2006 Baltimore Orioles season

2006  Baltimore Orioles
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Oriole Park at Camden Yards
City	Baltimore
Record	70–92 (.432)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Peter Angelos
General managers	Mike Flanagan
Managers	Sam Perlozzo
Television	WJZ-TV WNUV Comcast SportsNet (Jim Palmer, Jim Hunter, Buck Martinez, Fred Manfra)
Radio	WBAL (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

v t e 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 v t e Sources:
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 40 Winston Abreu 45 Érik Bédard 34 Kris Benson 25 Kurt Birkins 52 Chris Britton 38 Jim Brower 56 Brian Burres 40 Tim Byrdak 35 Daniel Cabrera 27 Bruce Chen 28 Eric DuBose 50 John Halama 23,32 LaTroy Hawkins 47 Jim Hoey 47 Jim Johnson 13 Rodrigo López 57 Julio Manon 30 Russ Ortiz 49 Hayden Penn 37 Chris Ray 43 Sendy Rleal 50 Eddy Rodríguez 53 Todd Williams		Catchers 55 Danny Ardoin 9,36 Raúl Chávez 55 Ramón Hernández 18 Javy López 18 Chris Widger Infielders 52 Howie Clark 19 Jeff Conine 14 Chris Gomez 15 Kevin Millar  6 Melvin Mora  1 Brian Roberts 23 Fernando Tatís 10 Miguel Tejada		Outfielders 12 Brandon Fahey 16 Jeff Fiorentino 31 Jay Gibbons 21 Nick Markakis 32 Luis Matos 11 David Newhan 17 Corey Patterson 16 Ed Rogers 28 Luis Terrero		Manager  2 Sam Perlozzo Coaches 30 Dave Cash (first base) 48 Terry Crowley (hitting) 24 Rick Dempsey (bullpen)  3 Lee Elia (bench) 54 Leo Mazzone (pitching) 26 Tom Trebelhorn (third base)

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

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.

• 2006 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference
• 2006 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com