2006 Baltimore Orioles season

Major League Baseball season March 2026 November 2013 Baltimore Orioles 2006 Baltimore Orioles wordmark 1995 to 2008.png American League East Oriole Park at Camden Yards Baltimore 70–92 (.432) 4th Peter Angelos Mike Flanagan Sam Perlozzo WJZ-TVWNUVComcast SportsNet(Jim Palmer, Jim Hunter, Buck Martinez, Fred Manfra) WBAL (AM)(Fred Manfra, Jim Hunter, Joe Angel) The 2006 Baltimore Orioles season was the 106th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 53rd in Baltimore, and the 15th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They failed to improve on their y 74 88 record from the previous year with a 70–92 record, and missed the postseason for the 9th straight season. 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.Ricky Bottalico Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com 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.Kris Benson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com 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 Baltimore Orioles Record vs. opponents BAL 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 Minor League Baseball 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 AllensonLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: FrederickJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007Baseball America 2007 Directory. References 2006 Baltimore Orioles team page at Baseball Reference 2006 Baltimore Orioles season at baseball-almanac.com Category:Baltimore Orioles seasons Baltimore Orioles Baltimore