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.

Pretty competitive among starting catchers except for the power. Terry Steinbach is either taking his vitamins, eating spinach, or maybe something else – who knows? Whatever he’s doing he enjoyed what looks like a career year. Terry is a career playoff .361 hitter with 8 doubles and 3 home runs in 124 PA. This is Javy Lopez’s first World Series appearance. In 108 playoff PA, he’s a .232 hitter with 5 doubles and three home runs.    Advantage California

Julio Franco’s strong .357 average can’t overcome the quantity of the Quakes 1-2 punch with Olerud providing the power and Molitor providing the thievery. John Olerud’s a pretty poor postseason performer except for the 1994 World Series where he hit .500 in 12 PA’s. In 71 postseason games, Molitor has hit .286 with 20 doubles, 3 triples, and 6 home runs. A career .290 hitter during the season Franco is pretty pedestrian during 48 playoff games, where he has hit .272 with 10 doubles and 1 dinger.      Advantage California

The starting keystone men are too close to call. Mike Lansing has more power while Jeff Frye gets on base more often. Through 43 postseason PA’s Lansing has hit .263 with 4 doubles. Frye has not had any postseason success until this year’s NLCS where he .333 in 23 PA’s. Slap hitting Bip Roberts might give the Goldeyes a slight advantage as he hit .341 during the season otherwise it’s too close to call.   Advantage Even

Both players had down years defensively and are pretty similar offensively with Omar Vizquel getting the slight edge due to more homers and steals. John Valentin’s best postseason performance has come in the ALCS where he has hit .333 .392 .444 over 11 games. Vizquel also performed his best during the LCS where he has hit .288 .356 .348 in 3 seven-game NLCS series.   Advantage Winnipeg

You can’t go wrong with either hot cornerman although 127 runs scored and 144 RBI give Robin Ventura the bump. Dean Palmer has 5 career postseason home runs in 22 games but hits around the Mendoza line and much the same could be said of Ventura’s ability during the postseason.  Ventura has the longest hitting streak in the NL during the season at 23 games.   Advantage Winnipeg

California has some power, but overall the Goldeyes starting trio is better. Kenny Lofton was 6^th in runs, 3^rd in hits, and led the National League in steals. Jay Buhner was 5^th in slugging, 2^nd in RBI’s, and first in home runs. Bernard Gilkey hit .438 .526 .625 in the 96 ALCS while Tim Salmon hit .389 .421 .556.   Advantage Winnipeg

Combined Jose Canseco and Kevin Mitchell hit more homers, but Mark McGwire was in another world yet still not in the orbit of Ken Caminiti who won the 1996 NL MVP voting by nearly hitting .400. Still, McGwire was 4th in average 1st in slugging 1st in OBP among NL leaders. Canseco mashed 3 homers and hit .412 during the ALCS. Mitchel has been a World Series star in 3 appearances (89,93,94) with a hitting line of .341 .448 .773.   Advantage Winnipeg

The two rotations are pretty close with a slight advantage to Winnipeg due to better-scheduled rotation ERA and SO/9 rate. Jeff Fassero had his best year but struggled in his 96 ALCS start. He does have a career 1.29 ERA in 7 World Series innings pitched. Fernandez also struggled in the ALCS and excels in the World Series with a 1.59 ERA in two starts for California in 1994. Bielecki did not give up a run in his ALCS start. During the season for the Goldeyes Schilling was 6^th in ERA, 1^st in win pct, and 5^th in wins. Glavine was 2^nd in wins and led the NL in ERA and IP. Benes was 2^nd in QS at 23.   Advantage Winnipeg

The Quakes bullpen can just overpower Winnipeg due to more manpower. Ken Ryan is a little weak for California, but Mike Holtz had a 4.22 ERA during the year for Winnipeg. Hoffman did not allow a run in the ALCS but did pitch 6.1 innings Bottalico allowed a single earned run during the 96 playoffs and Ryan allowed no runs in 5.2 IP in the ALCS. For Winnipeg Bottenfield allowed one run in 6 and a third IP during the 1996 postseason. Shaw had a victory and a save with a 1.42 ERA during the NLCS.    Advantage California

Both teams can score with ease at 6 runs a game, but applied different methods to their offensive success. The Goldeyes use a crafty approach by taking the extra base and going for the steal. They led the MWWL with 167 stolen bases while Quakes pummel you into submission as they led the AL with 243 home runs. Both teams were close in OBP while Winnipeg did hit for a better average. During the season California did have the better pitching staff, but you don’t have to rely on the 5^th rotation spot during the postseason.

It should be another competitive Series between the two clubs. If the Quakes can hit some home runs with men on base and their bullpen can control the game late they might have a chance. While the Winnipeg base stealers have to be salivating thinking about running on the California catchers. The question is can the Goldeyes take away California’s power and can the Quakes snuff out Winnipeg’s running game? I think California has a hard task.   Winnipeg wins in 6.

World Series Wins