Offseason

• October 28, 1995: Rico Rossy was signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres.
• November 29, 1995: Mike Sharperson
  Mike Sharperson
  Michael Tyrone Sharperson was an infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Toronto Blue Jays , Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves . Sharperson batted and threw right-handed...
  
   signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres.
• December 7, 1995: Fernando Valenzuela
  Fernando Valenzuela
  Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea is a Mexican former left-handed pitcher, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers.In 1981, the 20-year-old Valenzuela took Los Angeles by storm, winning his first 8 decisions and leading the Dodgers to the World Championship...
  
   signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres.
• December 14, 1995: Doug Dascenzo
  Doug Dascenzo
  Douglas Craig Dascenzo is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is an alumnus of Oklahoma State University and a graduate of Brownsville Area High School in Brownsville, Pennsylvania....
  
   was signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres.
• December 21, 1995: Wally Joyner
  Wally Joyner
  Wallace Keith "Wally" Joyner is a former first baseman and hitting coach in Major League Baseball. He played for four major league teams during a 16-year career, most notably for the California Angels, for whom he was an All-Star...
  
   was traded by the Kansas City Royals with Aaron Dorlarque (minors) to the San Diego Padres for Bip Roberts and Bryan Wolff (minors).
• December 21, 1995: Mike Oquist
  Mike Oquist
  Michael Lee Oquist , is a retired Major League Baseball player who played pitcher from -. He played for the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, and Oakland Athletics....
  
   was signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres.
• December 29, 1995: Rickey Henderson
  Rickey Henderson
  Rickey Henley Henderson is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed The Man of Steal, he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner...
  
   signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres.
• March 22, 1996: Melvin Nieves
  Melvin Nieves
  Melvin Nieves Ramos is a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball from 1992 until 1998, and two seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball in 1999-2000...
  
   was traded by the San Diego Padres with Raul Casanova and Richie Lewis to the Detroit Tigers for Sean Bergman, Todd Steverson, and Cade Gaspar (minors).

Regular season

• On April 16, the San Diego Padres played the New York Mets in a game held at the Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey
  Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey
  Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey is a baseball stadium in Monterrey, Mexico. It is the home field of the Sultanes Monterrey Mexican League baseball team. It holds 27,000 people, making it the largest baseball stadium in Mexico and the third largest in Latin America.1. Estadio Latinoamericano in...
  
   in Monterrey, Mexico.

Opening Day starters

• Brad Ausmus
• Ken Caminiti
• Andujar Cedeno
• Steve Finley
• Tony Gwynn
• Joey Hamilton
• Rickey Henderson
• Wally Joyner
• Jody Reed

Notable transactions

• July 31, 1996: Marc Newfield was traded by the San Diego Padres with Bryce Florie and Ron Villone to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later and Greg Vaughn. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Gerald Parent (minors) (September 16, 1996) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade.

Roster

1996 San Diego Padres
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders Other batters		Manager Coaches (third base) (bullpen) (first base) (bench) (hitting) (pitching)

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

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres

St. Louis wins the series, 3-0

Game	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Date	Series
1	St. Louis	3	San Diego	1	October 1	1-0 (STL)
2	St. Louis	5	San Diego	4	October 3	2-0 (STL)
3	San Diego	5	St. Louis	7	October 5	3-0 (STL)

The Cardinals and Padres began their rivalry in this series. The Cardinals' first of three postseason victories against the Padres took place here. Their dominance is overwhelming to the tune of only one loss against the Padres lifetime in the postseason.

A 3-run homer by Gary Gaetti

Gary Gaetti

Gary Joseph Gaetti , nicknamed "G-Man", "Rat", or "Zorn" is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins , California Angels , Kansas City Royals , St...

 off Joey Hamilton

Joey Hamilton

Johns Joseph "Joey" Hamilton is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played professionally for nine seasons, recording a 74–73 win–loss record, a 4.44 earned run average and 894 strikeouts. He attended Statesboro High School in Georgia...

 put the Cardinals up for good. Todd Stottlemyre

Todd Stottlemyre

Todd Vernon Stottlemyre is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played 15 seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks. He is the son of Mel Stottlemyre, former New York Yankees pitcher. His brother...

 pitched masterfully, allowing only one earned run on a solo home run by Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henley Henderson is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed The Man of Steal, he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner...

. Rick Honeycutt

Rick Honeycutt

Frederick Wayne "Rick" Honeycutt is the current pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Honeycutt was a left-handed pitcher for 21 years from 1977 to 1997. He played with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, and the St. Louis Cardinals...

 and Dennis Eckersley

Dennis Eckersley

Dennis Lee Eckersley , nicknamed "Eck", is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher. Eckersley had success as a starter, but gained his greatest fame as a closer, becoming the first of only two pitchers in Major League history to have both a 20-win season and a 50-save season in a career .He...

 shut the Padres down for the win.

A well fought Game 2 saw the Cardinals squander two leads. Scott Sanders faced Andy Benes

Andy Benes

Andrew Charles Benes is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 14-year career from 1989-2002. Benes played for four different teams: the San Diego Padres, the Seattle Mariners, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks...

. Willie McGee

Willie McGee

Willie Dean McGee is a retired professional baseball player who won two batting titles and was named Major League Baseball's National League MVP. McGee primarily played center and right field, winning three Gold Glove Awards for defensive excellence. McGee spent the majority of his 18-year career...

 put the Cardinals on top on the 3rd with an RBI single. Ken Caminiti

Ken Caminiti

Kenneth Gene Caminiti was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball and the 1996 National League Most Valuable Player. He was born in Hanford, California, and attended San Jose State University...

 tied the game with a leadoff homer in the 5th. Ron Gant

Ron Gant

Ronald Edwin "Ron" Gant is a former American Major League outfielder and second baseman earlier on who played for the Atlanta Braves , Cincinnati Reds , St...

 cleared the bases with a double in the Cardinals 5th to make it 4-1. A 2 run single by Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn

Anthony Keith "Tony" Gwynn, Sr. , nicknamed Mr. Padre and Captain Video, is a former Major League Baseball right fielder. He is statistically one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball history. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the San Diego Padres...

 made it a one run game in the Padres 6th. An RBI ground out by Steve Finley

Steve Finley

Steven Allen Finley is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.-Early life:Finley, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, attended Paducah Tilghman High School and Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in physiology and played for the baseball team from 1984–87.-College, Team USA,...

 tied the game in the Padres 8th. But the Cardinals would score a run in the 8th on an RBI ground out that scored Brian Jordan

Brian Jordan

Brian O'Neal Jordan is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder and National Football League safety. In the NFL, he played for the Atlanta Falcons, while he played in the MLB for the St...

. Dennis Eckersley got his 2nd save of the postseason.

In Game 3, the Cardinals looked to Donovan Osborne

Donovan Osborne

Donovan Alan Osborne is a former Major League Baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from -.-Career:...

 to put the Padres away. Opposing the potential sweep would be Andy Ashby

Andy Ashby

Andrew Jason Ashby is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Phillies , Colorado Rockies , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers...

. Brian Jordan put the Cardinals ahead when he singled to center field to score Royce Clayton

Royce Clayton

Royce Spencer Clayton is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop and occasional actor.-Baseball career:Clayton was born in Burbank, California. He was drafted out of St...

. A would-be double play ball in the bottom of the 2nd helped the Padres take the lead 2-1. Then Ken Caminiti homered to make it 3-1 in the 3rd. An RBI single in the bottom of the 4th made it 4-1 Padres and Osborne was done. But the Cardinals were not about to let the series go another game. A leadoff homer by Ron Gant made it 4-2 in the 6th. But a one out triple by John Mabry

John Mabry

John Steven Mabry is a former Major League Baseball player. He had 898 career hits in 3409 at bats , with 96 home runs and 446 RBI...

 scored Jordan and a single would bring him home to tie the game at 4. The Cardinals would take the lead in the 7th when Ray Lankford

Ray Lankford

Raymond Lewis Lankford and grew up in Modesto, California where he attended Grace M. Davis High School. Ray was a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres from to . He was known for his combination of power, speed, and defensive...

 scored on a double play. The Padres were now 6 outs from being eliminated. But when Caminiti hit his second homer of the game to tie it at 5, the Padres were still alive. However, the Cardinals put the game away in the top of the 9th when Jordan hit a two run homer that proved to be the series winner. A one out single by Rickey Henderson in the 9th put the tying run at the plate but nothing would be made of it as Eckersley got his 3rd save in as many tries to win the series.

Award winners

• Ken Caminiti, National League Most Valuable Player

1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

The 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 67th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 9, 1996 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the...

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Padres