998 season in which he hit .267 with 28 HR and 100 RBI with 113 runs scored and 27 steals. Through the 2008 season, Cruz had played for four teams in 13 seasons with a .249 average and 209 home runs.
Lowe spent his first professional season in Pawtucket's bullpen, going 1-3 with nine saves and a 5.24 ERA in 23 games. He made his big league debut in 1998 with Boston and spent three years as the team's closer before moving to the starting rotation in 2001. He has been with the Chicago Cubs since 2005 and owns a 96-69 career record with a 4.00 ERA in 430 appearances, 184 of which have been starts.
Boston's other draft picks in 1996 were reliever Tom Martin (13-7, 6 saves, 4.10 ERA in 197 appearances through 2008), reliever Jeff Wallace (a career minor leaguer in Boston's system), reliever Rick DeHart (0-0, 11.57 ERA in seven appearances; retired in 2005) and Dan Rohrmeier (career minor leaguer who retired in 2000).

Helton only position player taken in first 10 draft picks
In a pitching dominated draft, the Kansas City Royals set the tone by selecting Chris Carpenter with the first pick of the draft. Carpenter is 116-145 with a 5.10 ERA through the 2008 season.
Firstbaseman Todd Helton, the only position player taken in the first 10 picks of the draft, was taken with the second pick of the draft by the Detroit Tigers. Helton has hit .324 with 339 HR and 1,215 RBI through the 2008 season.
Kevin Millwood (163-156, 4.56 ERA to date) was taken third overall by the Colorado Rockies with Matt Morris (165-94, 3.60 ERA to date) was taken by the San Francisco Giants with the fourth pick of the draft.

THE PLAYOFFS
Division Series: Mariners v. White Sox
The 103-win Seattle Mariners were shocked as they were knocked out of the playoffs by the Chicago White Sox, who had entered the post-season as the league's Wild Card entry. The 89-win White Sox took the best-of-five series in four games.

Division Series: Indians v. Red Sox
In a rematch of the 1995 ALCS, the Indians and Red Sox squared off in the 1996 ALDS. This time around, however, it was Cleveland that came out on top in five games.

Division Series: Giants v. Mets
The NL West Champion San Francisco Giants (92-70) topped the NL's Wild Card entry, the New York Mets (88-74), in four games.

Division Series: Astros v. Braves
After Houston swept Atlanta in the 1995 NLDS, the Braves returned the favor in 1996, knocking the Astros out of the playoffs in three games.

ALCS: Indians v. White Sox
Division rivals from Chicago and Cleveland took one another to the limit in the ALCS as the White Sox defeated the Indians four games to three for the right to advance to the World Series.

NLCS: Braves v. Giants
Although they won 11 more games in the regular season, its post-season wins that matter come playoff time as the Atlanta Braves were swept out of the NLCS by the Giants.

World Series: Giants v. White Sox
A year after the Red Sox ended their World Series drought, the White Sox ended theirs during an exciting seven-game series against the Giants.

AWARDS
Big Mac and Chipper named game's MVPs
Mark McGwire, slugging firstbaseman of the Oakland Athletics, was honored with the AL MVP award after putting up a .302 average, 53 homers and 111 RBI for the third-place A's. Big Mac led the league in slugging (.637), OPS (1.076), home runs, walks (129) and intentional walks (17).
Atlanta Braves thirdbaseman Chipper Jones had a season to remember and earned the NL's MVP award. Jones hit .350 with 33 home runs and 132 RBI. He edged out teammate Ryan Klesko (45 HR, 131 RBI), batting champ Mark Grace of the Chicago Cubs (.360) and Dodgers backstop Mike Piazza (.333, 43 HR).

Big Unit, Maddux take home pitching hardware
No stranger to pitching awards, Atlanta Braves ace Greg Maddux won the NL Cy Young Award with a remarkable 25-6 record and 2.30 ERA with 224 strikeouts. Maddux led the NL in wins, ERA, complete games (6), shutouts (2), and walks per nine innings pitched (0.5).
Also dominant on the mound this year was Seattle Mariners southpaw Randy Johnson. Posting a 23-4 record and 2.81 ERA, Johnson struck out 332 opposing hitters, to earn the AL Cy Young. The Big Unit led the AL in wins, ERA, winning percentage (.852), strikeouts, and opponents average (.217).

Giles, Grieve win Rookie of the Year honors
Brian Giles, outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, was named the AL Rookie of the Year after hitting .325 with 32 HR and 120 RBI.
Chicago Cubs rookie outfielder Ben Grieve was recognized for a fine first season in the big leagues with the NL Rookie of the Year award. Grieve hit .288 with 20 HR and 87 RBI for the Cubs.