2006 in baseball: Difference between revisions

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**Though both teams win their final games to finish with identical records, the [[San Diego Padres]] win the [[National League West]] by virtue of a tiebreaker, and the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] become the Wild Card qualifier.
**Though both teams win their final games to finish with identical records, the [[San Diego Padres]] win the [[National League West]] by virtue of a tiebreaker, and the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] become the Wild Card qualifier.
**[[Joe Mauer]] of the Twins becomes the first catcher to win the AL batting championship with a .347 average.
**[[Joe Mauer]] of the Twins becomes the first catcher to win the AL batting championship with a .347 average.
**[[Kinheim|Corendon Kinheim]] claims the [[2006 Holland Series]] title after winning the fifth and final match 13-5. Kinheim were trailing opponents [[Pioniers|Konica Minolta Pioniers]] 1-0 and 2-1 in the best-of-five series, but managed to come back twice and clinch the victory at home.
**[[Kinheim|Corendon Kinheim]] claims the [[2006 Holland Series]] title after winning the fifth and final match 13-5. Kinheim were trailing opponents [[Pioniers|Konica Minolta Pioniers]] 1-0 and 2-1 in the best-of-five series, but managed to come back twice and clinch the victory at home, ending a seven-year reign by [[Neptunus]].


==Movies==
==Movies==

Revision as of 20:33, 2 October 2006

Calendar

October

November

December

Champions

Major League Baseball

  • World Series Champion - (To Be Determined)
  • Play-Offs - Begin October 3
Division Series
League Championship Series
World Series
         
East New York Yankees 0
WC Detroit Tigers 0
- TBD -
- TBD -
Cent. Minnesota Twins 0
West Oakland Athletics 0
AL TBD -
NL TBD -
East New York Mets 0
WC Los Angeles Dodgers 0
- TBD -
- TBD -
West San Diego Padres 0
Cent. St. Louis Cardinals 0
  • Playoff MVPs
    • TBD (WS)
    • TBD (ALCS)
    • TBD (NLCS)

Other champions

Awards and honors

Major League Baseball final standings

Template:MLB2006final

Events

January-March

  • March 19 - After 19 seasons, two-time NL All-Star pitcher Al Leiter retires after his first 2006 spring training appearance for the Yankees.
  • March 20 - Japan defeats Cuba 10-6 in the championship game of the 2006 World Baseball Classic. After falling behind 6-1 early in the game, Cuba pulls back to within one run entering the ninth inning before Japan closes the door. The championship game of the first international baseball tournament open to players from Major League Baseball features teams that, combined, have only two players on a Major League roster.
  • March 28 - Marquis Grissom announces his retirement after a 17-year career. The MVP of the 1997 ALCS, a four-time Gold Glove winner and two-time All-Star, Grissom retires as one of seven players with 2,000 hits, 200 home runs and 400 stolen bases.
  • March 30 - Commissioner Bud Selig appoints Red Sox director and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell to head a probe into the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in the major leagues. The investigation is initially limited to events since September 2002, when such drugs were banned in the majors, but Mitchell has the authority to expand its scope.

April-June

  • April 6:
    • In the Phillies' 4-2 loss to the Cardinals, Jimmy Rollins goes 0-4, ending his multi-season hitting streak at 38 games.
    • R.A. Dickey of the Rangers ties a post-1900 major league record by giving up six home runs in 3 1/3 innings in Texas' 10-6 loss to the Tigers. Dickey had converted to throwing knuckleballs the previous season, and after this game he was sent to the Rangers' AAA team to work on it. Chris Shelton led the charge with two home runs. Magglio Ordóñez also hit two home runs, but only one off Dickey.
  • April 9 - Cory Sullivan of the Rockies becomes only the eleventh player in major league history to triple twice in the same inning. It is the first time the feat had been accomplished in over fifty years. The two triples came against Padres pitchers Jake Peavy and Chan Ho Park.
  • April 17 - Pedro Martínez of the Mets becomes the 103rd major league pitcher in the modern era (and the 131st overall, including the pre-1900 era) to win 200 games in his career with a 4-3 victory over the Braves at Shea Stadium.
  • April 28:
    • In a 6-2 victory over the Brewers, Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux earns the victory with 6 strikeouts and 2 ER over 6.0 IP, earning the first 5-0 start of his career.
    • Two home run records are tied or broken: Kevin Mench of the Rangers becomes the first right-handed batter in major league history to hit home runs in seven consecutive games, and Albert Pujols of the Cardinals ties a record with his 13th home run in the month of April. Mench failed to homer in his next game, falling short of tying the all-time record of eight consecutive games with a homer. Pujols would go on to break the record with 14 homers in April.
  • May 15 - The annual Hall of Fame Game between the Reds and the Pirates is cancelled due to rain with the Reds leading 3-0 in the third inning; it is the fifth rainout in the game's history, and the first since 1993.
  • May 20Barry Bonds ties Babe Ruth for second place on the career list, and first place among left-handed hitters, with his 714th home run during the Giants' road game against the Athletics.
  • May 21 - The Minnesota Legislature, on the last full day of the 2006 session, approves a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins, scheduled to open for the 2010 season. Under the bill, the Twins are prohibited from being folded by Major League Baseball or moved from the state of Minnesota for the 30-year duration of the initial lease. The bill was signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty at the Twins' May 23 home game vs. the Indians.
  • May 24 - In the Cardinals' 10-4 victory at San Francisco, pitcher Adam Wainwright becomes the seventh player in history to hit a home run on the first major league pitch he sees.
  • May 27 - Curt Schilling of the Red Sox becomes the 104th major league pitcher in the modern era (and the 132nd overall, including the pre-1900 era) to win 200 games in his career with a 6-4 victory over the Devil Rays at Fenway Park.
  • May 28 - Barry Bonds hits his 715th career home run off Rockies pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim in a 6-3 loss at AT&T Park. With the home run, Bonds passes Babe Ruth for second place on the career list and sets a new record for home runs by a left-handed hitter.
  • June 6 - It is reported that U.S. federal officials have raided Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley's home looking for evidence that he was a distributor of human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs. They found he had received a package. A day later he quits the Diamondbacks, and it is announced that he has given authorities names of people he knew that took steroids and HGH.
  • June 18 - Kenny Rogers of the Tigers becomes the 105th major league pitcher in the modern era (and the 133rd overall, including the pre-1900 era) to win 200 games in his career with a 12-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
  • June 30 - Adam Dunn hits a walk-off grand slam with 2 outs in the ninth for a 9-8 Reds victory over the Indians, becoming only the 14th player ever to hit a walk-off grand slam for a 1-run win with two out in the ninth inning.

July

  • July 2
    • Cubs outfielder Angel Pagan becomes the first player in major league history to hit his first two career home runs on his birthday with a pair of homers in a game against the White Sox at Wrigley Field.
    • The Twins become the first team in baseball history to collect all three monthly player awards as Joe Mauer is named Player of Month, Johan Santana earns Pitcher of the Month and Francisco Liriano is selected as Rookie of the Month for June [1].
  • July 5 - In an 11-3 win over the Indians, Yankees starting pitcher Mike Mussina becomes the first pitcher in AL history to win 10 or more games for 15 consecutive seasons [2].
  • July 7 - Cleveland designated hitter Travis Hafner hits his fifth grand slam of the season in the Indians' 9-0 win over the Orioles. Hafner becomes the first player in major league history to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break [3].
  • July 9 - The White Sox and the Red Sox play a 19-inning game spanning 6 hours and 19 minutes at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. The teams use a combined 16 pitchers, who throw a combined 570 pitches. The White Sox win 6-5.
  • July 11
    • Major League Baseball announces that FOX Sports has signed on to a new seven-year contract to continue airing MLB on FOX, ensuring that the World Series will air on FOX through the 2013 season. They will also be airing their Saturday Game of the Week and alternating League Championship Series throughout the contract. TBS Sports also signs a contract that will give them 28 nationwide MLB games a year beginning in 2008, all Division Series and wild-card tiebreaker games beginning this year, and a reduction in their nationwide contract on Atlanta Braves games from 70 a year to 45 a year starting in 2008. The other LCS contract is still being negotiated at this date.
    • The American League wins the All-Star Game 3-2 when Michael Young hits a 2-RBI triple against Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the top of the ninth to secure the AL's ninth consecutive victory; Young also makes a fine catch of a short fly ball to end the game with the tying run on second base. Vladimir Guerrero and David Wright had exchanged home runs early in the game, with Carlos Beltrán later scoring for the NL on a wild pitch.
    • Jim Eriotes of the Sioux Falls Canaries becomes, at age 83, the oldest player ever to bat in a professional baseball game. A former minor league outfielder, he strikes out as the leadoff hitter, fouling off one pitch.
  • July 15 - For the first time since 1978, all major league games in a single day finish without a single save being recorded [5].
  • July 16
    • Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltrán of the Mets both hit grand slams during a club-record 11-run sixth inning in a 13-7 victory over the Cubs; eight of the 11 runs are unearned following a pair of errors by Todd Walker. It is also the first time the Mets have hit two grand slams in one inning and one total game. It is the first time that two grand slams were hit in one inning by a team since Fernando Tatis hit two in one inning for the Cardinals on April 23, 1999.
    • With a two-run home run against the Padres at Petco Park, Chipper Jones of the Braves ties a major league record with an extra base hit in his 14th straight game. The record was set in 1927 by the Pirates' Paul Waner.
    • Mariano Rivera of the Yankees becomes the fourth pitcher ever to record 400 saves when he pitches two shutout innings. The Yankees beat the White Sox 6-4.
  • July 18 - At the age of 94, former Negro League legend Buck O'Neil becomes the oldest player to play in a professional baseball game, leading off for both teams (by means of an unorthodox mid-game "trade") in the Northern League All-Star Game in Kansas City, Kansas. He is intentionally walked in both plate appearances.
  • July 20 - The Brooklyn Cyclones and Oneonta Tigers play the longest game in the history of the New York-Penn League with a 26-inning match, beating the previous record set in 1981 when the Batavia Muckdogs and Auburn Doubledays played for 22 innings. The Tigers defeated the Cyclones, 6-1, thanks to scoring five runs in the top of the 26th inning off Brooklyn outfielder Mark Wright, who had entered the game to pitch despite having not pitched in any games during his college career. Oneonta center fielder and leadoff hitter Deik Scram was hitless in his first 11 at-bats, but his single in the 26th inning scored the go-ahead run for the Tigers. Brooklyn manager George Greer was ejected in the first inning for arguing a call and watched the rest of the game from the clubhouse. The two teams combined used 14 pitchers, struck out 38 batters, issued 14 walks, and got 34 hits [6] [7].

August

  • August 3 - In his Dodgers debut, Greg Maddux pitches six hitless innings before departing due to a rain delay in a 3-0 win at Cincinnati.
  • August 15 - Braves outfielder Matt Diaz tallies his tenth hit in ten plate appearances, tying the NL record for consecutive hits in consecutive appearances. A ninth inning ground out against Washington reliever Chris Schroder ends Diaz's streak two hits away from the major league record of twelve.
  • August 18 to August 19 - The Yankees and Red Sox play two games lasting for a total of eight hours and 40 minutes and set the record for the longest major league game by time for a 9-inning game (4 hours and 45 minutes). The record for longest doubleheader consisting of two 9-inning games of 7 hours and thirty-nine minutes was not considered to be broken because separate admission was required to each of the day's two games [8].
  • August 29 - Mariners relief pitcher Rafael Soriano receives a concussion after being struck by a line drive hit by Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels. There is no fracture, however, and the injury is not serious. The ball caroms off Soriano's head behind his left ear, and goes into the Mariners dugout. It is ruled a base hit because it touched a player before going foul. The Mariners win the game 6-4.

September

  • September 4 - Ramon Ortiz of the Nationals pitches 8 no-hit innings and hits his first career home run before an Aaron Miles hit breaks up the no-hit bid in the ninth inning. Washington tops St. Louis 4-1.
  • September 6 - Rookie Aníbal Sánchez of the Marlins pitches the first no-hitter since May 18, 2004. He beats the Diamondbacks 2-0, ending one of the longest streaks without a no-hitter since the World War II era.
  • September 12 - The Mets' 6-4 win over the Marlins mathematically eliminates the Atlanta Braves from winning the NL East, finally ending the Braves' record streak of consecutive division titles at 14.
  • September 18
    • The New York Mets become the first team to clinch a playoff spot for the 2006 postseason by clinching the NL East with a 4-0 win over the Marlins.
    • Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in the 9th inning of their game against the Padres. It is only the fourth time in history that four players homer consecutively, and the first such occurance in over forty years.
  • September 20 - Despite a 3-2 loss in Toronto, the New York Yankees clinch their ninth straight AL East title when the Twins defeat the Red Sox 8-2.
  • September 21 - David Ortiz hits his 51st home run, breaking the Red Sox single-season record set by Jimmie Foxx in 1938. Later in the game he hits his 52nd.
  • September 23 - Barry Bonds hits his 734th home run, breaking the NL record set by Hank Aaron. He still trails Aaron in total career home runs.
  • September 24
    • The Detroit Tigers beat the Royals on the road by a score of 11-4 to clinch a spot in the postseason for the first time since 1987.
    • Padres closer Trevor Hoffman records his 479th career save, breaking the record held by Lee Smith since 1993.
  • September 25 - The Minnesota Twins beat the Royals by a score of 8-1 to clinch a spot in the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. Incidentally, the Royals are witness to opposing teams' celebrations in consecutive games after watching the Tigers clinch against them the previous day.
  • September 26 - A 12-3 victory by the Oakland Athletics in Seattle coupled with a loss by the Angels gives Oakland its first AL West title and playoff spot since 2003.
  • September 27 - Aníbal Sánchez recorded his tenth win of the year for the Marlins, joining Josh Johnson, Scott Olson, and Ricky Nolasco to give the Marlins four rookie pitchers with ten or more wins, the first such occurence major-league history [9]. With Dontrelle Willis' win total, this also marked Florida's first-ever set of five ten-game winners [10].
  • September 30 - Both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres clinch playoff berths by winning their respective games. Still tied in their division, their final positions will be determined tomorrow on the last day of the season.

October

Movies

Deaths

January-March

  • January 1 - Paul Lindblad, 64, relief pitcher for the Athletics who retired with the seventh most appearances (655) among lefthanders
  • January 5 - Rod Dedeaux, 91, baseball coach at the University of Southern California from 1942 to 1986 who won a record 11 College World Series titles, twice as many as any other coach, and 1,332 games, a record until 1994; played major role in baseball's acceptance in the Olympics, and coached the U.S. team in 1964 and 1984
  • January 14 - Bubba Morton, 74, right fielder, mainly with the Tigers, Angels and Japanese Toei Flyers, who in 1972 became the first black head coach in any sport at the University of Washington
  • January 16 - Willie Smith, 66, left fielder and pitcher for five major league clubs and Japanese Nankai Hawks
  • January 17 - Seth Morehead, 71, relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Braves between 1957 and 1961
  • January 24 - Carlos (Café) Martínez, 41, infielder for three AL teams who batted .300 for the 1989 White Sox
  • February 1 - Jake Wade, 93, pitcher for six AL teams who had been the oldest living Chicago White Sox player
  • February 4 - Joe McGuff, 79, sportswriter and editor for The Kansas City Star from 1948 to 1992 who covered the Athletics and later the Royals, playing an instrumental role in the latter franchise being awarded in 1969 and retained in the 1990s
  • February 11 - Robert W. Peterson, 80, author of the 1970 book Only the Ball Was White, which focused attention on the Negro Leagues; member of the 2006 Hall of Fame committee responsible for electing Negro Leaguers
  • February 20 - Curt Gowdy, 86, broadcaster whose voice was the soundtrack of 13 World Series and 16 All-Star games, as well as the Red Sox from 1951-1966 and ten years with NBC
  • February 26 - Ace Adams, 94, All-Star pitcher for the New York Giants who led the National League in saves in 1944 and 1945
  • March 6 - Kirby Puckett, 45, Hall of Fame center fielder for the Twins who batted .318 lifetime and won six Gold Gloves; 1989 batting champion; led AL in hits four times, total bases twice and RBI once; MVP of 1991 ALCS, his 11th-inning walk-off home run won Game 6 of the 1991 World Series

April-June

  • April 9 - Billy Hitchcock, 89, infielder for five AL teams who later managed Orioles and Braves, was minor league executive
  • April 9 - Jimmy Outlaw, 93, outfielder and third baseman, primarily for the Tigers, who was the left fielder on the 1945 World Series champions
  • April 26 - Russ Swan, 42, relief pitcher from 1989-94, primarily for the Seattle Mariners
  • April 28 - Steve Howe, 48, All-Star relief pitcher, mainly with the Dodgers and Yankees, who was the 1980 NL Rookie of the Year but was suspended from baseball seven times and eventually barred from the sport due to drug abuse
  • May 4 - Jim Delsing, 80, outfielder for five AL teams best remembered as the pinch runner for Eddie Gaedel
  • May 14 - Jim Lemon, 78, All-Star outfielder for the Senators/Twins who led AL in triples in 1956, had two seasons of 30 HR and 100 RBI; later a coach
  • June 4 - Bill Fleming, 92, pitcher for Red Sox and Cubs from 1940 to 1946; led 1940 Pacific Coast League in strikeouts with Hollywood
  • June 5 - Eric Gregg, 55, NL umpire from 1975 to 1999 who worked in the 1989 World Series and four NLCS, noted for weight problems and a wide strike zone
  • June 10 - Moe Drabowsky, 70, Polish relief pitcher for several teams from 1955 to 1972 who won Game 1 of the 1966 World Series with the Orioles

July-September

  • July 15 - Howdy Groskloss, 100, second baseman for the Pirates from 1930 through 1932; had been the oldest living major league player
  • August 4 - Elden Auker, 95, submarine pitcher who won 130 games, mainly with Tigers and Browns; led AL in winning percentage for 1935 Detroit champions
  • August 24 - Gene Thompson, 89, pitcher for the Reds and Giants who later spent 40 years as a scout; was 13-5 as rookie for 1939 NL champion Reds
  • August 30 - Charlie Wagner, 93, pitcher who won 32 games for the Red Sox from 1938 to 1946, later a scout and minor league instructor
  • September 17 - Jack Banta, 81, pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1947 to 1950 who won the 1949 pennant-clincher
  • September 18 - Syd Thrift, 77, general manager of the Pirates, Yankees and Orioles, also a longtime scout
  • September 27 - Craig Kusick, 57, first baseman for the Twins from 1973 to 1979; high school coach for 22 years