Stray

1996 WORLD SERIES PREVIEW

Mid-West Winter League Commissioner’s Office – Report submitted by Jarl Jackson – Fort Worth Panthers – June 15th, 2020

A rematch of the 1991 fall classic where Winnipeg swept the Quakes although all the games were decided by only one or two runs. The Goldeyes went back to back in 91 and 92 while California won a title in 94. Winnipeg won their division by an astonishing 52 games as the other three teams lost over 100 games while Winnipeg was third overall in wins in the MWWL at 112. The AL West wasn’t decided until the final series of the year as the Quakes outlasted the Panthers taking the division by just a single game while leading all of MWWL with 116 victories.

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1996 MWWL AWARDS

The 1996 MWWL Awards are now official. For a list of all the 1996 MWWL Awards please check out the Awards Voting Page.

Flossmoor’s Jeff Bagwell won the Most Valuable Player in the American League & Ken Caminiti of Santa Rosa won the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award.

Fort Worth’s Kevin Brown won the American League Cy Young as John Smoltz of Santa Rosa won the National Leagues Cy Young Award.

Mexico City’s Bobby Higginson won the American League Rookie of the Year & Derek Jeter of Manhattan won the National League Rookie of the Year.

Mel Rojas won the American League Rolaids Reliever of the Year & Robb Nen of Valdosta won the National League Rolaids Reliever of the Year Award.

World Series Managers Ken Kuryliw of Winnipeg took home the Manager of the Year Award in the National League & George Skiles of California took the honors in the American League.

1996 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Detroit Stars @ California Quakes
AL West winner California Quakes (116-46) and AL Central winner Detroit Stars (94-69) meet up for the AL Championship Series. California led the league in scoring (6.0 R/G) and home runs (243) behind a .279/.364/.476 team line and Detroit led the league with the best fielding team overall—a classic story of offense versus defense. Two well-balanced teams face-off in what projects to be a close series.

Detroit Stars @ California Quakes

AL West winner California Quakes (116-46) and AL Central winner Detroit Stars (94-69) meet up for the AL Championship Series. California led the league in scoring (6.0 R/G) and home runs (243) behind a .279/.364/.476 team line and Detroit led the league with the best fielding team overall—a classic story of offense versus defense. Two well-balanced teams face-off in what projects to be a close series.

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1996 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Santa Rosa Beach Bums @ Winnipeg Goldeyes
The two best teams in the NL go at it for a chance to be in the world series. Santa Rosa managed to finish their series in 4 and thus had their #2 and #3 pitchers going while Winnipeg had their #3 and #4 starters going.

Santa Rosa Beach Bums @ Winnipeg Goldeyes

The two best teams in the NL go at it for a chance to be in the world series.

Santa Rosa managed to finish their series in 4 and thus had their #2 and #3 pitchers going while Winnipeg had their #3 and #4 starters going.

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1996 A.L. DIVISION SERIES #1

Corktown Bootleggers @ California Quakes
The two best scoring offenses face off in the ALDS. Sacramento led the league in scoring (6.0 R/G) and home runs (243) behind a .279/.364/.476 team line. Corktown was not far behind, scoring just 5 fewer runs over the course of the season (5.9 R/G) and hitting 230 HR behind the best team BA in the AL–.286/..351/.478. California also had a slight advantage on defense, with the second-best team ERA in the AL (3.26) and the second-fewest runs allowed (601)—compared to Corktown’s 3.66 ERA and 660 runs allowed. These are two well-balanced teams intent on scoring a lot of runs.

Corktown Bootleggers @ California Quakes

The two best scoring offenses face off in the ALDS. Sacramento led the league in scoring (6.0 R/G) and home runs (243) behind a .279/.364/.476 team line. Corktown was not far behind, scoring just 5 fewer runs over the course of the season (5.9 R/G) and hitting 230 HR behind the best team BA in the AL–.286/..351/.478. California also had a slight advantage on defense, with the second-best team ERA in the AL (3.26) and the second-fewest runs allowed (601)—compared to Corktown’s 3.66 ERA and 660 runs allowed. These are two well-balanced teams intent on scoring a lot of runs.

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