2006 Oakland Athletics season

2006 Oakland Athletics
2006 AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
McAfee Coliseum (since 1968)
Oakland, California (since 1968)
Results
Record	93–69 (.574)
Other information
Owner(s)	Lewis Wolff
General manager(s)	Billy Beane
Manager(s)	Ken Macha
Local television	KICU-TV FSN Bay Area (Ray Fosse, Glen Kuiper)
Local radio	KYCY KNTS (Ray Fosse, Ken Korach, Vince Cotroneo)
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The Oakland Athletics' 2006 season was their 39th in Oakland, California. It was also the 106th season in franchise history. The team finished first in the American League West with a record of 93-69.

The Athletics won their division (and reached the postseason) for the first time since 2003. The team was led, in large part, by eventual Hall-of-Famer Frank Thomas. Thomas, who was signed to a one-year contract in the offseason, hit a team-high 39 home runs over the course of the season. He ultimately finished fourth in American League MVP voting.

The Athletics managed to sweep the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the playoffs. In doing so, they advanced to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 1992. The sweep was Oakland's first playoff series victory since 1990; as of 2014, it remains the only playoff series victory of the Billy Beane era. The Athletics would themselves be swept, four games to none, by the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS.

The team saw a number of key departures at the end of the season. Free agent pitcher Barry Zito, the team's lone All-Star in 2006, signed with the rival San Francisco Giants following the team's ALCS loss. Additionally, Frank Thomas signed a two-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. The coaching staff experienced similar turnover, as manager Ken Macha and longtime third base coach Ron Washington departed. Macha was fired at seasons' end; Washington, by contrast, was hired to manage the division rival Texas Rangers. They would be replaced by Bob Geren and Rene Lachemann, respectively.

Offseason

• November 29, 2005: Esteban Loaiza was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.
• December 9, 2005: Scott McClain was signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics.
• December 13, 2005: Milton Bradley was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Antonio Perez to the Oakland Athletics for Andre Ethier.
• January 31, 2006: Frank Thomas signed as a Free Agent.

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	93	69	0.574	—	49–32	44–37
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	89	73	0.549	4	45–36	44–37
Texas Rangers	80	82	0.494	13	39–42	41–40
Seattle Mariners	78	84	0.481	15	44–37	34–47

Record vs. opponents

2006 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	LAA	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TB	TEX	TOR	NL
Baltimore	—	3–15	2–5	4–2	3–3	5–1	4–6	3–6	7–12	2–4	4–6	13–6	3–6	8–11	9–9
Boston	15–3	—	4–2	3–4	3–3	4–5	3–3	1–5	8–11	3–7	4–6	10–9	5–4	7–12	16–2
Chicago	5–2	2–4	—	8–11	12–7	11–8	6–3	9–10	2–4	3–3	5–4	3–3	5–5	5–4	14–4
Cleveland	2–4	4–3	11–8	—	6–13	10–8	4–5	8–11	3–4	3–6	4–5	6–1	5–4	4–2	8–10
Detroit	3–3	3–3	7–12	13–6	—	14–4	3–5	11–8	2–5	5–4	6–3	5–3	5–5	3–3	15–3
Kansas City	1–5	5–4	8–11	8–10	4–14	—	3–7	7–12	2–7	4–5	3–5	1–5	3–3	3–4	10–8
Los Angeles of Anaheim	6–4	3–3	3–6	5–4	5–3	7–3	—	4–2	6–4	11–8	10–9	7–2	11–8	4–6	7–11
Minnesota	6–3	5–1	10–9	11–8	8–11	12–7	2–4	—	3–3	6–4	5–3	6–1	4–5	2–5	16–2
New York	12–7	11–8	4–2	4–3	5–2	7–2	4–6	3–3	—	3–6	3–3	13–5	8–2	10–8	10–8
Oakland	4–2	7–3	3–3	6–3	4–5	5–4	8–11	4–6	6–3	—	17–2	6–3	9–10	6–4	8–10
Seattle	6–4	6–4	4–5	5–4	3–6	5–3	9–10	3–5	3–3	2–17	—	6–3	8–11	4–5	14–4
Tampa Bay	6–13	9–10	3–3	1–6	3–5	5–1	2–7	1–6	5–13	3–6	3–6	—	3–6	6–12	11–7
Texas	6–3	4–5	5–5	4–5	5–5	3–3	8–11	5–4	2–8	10–9	11–8	6–3	—	4–2	7–11
Toronto	11–8	12–7	4–5	2–4	3–3	4–3	6–4	5–2	8–10	4–6	5–4	12–6	2–4	—	9–9

Roster

2006 Oakland Athletics
Roster
Pitchers 55 Joe Blanton 50 Kiko Calero 46 Santiago Casilla 58 Justin Duchscherer 47 Ron Flores 57 Chad Gaudin 51 Brad Halsey 40 Rich Harden 24 Dan Haren 32 Steve Karsay 37 Joe Kennedy 60 Shane Komine 25 Esteban Loaiza 52 Matt Roney 31 Kirk Saarloos 36,11 Scott Sauerbeck 20 Huston Street 61 Jason Windsor 45 Jay Witasick 75 Barry Zito		Catchers  5 Jeremy Brown 18 Jason Kendall 17 Adam Melhuse Infielders  3 Eric Chavez  7 Bobby Crosby 14 Mark Ellis 12 D'Angelo Jiménez 29 Dan Johnson  8 Mark Kiger  4 Antonio Pérez  2 Mike Rouse 19 Marco Scutaro 33 Nick Swisher		Outfielders 44 Hiram Bocachica 22 Milton Bradley 12 Doug Clark 23 Bobby Kielty 21 Mark Kotsay 16 Jay Payton Other batters 35 Frank Thomas		Manager 39 Ken Macha Coaches -- Brad Fischer (bullpen) 53 Bob Geren (bench) 15 Rene Lachemann (first base) 48 Gerald Perry (hitting) 38 Ron Washington (third base) 41 Curt Young (pitching)

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
Dan Haren	34	223.0	14	13	4.12	176
Barry Zito	34	221.0	16	10	3.83	151
Joe Blanton	32	194.3	16	12	4.82	107
Esteban Loaiza	26	154.7	11	9	4.89	97
Rich Harden	9	46.7	4	0	4.24	49

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Sacramento RiverCats	Pacific Coast League	Tony DeFrancesco
AA	Midland RockHounds	Texas League	Von Hayes
A	Stockton Ports	California League	Todd Steverson
A	Kane County Cougars	Midwest League	Aaron Nieckula
A-Short Season	Vancouver Canadians	Northwest League	Dennis Rogers
Rookie	AZL Athletics	Arizona League	Ruben Escalera

References

• 2006 Oakland Athletics team page at Baseball Reference
• 2006 Oakland Athletics team page at www.baseball-almanac.com