1996 World Series - Background

Background

The 1996 World Series marked the beginning of the New York Yankees' dynasty of the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, the dynasty may or may not have happened if there wasn't a strike in 1994, as the Yankees had the best record in the American League then. Despite the rich playoff history of the Yankees, the defending champion Atlanta Braves entered the Series as heavy favorites.

The Yankees had reached the Fall Classic after their ALCS victory over the Baltimore Orioles, while the Braves had rallied from a 3–1 deficit to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.

The Braves used the dominant pitching of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, as well as timely hitting, to defeat the Indians the year before, and looked to reuse that recipe against the upstart Yankees. In 1996, John Smoltz returned to form, winning 24 games and a Cy Young Award, providing another serious pitching threat for Atlanta. New York brought a lineup mixed with veterans, like Paul O'Neill, and young stars, like rookie Derek Jeter. The Yankees bullpen was also vastly superior to the Atlanta bullpen, which would prove to be the deciding factor in the Series. However, some of the players with the Yankees would not have been there if the strike hadn't taken away their season in 1994.

After victory in 1996, New York would go on to win the Series three of the next four years, two of which came against either their cross-town rivals, New York Mets, or the Braves, making their dynasty of the 1990s part of the rivalry between both National League East teams. The Braves, while winning their division every season from 1991 through 2005, have not won a World Series game since Game 2 of this series.

Over the course of the 1996 World Series, the Braves hit .315 during the first six innings and .176 afterward. Atlanta had more hits, runs, homers, and a lower team ERA during the course of the series, but still lost, much like the 1960 Yankees' performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This is the first World Series to feature the series logo on the side of each team's hats.

This was also the last of four consecutive World Series (1992–1996) to be presided over jointly by the presidents of the American and National Leagues in lieu of the Commissioner of Baseball, as Paul Beeston would be named CEO of Major League Baseball for the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Following Game 6, then-American League president Gene Budig presided over the Commissioner's Trophy presentation to the Yankees. Then-Chairman of the Executive Committee Bud Selig, who had presided over the trophy presentations in 1995 and would do so again in 1997, officially became Commissioner in 1998.