2006 Oakland Athletics season


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 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. To date, it has been the only playoff series victory during the Billy Beane era. The Athletics would themselves be swept, 4 games to 0, 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

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Roster

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
PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
CJason Kendall143552163.295150
1BDan Johnson9128667.234937
2BMark Ellis124441110.2491152
SSBobby Crosby9635882.229940
3BEric Chavez137445117.2412272
LFNick Swisher157556141.2543595
CFMark Kotsay129502138.275759
RFMilton Bradley9635197.2761452
DHFrank Thomas137466126.27039114

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Jay Payton142557165.2961059
Marco Scutaro11736597.266541
Bobby Kielty8127073.270836
Adam Melhuse4912828.219418
Antonio Pérez579810.10218
Mike Rouse8247.29202
D'Angelo Jiménez8141.07100
Hiram Bocachica8133.23100
Jeremy Brown5103.30000
Doug Clark661.16700

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dan Haren34223.014134.12176
Barry Zito34221.016103.83151
Joe Blanton32194.116124.82107
Esteban Loaiza26154.21194.8997
Rich Harden946.2404.2449
Shane Komine29.0005.001

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts
PlayerGWLSVERASO
Kiko Calero703223.4167
Huston Street6944373.3167
Chad Gaudin554223.0936
Justin Duchscherer532192.9151
Joe Kennedy394112.3129
Ron Flores251213.3420
Scott Sauerbeck220003.656
Jay Witasick201006.7523
Randy Keisler110004.505
Steve Karsay91005.795
Matt Roney30104.500
Santiago Casilla200011.572

Farm system