The 1996 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1996 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:

The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined—a highly unpopular arrangement which was discontinued after the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field "advantage" was required to play the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. Had the 1996 ALDS been played under the post-1997 arrangement, then Cleveland (1) would have still faced off against Baltimore (4) and New York (2) would have likewise still faced off against Texas (3) but would also have had home field advantage.

The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees went on to meet in the AL Championship Series (ALCS). The Yankees became the American League champion, and defeated the National League champion Atlanta Braves in the 1996 World Series.

Baltimore won the series, 3–1.

New York won the series, 3–1.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland

It was Baltimore's first playoff game since the clinching Game 5 of the 1983 World Series. For the Indians, it was their second consecutive division title. Charles Nagy and David Wells matched each other, but in the wrong way. Brady Anderson's leadoff homer in the bottom of the first gave the Orioles a 1–0 lead. In the top of the second, Manny Ramírez led off with a homer of his own to tie the game. Then B. J. Surhoff's one-out homer gave the Orioles the lead back. In the third, the Orioles added two more runs on an RBI double by Rafael Palmeiro and an RBI single by Cal Ripken, Jr., but Sandy Alomar, Jr. would single home a run and Omar Vizquel would follow with a sac fly that made it a one-run game in the fourth. That made it 4–3 and the Orioles needed to put the game away. With one out in the sixth, the Orioles loaded the bases and chased Nagy out of the game. His reliever, Alan Embree, made things worse for Cleveland. He allowed a sac fly that made it 5–3, then hit Palmeiro. With the bases loaded, Bobby Bonilla got his only hit of the game: a grand slam which made it 9–3 Orioles. The Indians would threaten in the next two innings but it was all too late. Surhoff would hit another homer in the seventh to seal the deal and the Orioles won their first postseason game in thirteen years.

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