| 2006 MLB season | |
| League: | Major League Baseball |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Duration: | April 2 – October 27, 2006 |
| No Of Games: | 162 |
| No Of Teams: | 30 |
| Tv: | Fox, ESPN |
| Draft: | Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2006 Major League Baseball draft |
| Top Pick: | Luke Hochevar |
| Top Pick Link: | List of first overall MLB draft picks |
| Picked By: | Kansas City Royals |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Mvp: | AL Justin Morneau (MIN) |
| Mvp Link: | Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award |
| Playoffs: | Postseason |
| Playoffs Link: | 2006 Major League Baseball postseason |
| Conf1: | AL |
| Conf1 Link: | 2006 American League Championship Series |
| Conf1 Champ: | Detroit Tigers |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | Oakland Athletics |
| Conf2: | NL |
| Conf2 Link: | 2006 National League Championship Series |
| Conf2 Champ: | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | New York Mets |
| Finals: | World Series |
| Finals Link: | 2006 World Series |
| Finals Champ: | St. Louis Cardinals |
| World Series Mvp: | David Eckstein (STL) |
| World Series Mvp Link: | World Series MVP Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of Major League Baseball seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | MLB |
| Prevseason Link: | 2005 Major League Baseball season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2005 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2007 Major League Baseball season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2007 |
The 2006 Major League Baseball season ended with the National League's St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series with the lowest regular-season victory total (83) in a fully-played season in major league history. The Atlanta Braves failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 1990 (1994 there was no postseason due to the players strike). Individual achievements included Barry Bonds who, despite questions surrounding his alleged steroid use and involvement in the BALCO scandal, surpassed Babe Ruth for second place on the career home runs list. The American League continued its domination at the All-Star Game by winning its fourth straight game, and ninth of the prior 10 contests (the 2002 game was a tie).
See main article: article.
Jim Thome (Designated hitter, CWS, American); Nomar Garciaparra (First baseman, LAD, National).
Derek Jeter (NYY, American); Ryan Howard (PHI, National).
Francisco Rodríguez (LAA, American); Trevor Hoffman (SD, National).
| Month | American League | National League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | |||
| May | Jason Bay | ||
| June | David Wright | ||
| July | Chase Utley | ||
| August | Ryan Howard | ||
| September | Ryan Howard |
| Month | American League | National League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | |||
| May | Jason Schmidt | ||
| June | Chris Young | ||
| July | Carlos Zambrano | ||
| August | Derek Lowe | ||
| September | Roy Oswalt |
| Month | American League | National League | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | |||
| May | Josh Johnson | ||
| June | Josh Johnson Dan Uggla | ||
| July | Josh Barfield | ||
| August | Chris Duncan | ||
| September | Aníbal Sánchez |
| Statistic | American League | National League | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .347 | .344 | ||||
| 54 | 58 | ||||
| 137 | 149 | ||||
| 19 | 16 | ||||
| 2.77 | 2.98 | ||||
| 245 | 216 | ||||
| 47 | 46 | ||||
| 58 | 64 | ||||
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | Sam Perlozzo | ||
| Boston Red Sox | Terry Francona | ||
| Chicago White Sox | Ozzie Guillén | ||
| Cleveland Indians | Eric Wedge | ||
| Detroit Tigers | Jim Leyland | Won the ALCS, replacing Alan Trammell | |
| Kansas City Royals | Buddy Bell | ||
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Mike Scioscia | ||
| Minnesota Twins | Ron Gardenhire | ||
| New York Yankees | Joe Torre | ||
| Oakland Athletics | Ken Macha (Macha was replaced by Bob Geren) | ||
| Seattle Mariners | Mike Hargrove | ||
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | Joe Maddon | ||
| Texas Rangers | Buck Showalter (Showalter was replaced with Ron Washington) | ||
| Toronto Blue Jays | John Gibbons |
| Team | Manager | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Bob Melvin | ||
| Atlanta Braves | Bobby Cox | ||
| Chicago Cubs | Dusty Baker (Baker was replaced by Lou Piniella) | ||
| Cincinnati Reds | Jerry Narron | ||
| Colorado Rockies | Clint Hurdle | ||
| Florida Marlins | Joe Girardi (Girardi was replaced by Fredi González) | ||
| Houston Astros | Phil Garner | ||
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Grady Little | ||
| Milwaukee Brewers | Ned Yost | ||
| New York Mets | Willie Randolph | ||
| Philadelphia Phillies | Charlie Manuel | ||
| Pittsburgh Pirates± | Jim Tracy | ||
| St. Louis Cardinals | Tony La Russa | Won the World Series | |
| San Diego Padres | Bruce Bochy (Bochy was replaced by Bud Black) | ||
| San Francisco Giants | Felipe Alou (Alou was replaced by Bruce Bochy) | ||
| Washington Nationals | Frank Robinson (Robinson was replaced by Manny Acta) |
The following players reached major home run milestones in 2006:
| Team name | Wins | Home attendance | Est. payroll | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees[2] | 97 | 2.1% | 4,248,067 | 3.8% | 52,445 | $194,663,079 | −6.5% | |
| Los Angeles Dodgers[3] | 88 | 23.9% | 3,758,545 | 4.3% | 46,402 | $98,447,187 | 18.6% | |
| St. Louis Cardinals[4] | 83 | −17.0% | 3,407,104 | −3.7% | 42,589 | $88,891,371 | −3.5% | |
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim[5] | 89 | −6.3% | 3,406,790 | 0.1% | 42,059 | $103,472,000 | 9.1% | |
| New York Mets[6] | 97 | 16.9% | 3,379,535 | 19.4% | 41,723 | $101,584,963 | 0.3% | |
| San Francisco Giants[7] | 76 | 1.3% | 3,130,313 | −1.6% | 38,646 | $90,056,419 | −0.2% | |
| Chicago Cubs[8] | 66 | −16.5% | 3,123,215 | 0.7% | 38,558 | $94,424,499 | 8.5% | |
| Houston Astros[9] | 82 | −7.9% | 3,022,763 | 7.8% | 37,318 | $100,894,435 | 31.4% | |
| Chicago White Sox[10] | 90 | −9.1% | 2,957,414 | 26.2% | 36,511 | $102,750,667 | 36.7% | |
| Boston Red Sox[11] | 86 | −9.5% | 2,930,588 | 2.9% | 36,180 | $120,099,824 | −2.8% | |
| Philadelphia Phillies[12] | 85 | −3.4% | 2,701,815 | 1.4% | 33,356 | $88,273,333 | −7.6% | |
| San Diego Padres[13] | 88 | 7.3% | 2,659,757 | −7.3% | 32,837 | $69,896,141 | 10.4% | |
| Detroit Tigers[14] | 95 | 33.8% | 2,595,937 | 28.2% | 32,049 | $82,612,866 | 19.6% | |
| Atlanta Braves[15] | 79 | −12.2% | 2,550,524 | 1.2% | 31,488 | $90,156,876 | 4.3% | |
| Seattle Mariners[16] | 78 | 13.0% | 2,481,165 | −9.0% | 30,632 | $87,959,833 | 0.2% | |
| Texas Rangers[17] | 80 | 1.3% | 2,388,757 | −5.4% | 29,491 | $68,228,662 | 22.2% | |
| Milwaukee Brewers[18] | 75 | −7.4% | 2,335,643 | 5.6% | 28,835 | $57,970,333 | 45.2% | |
| Toronto Blue Jays[19] | 87 | 8.8% | 2,302,212 | 14.3% | 28,422 | $71,365,000 | 56.1% | |
| Minnesota Twins[20] | 96 | 15.7% | 2,285,018 | 12.3% | 28,210 | $63,396,006 | 12.8% | |
| Baltimore Orioles[21] | 70 | −5.4% | 2,153,139 | −18.0% | 26,582 | $72,585,582 | −1.8% | |
| Washington Nationals[22] | 71 | −12.3% | 2,153,056 | −21.2% | 26,581 | $63,143,000 | 30.0% | |
| Cincinnati Reds[23] | 80 | 9.6% | 2,134,607 | 9.9% | 26,353 | $60,909,519 | −1.6% | |
| Colorado Rockies[24] | 76 | 13.4% | 2,104,362 | 9.9% | 25,980 | $41,233,000 | −13.8% | |
| Arizona Diamondbacks[25] | 76 | −1.3% | 2,091,685 | 1.6% | 25,823 | $59,984,226 | −4.2% | |
| Cleveland Indians[26] | 78 | −16.1% | 1,997,995 | −0.8% | 24,667 | $56,031,500 | 35.0% | |
| Oakland Athletics[27] | 93 | 5.7% | 1,976,625 | −6.3% | 24,403 | $64,843,079 | 17.0% | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates[28] | 67 | 0.0% | 1,861,549 | 2.4% | 22,982 | $46,717,750 | 22.5% | |
| Kansas City Royals[29] | 62 | 10.7% | 1,372,638 | 0.1% | 16,946 | $47,694,000 | 29.3% | |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays[30] | 61 | −9.0% | 1,368,950 | 19.9% | 16,901 | $34,917,967 | 17.7% | |
| Florida Marlins[31] | 78 | −6.0% | 1,164,134 | −37.2% | 14,372 | $14,671,500 | −75.7% |
This was the sixth and final season that national television coverage was split between ESPN and Fox Sports (TBS would then be added to televising national coverage in 2007). ESPN and ESPN2 aired selected weeknight and Sunday night games, and selected Division Series playoff games. Fox televised Saturday baseball, the All-Star Game, selected Division Series games, both League Championship Series, and the World Series.