2006 Baltimore Orioles
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkOriole Park at Camden Yards
CityBaltimore
Record70–92 (.432)
Divisional place4th
OwnersPeter Angelos
General managersMike Flanagan
ManagersSam Perlozzo
TelevisionWJZ-TV
WNUV
Comcast SportsNet
(Jim Palmer, Jim Hunter, Buck Martinez, Fred Manfra)
RadioWBAL (AM)
(Fred Manfra, Jim Hunter, Joe Angel)
← 2005 Seasons 2007 →

The 2006 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 70 wins and 92 losses.

Offseason

Front office changes

Following the disappointing 2005 season, it was clear major changes needed to be made within the Orioles. In the front office, Executive VP Jim Beattie was not re-signed, allowing Mike Flanagan to become the sole GM of the Orioles. Shortly after, Jim Duquette was hired as Vice President of Baseball Operations, which was Flanagan's previous position. Duquette made it clear at his signing that he reported to Flanagan, so the "two-headed GM" did not exist anymore. The Orioles also fired Assistant General Manager Ed Kenney and asked for the resignation of Dave Ritterpusch, Director of Baseball Information Systems.

Coaching staff changes

There were also drastic changes in the Orioles coaching staff. Perlozzo was named the new manager, and unlike Mazzilli, was given full freedom to name his coaching staff. Sam Perlozzo led off strong by convincing Atlanta pitching coach Leo Mazzone, who had revolutionized the careers of many pitchers in Atlanta, to become the pitching coach for the Orioles. He retained hitting coach Terry Crowley and first base coach Dave Cash. Former base coach and 1983 World Series MVP Rick Dempsey replaced Elrod Hendricks as the bullpen coach, with Tom Trebelhorn resuming third base coach. Perlozzo rounded out his staff with former Cubs and Phillies manager Lee Elia as the bench coach.

Roster changes

The roster changes of 2005 were prefaced with Peter Angelos' comments: "We are coming back strong next year. I know you have heard that tune before, but this time it will literally come true." The Orioles allowed Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and B.J. Surhoff to become free agents. They also set their wishlist: An everyday first baseman, an experienced starter, a closer, a defensive catcher, outfield help, more defense, and more speed. However, their offseason moves showed no differences from past years. The Orioles were not able to re-sign closer B. J. Ryan, who signed a landmark deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. They were also locked out in bids to sign first baseman Paul Konerko, outfielder Johnny Damon, and starter Paul Byrd. The Orioles chose not to enter the bidding for players like A. J. Burnett and Kevin Millwood, whose asking prices were far beyond what the Orioles were willing to pay, but they did sign catcher Ramón Hernández.

Locked out of pursuits to sign top-tier players, the Orioles decided to make several moves to allow minor league prospects more time to develop. This led to bringing in players like Jeff Conine and Kevin Millar, both of whom are known for their positive presence in the clubhouse. On February 4, 2006, Ricky Bottalico was signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.[1] The Orioles also made several trades to bring in needed players. They first traded disgruntled reliever Steve Kline for LaTroy Hawkins, then traded for outfielder Corey Patterson, who brought speed and defense to the outfield, and traded former closer Jorge Julio and John Maine for experienced starter Kris Benson.[2] The Orioles also addressed future free agents by extending the contract of outfielder Jay Gibbons and third baseman Melvin Mora, and recently signed a contract extension with second baseman Brian Roberts. The team's Opening Day roster featured top prospect Nick Markakis, a potential A.L. "Rookie of the Year", the best young position player the Orioles' farm system has produced since Brian Roberts. Markakis represents the revival of the Orioles' farm system, which features four players listed in Baseball America's 2006 list of the top 100 prospects in minor league baseball.

Regular season

Season standings

AL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 97 65 0.599 — 50–31 47–34
Toronto Blue Jays 87 75 0.537 10 50–31 37–44
Boston Red Sox 86 76 0.531 11 48–33 38–43
Baltimore Orioles 70 92 0.432 27 40–41 30–51
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 61 101 0.377 36 41–40 20–61


Record vs. opponents

2006 American League record

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 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 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Beltway Series

During spring training in 2006, the Nationals and Orioles played each other in Washington on March 31 and in Baltimore on April 1. The first match up of the Beltway Series rivalry took place on May 19, 2006 during the 2006 regular season, the Orioles won at RFK Stadium. This marked first time in 35 years that the Orioles played a regular-season game in Washington, as they played the Washington Senators, another team in the American League annually from 1954 to 1960. The Orioles continued that rivalry with the new Washington Senators from 1961 to 1971.

The two teams split the season series 3–3 with each time winning two games at home and one on the road.

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
C Ramón Hernández 144 501 138 .275 23 91
1B Kevin Millar 132 430 117 .272 15 64
2B Brian Roberts 138 563 161 .286 10 55
SS Miguel Tejada 162 648 214 .330 24 100
3B Melvin Mora 155 624 171 .274 16 83
LF Jeff Conine 114 389 103 .265 9 49
CF Corey Patterson 135 463 128 .276 16 53
RF Nick Markakis 147 491 143 .291 16 62
DH Javy López 76 279 74 .265 8 31

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
Jay Gibbons 90 343 95 .277 13 46
Brandon Fahey 91 251 59 .235 2 23
Chris Gomez 55 132 45 .341 2 17
David Newhan 39 131 33 .252 4 18
Luis Matos 55 121 25 .207 2 5
Fernando Tatis 28 56 14 .250 2 8
Luis Terrero 27 40 8 .200 1 6
Jeff Fiorentino 19 39 10 .256 0 7
Raúl Chávez 16 28 5 .179 0 0
Ed Rogers 17 25 5 .200 0 2
Chris Widger 9 17 2 .118 0 2
Danny Ardoin 5 13 1 .077 0 1
Howie Clark 7 7 1 .143 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Érik Bédard 33 196.1 15 11 3.76 171
Rodrigo López 36 189.0 9 18 5.90 136
Kris Benson 30 183.0 11 12 4.82 88
Daniel Cabrera 26 148.0 9 10 4.74 157
Adam Loewen 22 112.1 6 6 5.37 98
Hayden Penn 6 19.2 0 4 15.10 8
Jim Johnson 1 3.0 0 1 24.00 0

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Bruce Chen 40 98.2 0 7 6.93 70
Russ Ortiz 20 40.1 0 3 8.48 23

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Chris Ray 61 4 4 33 2.73 51
Todd Williams 62 2 4 1 4.74 24
LaTroy Hawkins 60 3 2 0 4.48 27
Chris Britton 52 0 2 1 3.35 41
Sendy Rleal 42 1 1 0 4.44 19
Kurt Birkins 35 5 2 0 4.94 27
Julio Mañón 22 0 1 0 5.40 22
John Halama 17 3 1 0 6.14 12
Tim Byrdak 16 1 0 0 12.86 2
Jim Brower 12 0 1 0 13.86 9
Jim Hoey 12 0 1 0 10.24 6
Brian Burres 11 0 0 0 2.25 6
Eddy Rodríguez 9 1 1 0 7.20 11
Winston Abreu 7 0 0 0 10.13 6
Eric DuBose 2 0 0 0 9.64 2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Ottawa Lynx International League Dave Trembley
AA Bowie Baysox Eastern League Don Werner
A Frederick Keys Carolina League Bien Figueroa
A Delmarva Shorebirds South Atlantic League Gary Kendall
A-Short Season Aberdeen IronBirds New York–Penn League Andy Etchebarren
Rookie Bluefield Orioles Appalachian League Gary Allenson

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Frederick[3][4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2006 Baltimore Orioles season.
  1. ^ Ricky Bottalico Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ^ Kris Benson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  4. ^ Baseball America 2007 Directory.
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