The
1996
National League Championship Series
(
NLCS
) matched the East Division champion
Atlanta Braves
and the Central Division champion
St. Louis Cardinals
. It was the second NLCS meeting of the two teams and first since 1982. The Braves won in seven games, becoming the eighth team in baseball history to win a best-of-seven postseason series after being down 3?1, and first to overcome such a deficit in the NLCS. They outscored the Cardinals, 32?1, over the final three games. Also,
Bobby Cox
became the only manager to be on both the winning and losing end of such a comeback in postseason history, having previously blown the
1985 American League Championship Series
with the
Toronto Blue Jays
against the
Kansas City Royals
.
The Braves would go on to lose to the
New York Yankees
in the
World Series
in six games.
Summary
[
edit
]
Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals
[
edit
]
Atlanta won the series, 4?3.
Game
|
Date
|
Score
|
Location
|
Time
|
Attendance
|
1
|
October 9
|
St. Louis Cardinals ? 2,
Atlanta Braves
? 4
|
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
|
2:35
|
48,686
[1]
|
2
|
October 10
|
St. Louis Cardinals
? 8, Atlanta Braves ? 3
|
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
|
2:53
|
52,067
[2]
|
3
|
October 12
|
Atlanta Braves ? 2,
St. Louis Cardinals
? 3
|
Busch Stadium (II)
|
2:46
|
56,769
[3]
|
4
|
October 13
|
Atlanta Braves ? 3,
St. Louis Cardinals
? 4
|
Busch Stadium (II)
|
3:17
|
56,764
[4]
|
5
|
October 14
|
Atlanta Braves
? 14, St. Louis Cardinals ? 0
|
Busch Stadium (II)
|
2:57
|
56,782
[5]
|
6
|
October 16
|
St. Louis Cardinals ? 1,
Atlanta Braves
? 3
|
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
|
2:41
|
52,067
[6]
|
7
|
October 17
|
St. Louis Cardinals ? 0,
Atlanta Braves
? 15
|
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
|
2:25
|
52,067
[7]
|
Game summaries
[
edit
]
Game 1
[
edit
]
Wednesday, October 9, 1996, at
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Game 1 was played in Atlanta with 24-game winner
John Smoltz
on the mound for the Braves versus
Andy Benes
for the Cardinals.
Brian Jordan
tripled and scored the first run of the series for St. Louis on a wild pitch in the second, but
Mark Lemke
singled in two runs in the fifth. St. Louis tied the game in the seventh on three consecutive leadoff singles by
Gary Gaetti
,
John Mabry
and
Tom Pagnozzi
, but Atlanta catcher
Javy Lopez
gave Atlanta back the lead for good with a two-run bases-loaded single in the bottom of the eighth off of
T.J. Mathews
, both runs charged to
Mark Petkovsek
.
Mark Wohlers
got the save after Smoltz threw eight innings. The Braves held on to a 4?2 victory.
Game 2
[
edit
]
Thursday, October 10, 1996, at
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
in
Atlanta, Georgia
The Braves sent
Greg Maddux
to the mound versus
Todd Stottlemyre
looking to go up two games to none on St. Louis.
Royce Clayton
singled to lead off the top of the first and scored on
Ron Gant
's one-out single aided by center fielder
Marquis Grissom
's error. The Cardinals made it 3?0 in the third on back-to-back two-out RBI doubles by Gant and
Brian Jordan
, but a two-run home run by
Marquis Grissom
in the bottom of the inning made the score 3?2. The Braves loaded the bases in the sixth on a single and two walks with one out when
Ryan Klesko
's RBI single tied the game. In the seventh inning, a throwing error by
Chipper Jones
on
Mark Sweeney
's ground ball, single and walked load the bases with no outs for the Cardinals.
Ray Lankford
's sacrifice fly put them up 4?3 and two outs later, Jordan was intentionally walked to load the bases before
Gary Gaetti
drove a pitch from Maddux over the fence for a
grand slam home run
, putting the Cardinals 8?3.
Dennis Eckersley
pitched the final
1
+
1
⁄
3
innings for the Cardinals and the series was evened at 1?1 as play moved to St. Louis. Only three of the eight runs Maddux allowed were earned.
Game 3
[
edit
]
Saturday, October 12, 1996, at
Busch Stadium (II)
in
St. Louis, Missouri
The Braves struck first in Game 3 when
Marquis Grissom
singled to lead off the first, moved to second on a groundout, then to third on a wild pitch by
Donovan Osborne
before scoring on
Chipper Jones
's sacrifice fly, but in the bottom of the inning,
Ron Gant
's two-run home run off of former teammate
Tom Glavine
put the Cardinals up 2?1. He also homered in the sixth off of Glavine for the Cardinals' other run. The Braves loaded the bases with no outs on three straight singles off of Osborne and
Mark Petkovsek
in the seventh, but scored only once on a
Jermaine Dye
sacrifice fly. They went quietly in the ninth to
Dennis Eckersley
as St. Louis took a series lead.
Game 4
[
edit
]
Sunday, October 13, 1996, at
Busch Stadium (II)
in
St. Louis, Missouri
Needing the win to help stave off an upset, the Braves struck first on a
Ryan Klesko
home run in the second off of
Andy Benes
.
Mark Lemke
's leadoff home run in the sixth made it 2?0 Braves and after
Chipper Jones
doubled,
Tony Fossas
relieved Benes and walked
Fred McGriff
before Klesko grounded into a double play, moving Jones to third. After
Javy Lopez
was intentionally walked,
T.J. Mathews
relieved Fossas and allowed an RBI single by
Jermaine Dye
.
Denny Neagle
was on the mound for Atlanta and looked sharp until the seventh inning, when he allowed a two-out single and subsequent walk, then
Dmitri Young
rocketed a pinch-hit triple off of Greg McMichael that scored two runs. After a walk,
Royce Clayton
singled in the tying run. In the eighth inning,
Brian Jordan
homered off of Braves reliever
Greg McMichael
. Down 4?3, the Braves again could not crack
Dennis Eckersley
, who pitched the final
1
+
1
⁄
3
, striking out
Terry Pendleton
and
Marquis Grissom
to finish off the Braves.
Game 5
[
edit
]
Monday, October 14, 1996, at
Busch Stadium (II)
in
St. Louis, Missouri
With their backs to the wall, the defending champion Braves struck back with a vengeance. The Braves knocked Cardinals starter
Todd Stottlemyre
out of the game early. In the first,
Marquis Grissom
hit a leadoff single followed by a
Mark Lemke
double before both scored on
Chipper Jones
's double. Jones then scored on
Fred McGriff
's single. Two outs later,
Jermaine Dye
singled before
Jeff Blauser
's two-run triple made it 5?0 Braves. Leading off the next inning, three consecutive singles made it 6?0 Braves and knocked Stottlemyre out of the game.
Danny Jackson
in relief allowed a two-out RBI single to
Ryan Klesko
. In the fourth with two on and two outs, consecutive RBI singles by
John Smoltz
, Grissom, and Lemke made it 10?0 Braves.
Javy Lopez
's two-out home run next inning off of
Tony Fossas
made it 11?0 Braves. In the eighth, Lopez doubled with one out and scored on
Rafael Belliard
's two-out single off of
Mark Petkovsek
.
Fred McGriff
's two-run home run in the ninth off of
Rick Honeycutt
made it 14?0 Braves. Behind 24-game winner
John Smoltz
and 22 hits (an LCS record), the Braves forced the series to return to Atlanta with
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
still scheduled for demolition over the fall and winter.
Game 6
[
edit
]
Wednesday, October 16, 1996, at
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
in
Atlanta, Georgia
After his rattling defeat in Game 2,
Greg Maddux
stepped up in Game 6 and outdueled Cardinals starter
Alan Benes
to keep Atlanta's comeback hopes alive. While Maddux mowed down the Cardinals, with some help from a great catch by center fielder
Marquis Grissom
, the Braves struck first in the second on
Jermaine Dye
's sacrifice fly with runners on second and third. In the fifth,
Jeff Blauser
was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a groundout and scored on
Mark Lemke
's single. A wild pitch by
Mark Wohlers
led to the Cardinals' only run of the game in the eighth with the run charged to Maddux, but the Braves got the run back in the bottom half on
Rafael Belliard
's RBI single off of
Todd Stottlemyre
. Then Wohlers pitched a perfect ninth inning to finish off the Cardinals and to extend the Championship Series to its seventh game.
Game 7
[
edit
]
Thursday, October 17, 1996, at
Atlanta?Fulton County Stadium
in
Atlanta, Georgia
The Braves clinched the NLCS with a blowout Game 7 win. In the first with runners on second and third and one out off of
Donovan Osborne
,
Fred McGriff
hit into a fielder's choice to score the first run of the game. After a walk, consecutive RBI singles by
Jermaine Dye
and
Andruw Jones
made it 3?0 Braves. After
Jeff Blauser
was hit by a pitch to load the bases,
Tom Glavine
cleared them with a triple, knocking Osborne out of the game while Glavine pitched seven innings, allowing only three hits. In the fourth,
Andy Benes
walked two straight batters with one out before McGriff drove them both in with a single aided by an error, then
Javy Lopez
's home run made it 10?0 Braves. McGriff tripled to lead off the sixth off of
Mark Petkovsek
, then scored on Lopez's double before Jones's one-out home run made it 13?0 Braves. McGriff's two-run home run in the seventh off of
Rick Honeycutt
capped the scoring at 15?0 Braves.
Mike Bielecki
and
Steve Avery
pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively as the Braves advanced to the World Series for the second straight year.
Composite box
[
edit
]
1996 NLCS
(4?3):
Atlanta Braves
over
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals were outscored 32-1 from Games 5-7. The Braves +26 run differential for the entire series was the second largest in a postseason series.
[8]
Aftermath
[
edit
]
Javy Lopez
was named the MVP for having a role in each Atlanta victory. In Game 1, he snapped a 2?2 tie with a two-run single; in Game 5, he hit a home run, two doubles, and scored four runs; in Game 6, he singled and scored after being hit by a pitch; and in Game 7, he went two for four with a double, a home run, three RBIs, and scored three runs. Overall, he batted a torrid .545 (13 for 24) with eight runs scored, five doubles, two home runs and six RBIs in the Championship Series.
Game 7, as of 22, is the last time the Braves have won a winner-take-all postseason game. They have since lost six straight such games since with the
2002 NLDS
,
2003 NLDS
,
2004 NLDS
, the
2012 National League Wild Card Game
, the
2019 NLDS
, and the
2020 NLCS
.
After a bitter feud between
Ozzie Smith
and
Tony La Russa
that developed in spring training due to reduced playing time, Ozzie Smith announced his retirement on June 19, 1996,
[9]
[10]
making Game 7 the last game of his 18-year career. Smith was elected to the
National Baseball Hall of Fame
in his first year of eligibility in 2002. He was also inducted into the
St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame
in the inaugural class of 2014.
At the age of 42,
John Smoltz
would throw his last pitch in professional baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals on October 10, 2009. After the Cardinals were bounced from the postseason by the Dodgers in the
National League Division Series
, Smoltz officially retired from baseball. Known as one of the best big game pitchers of his era, Smoltz was inducted into the
Braves Hall of Fame in 2012
and was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame
in his first year of eligibility in
2015
.
The two teams met again three other times since 1996 in the postseason ? during the
2000 National League Division Series
,
2012 National League Wild Card Game
, and
2019 National League Division Series
? with the Cardinals winning all three match-ups.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"1996 NLCS Game 1 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"1996 NLCS Game 2 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"1996 NLCS Game 3 - Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"1996 NLCS Game 4 - Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"1996 NLCS Game 5 - Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"1996 NLCS Game 6 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"1996 NLCS Game 7 - St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
Smyth, James.
"The Dodgers outscored the Cubs 28-8 in the NLCS. +20 is tied for the 4th-highest run differential in a postseason series (#1 Yankees lost!)"
.
Twitter
.
- ^
Hummel, Rick.
"25 years ago: The 'open competition' that sparked the Ozzie-Tony feud"
.
STLtoday.com
. Retrieved
May 12,
2021
.
- ^
Friend, Harold.
"Ozzie Smith: Tony La Russa Lied and Acted Like a Coward"
.
Bleacher Report
. Retrieved
December 16,
2022
.
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]
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