1996 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1996 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major league affiliations
National League (since 1887) Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Three Rivers Stadium (since 1970) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (since 1887)
1996 information
Owner(s)	Kevin McClatchy
General manager(s)	Cam Bonifay
Manager(s)	Jim Leyland
Local television	WPXI Steve Blass Lanny Frattare Greg Brown Bob Walk Prime Sports KBL Steve Blass Lanny Frattare Greg Brown Bob Walk
Local radio	KDKA Steve Blass Lanny Frattare Greg Brown Bob Walk
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Contents 1 Offseason 2 Regular season 2.1 Opening Day starters 2.2 Season standings 2.3 Transactions 2.4 Roster 3 Player stats 3.1 Batting 3.1.1 Starters by position 3.1.2 Other batters 3.2 Pitching 3.2.1 Starting pitchers 3.2.2 Other pitchers 3.2.3 Relief pitchers 4 Awards and honors 5 Farm system 6 References

Offseason

• December 28, 1995: Charlie Hayes was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.^[1]
• February 2, 1996: Dale Sveum was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.^[2]
• February 4, 1996: Danny Darwin was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.^[3]
• February 17, 1996: Zane Smith was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.^[4]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Season standings

Central Division	W	L	GB	Pct.
St. Louis Cardinals	88	74	.543	--
Houston Astros	82	80	.506	6.0
Cincinnati Reds	81	81	.500	7.0
Chicago Cubs	76	86	.469	12.0
Pittsburgh Pirates	73	89	.451	15.0

Transactions

• April 27, 1996: Joe Boever was selected off waivers by the Pirates from the Detroit Tigers.^[5]
• May 15, 1996: Jacob Brumfield was traded by the Pirates to the Toronto Blue Jays for D. J. Boston (minors).^[6]
• June 4, 1996: Kris Benson was drafted by the Pirates in the 1st round (1st pick). Player signed August 11, 1996.^[7]
• July 6, 1996: Zane Smith was released by the Pirates.^[4]
• July 23, 1996: Danny Darwin was traded by the Pirates to the Houston Astros for Rich Loiselle.^[3]
• August 28, 1996: Denny Neagle was traded by the Pirates to the Atlanta Braves for Ron Wright, Corey Pointer (minors) and a player to be named later. The Braves completed the deal by sending Jason Schmidt to the Pirates on August 30.^[8]
• August 30, 1996: Charlie Hayes was traded by the Pirates to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Chris Corn (minors) to the Pirates on August 31.^[1]

Roster

1996 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 44 Joe Boever 41 Jason Christiansen 26 Steve Cooke 67 Francisco Córdova 44 Danny Darwin 71 Elmer Dessens 57 John Ericks 42 Lee Hancock 29 John Hope 47 Jon Lieber 34 Esteban Loaiza 75 Rich Loiselle 61 Darrell May 32 Dan Miceli 55 Ramon Morel 15 Denny Neagle 27 Steve Parris 38 Chris Peters 19 Dan Plesac 49 Matt Ruebel 42 Jason Schmidt 24 Zane Smith 43 Paul Wagner 53 Dave Wainhouse 62 Marc Wilkins		Catchers  2 Angelo Encarnación 18 Jason Kendall 63 Keith Osik Infielders 48 Rich Aude  3 Jay Bell 13 Carlos García 17 Charlie Hayes 36 Mark Johnson  7 Jeff King 16 Nelson Liriano 17 Dale Sveum		Outfielders 46 Jermaine Allensworth 25 Trey Beamon  5 Jacob Brumfield 35 Dave Clark 30 Midre Cummings 11 Mike Kingery 28 Al Martin  6 Orlando Merced 12 John Wehner 51 Tony Womack		Manager 10 Jim Leyland Coaches 45 Rich Donnelly (bench) 23 Gene Lamont (third base) 39 Milt May (hitting) 31 Ray Miller (pitching) 37 Tommy Sandt (first base) 54 Spin Williams (bullpen)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Elmer Dessens	15	25	0	2	8.28	13

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Awards and honors

1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Jason Kendall, C, Reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Calgary Cannons	Pacific Coast League	Trent Jewett
AA	Carolina Mudcats	Southern League	Marc Hill
A	Lynchburg Hillcats	Carolina League	Jeff Banister
A	Augusta Greenjackets	South Atlantic League	Jay Loviglio
Short-Season A	Erie Seawolves	New York-Penn League	Jeff Richardson
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Woody Huyke

References

• 1996 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1996 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6. 

1996 MLB season by team AL East Baltimore • Boston • Detroit • New York • Toronto AL Central Chicago • Cleveland • Kansas City • Milwaukee • Minnesota AL West California • Oakland • Seattle • Texas NL East Atlanta • Florida • Montréal • New York • Philadelphia NL Central Chicago • Cincinnati • Houston • Pittsburgh • St. Louis NL West Colorado • Los Angeles • San Diego • San Francisco 1996 All-Star Game • 1996 World Series

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