1996 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1996 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 107th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 39th season in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers were atop the standings for a substantial part of the season, albeit under two managers. Longtime manager Tommy Lasorda suffered a heart attack in late June and had to step down. Bill Russell, Lasorda's bench coach and a former Dodger player, was chosen to manage the rest of the season.

The Dodgers went into the final weekend of the season with a two-game lead on the San Diego Padres, needing only to win one of the final three games with the Padres to clinch the National League West title. However, the Padres swept them, and the Dodgers limped into the playoffs as a Wild Card team. The Dodgers were swept by the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

The Dodgers used 15 different pitchers during the season, the fewest of any MLB team in 1996.

Offseason

 * November 29, 1995: Acquired Mike Blowers from the Seattle Mariners for Miguel Cairo and Willie Otanez.
 * December 15, 1995: Acquired Rick Clelland from the Montreal Expos for Omar Daal.
 * December 17, 1995: Acquired Billy Brewer from the Kansas City Royals for José Offerman.

Game log

 * Legend:      = Win       = Loss Bold = Dodgers team member
 * Legend:      = Win       = Loss Bold = Dodgers team member

Notable Transactions

 * July 31, 1996: Acquired Chad Curtis from the Detroit Tigers for Joey Eischen and John Cummings
 * August 31, 1996: Acquired Dave Clark from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Carl South
 * October 30, 1996: Chip Hale signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Starting Pitchers stats
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; CG = Complete games

Relief Pitchers stats
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W/L = Wins/Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts; SV = Saves

Batting Stats
''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; Avg. = Batting average; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases''

1996 National League Division Series
The 1996 National League Division Series was played between Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Atlanta ended up winning the series 3-0.

Game 1, October 2
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Game 2, October 3
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Game 3, October 5
Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

1996 Awards

 * 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
 * Mike Piazza starter
 * Todd Worrell reserve
 * Rookie of the Year Award
 * Todd Hollandsworth
 * All-Star Game MVP Award
 * Mike Piazza
 * TSN National League All-Star
 * Mike Piazza
 * Players Choice: Outstanding NL Rookie
 * Todd Hollandsworth
 * Baseball Digest Rookie All-Star
 * Todd Hollandsworth
 * Silver Slugger Award
 * Mike Piazza
 * NL Pitcher of the Month
 * Hideo Nomo (September 1996)
 * NL Player of the Week
 * Hideo Nomo (Sep. 16–22)
 * Branch Rickey Award
 * Brett Butler

Farm system
Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball draft
The Dodgers selected 79 players in this draft. Of those, seven of them would eventually play Major League baseball.

The top draft pick was third baseman Damian Rolls from Schlagel High School. He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 1999 Rule 5 draft and then traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, where he played parts of five seasons with a .248 batting average, 9 homers and 73 RBI.

Shortstop Alex Cora was drafted in the third round out of the University of Miami. He would play 14 seasons in the Majors (7 of them with the Dodgers), primarily as a utility infielder/defensive replacement. He hit .243 in 1,273 games

The most successful player in this draft class was left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly from Fresno City College, who was drafted in the 23rd round. A two-time All-Star, he would play 15 seasons in the Majors (the last 4 with the Dodgers) and had a 130-113 record and 4.14 ERA in 356 games (331 starts).