1996 National League Division Series
| 1996 National League Division Series | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 1 – 5 | ||||||||||||
| Television |
ESPN (Games 1–2) NBC (Game 3) |
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| TV announcers |
Chris Berman and Buck Martinez (Games 1–2) Bob Costas, Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker (Game 3) |
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| Radio | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Gene Elston and Gary Cohen | ||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 2 – 5 | ||||||||||||
| Television |
ESPN (Game 1) Fox (Games 2–3) |
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| TV announcers |
Chris Berman and Buck Martinez (Game 1) Joe Buck (Games 2–3), Tim McCarver (Games 2–3) and Bob Brenly (Game 3) |
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| Radio | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jerry Coleman and Jim Hunter | ||||||||||||
| Umpires |
Jim Quick, Gerry Davis, Dana DeMuth, Frank Pulli, Harry Wendelstedt, Greg Bonin (Padres–Cardinals, Games 1–2; Braves–Dodgers, Game 3) Steve Rippley, Eric Gregg, Tom Hallion, Terry Tata, Bruce Froemming, Bill Hohn (Braves–Dodgers, Games 1–2; Padres–Cardinals, Game 3) |
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| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals (3) | Tony La Russa | 88–74, .543, GA: 6 | |
| San Diego Padres (0) | Bruce Bochy | 91–71, .562, GA: 1 |
| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves (3) | Bobby Cox | 96–66, .593, GA: 8 | |
| Los Angeles Dodgers (0) | Bill Russell | 90–72, .556, GB: 1 |
The 1996 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1996 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three NL 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. The Padres played the Cardinals, rather than the wild card Dodgers, because the Padres and Dodgers are in the same division. Had the 1996 NLDS been played under the post-1997 arrangement, then Atlanta (1) would have still faced off against Los Angeles (St. Louis had a worse record, but would have faced Atlanta because of the mandate of no teams from the same division playing against each other in the Division Series) and San Diego likewise would have still faced off against St. Louis.
The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves both swept their Division Series, and went on to meet in the NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Braves would rally to win that series four games to three and become the National League champion, but would lose to the American League champion New York Yankees in the 1996 World Series.
St. Louis won the series, 3–0.
Atlanta won the series, 3–0.
Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis
The Cardinals and Padres began their rivalry in this series. The Cardinals' first of three postseason victories against the Padres took place here. Their dominance is overwhelming to the tune of only one loss against the Padres lifetime in the postseason. A three-run homer by Gary Gaetti off Joey Hamilton put the Cardinals up for good. Todd Stottlemyre pitched masterfully, allowing only one earned run on a solo home run by Rickey Henderson. Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley shut the Padres down for the win.
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