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2006 in baseball

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Calendar

July

  • 30 - Hall of Fame inductions, Cooperstown, N.Y.
  • 31 - Last day to trade a player without securing waivers

August

September

  • 1 - Active rosters expand to 40 players

October

November

December

Champions

Major League Baseball

Other Champions

Awards and honors

Events

  • March 20 - Japan defeats Cuba 10-6 in the championship game of the 2006 World Baseball Classic. After falling behind 6-1 early in the game, Cuba pulls back to within one run entering the ninth inning before Japan closes the door. The championship game of the first international baseball tournament open to players from Major League Baseball features teams that, combined, have only two players on a Major League roster.
  • March 28 - Marquis Grissom announces his retirement after a 17-year career. The MVP of the 1997 ALCS, a four-time Gold Glove winner and two-time All-Star, Grissom retires as one of seven players with 2,000 hits, 200 home runs and 400 stolen bases.
  • March 30 - Commissoner Bud Selig appoints Red Sox director and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell to head a probe into the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in the major leagues. The investigation is initially limited to events since September 2002, when such drugs were banned in the majors, but Mitchell has the authority to expand its scope.
  • April 28:
    • In a 6-2 victory over the Brewers, Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux earns the victory with 6 strikeouts and 2 ER over 6.0 IP, earning the first 5-0 start of his career.
    • Two home run records are tied or broken: Kevin Mench of the Texas Rangers becomes the first right-handed batter in Major League history to hit home runs in seven consecutive games, and Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals ties a record with his 13th home run in the month of April. Mench failed to homer in his next game, falling short of tying the all-time record of eight consecutive games with a homer. Pujols would go on to break the record with 14 homers in April.
  • May 15 - The annual Hall of Fame Game between the Reds and the Pirates is cancelled due to rain with the Reds leading 3-0 in the third inning; it is the fifth rainout in the game's history, and the first since 1993.
  • May 21 - The Minnesota Legislature, on the last full day of the 2006 session, approves a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins, scheduled to open for the 2010 season. Under the bill, the Twins are prohibited from being folded by Major League Baseball or moved from the state of Minnesota for the 30-year duration of the initial lease. The bill was signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty at the Twins' May 23 home game vs. the Cleveland Indians.
  • May 24 - In the Cardinals' 10-4 victory at San Francisco, pitcher Adam Wainwright becomes the seventh player in history to hit a home run on the first major league pitch he sees.
  • May 28 - Barry Bonds hits his 715th career home run in a 6-3 home loss to the Colorado Rockies, passing Babe Ruth for second place on the career list and setting a new record for left-handed hitters.
  • June 6 - It is reported that U.S. federal officials have raided Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley's home looking for evidence that he was a distributor of human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs. They found he had received a package. A day later he quits the Diamondbacks, and it is announced that he has given authorities names of people he knew that took steroids and HGH.
  • July 11
    • Major League Baseball announces that the Fox Broadcasting Company has signed on to a new seven-year contract to continue airing MLB on FOX, ensuring that the World Series will air on FOX through the 2013 season. They will also be airing their Saturday Game of the Week and alternating League Championship Series throughout the contract. TBS Sports also signs a contract that will give them 28 nationwide MLB games a year beginning in 2008, air all Division Series and wild-card tiebreaker games beginning this year, and see a reduction in its nationwide contract on Atlanta Braves games from 70 a year to 45 a year starting in 2008. The other LCS contract is still being negotiated at this date.
    • The American League wins the All-Star Game 3-2 when Michael Young hits a 2-RBI triple against Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the top of the ninth to secure the AL's ninth consecutive victory; Young also makes a fine catch of a short fly ball to end the game with the tying run on second base. Vladimir Guerrero and David Wright had exchanged home runs early in the game, with Carlos Beltrán later scoring for the NL on a wild pitch.
    • Jim Eriotes of the Sioux Falls Canaries becomes, at age 83, the oldest player ever to bat in a professional baseball game. A former minor league outfielder, he strikes out as the leadoff hitter, fouling off one pitch.

Movies

Deaths

January-March

  • January 1 - Paul Lindblad, 64, relief pitcher for the Athletics who retired with the seventh most appearances (655) among lefthanders
  • January 5 - Rod Dedeaux, 91, baseball coach at the University of Southern California from 1942 to 1986 who won a record 11 College World Series titles, twice as many as any other coach, and 1,332 games, a record until 1994; played major role in baseball's acceptance in the Olympics, and coached the U.S. team in 1964 and 1984
  • January 14 - Bubba Morton, 74, right fielder, mainly with the Tigers, Angels and Japanese Toei Flyers, who in 1972 became the first black head coach in any sport at the University of Washington
  • January 16 - Willie Smith, 66, left fielder and pitcher for five major league clubs and Japanese Nankai Hawks
  • January 17 - Seth Morehead, 71, relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Braves between 1957 and 1961
  • January 24 - Carlos (Café) Martínez, 41, infielder for three AL teams who batted .300 for the 1989 White Sox
  • February 1 - Jake Wade, 93, pitcher for six AL teams who had been the oldest living Chicago White Sox player
  • February 4 - Joe McGuff, 79, sportswriter and editor for The Kansas City Star from 1948 to 1992 who covered the Athletics and later the Royals, playing an instrumental role in the latter franchise being awarded in 1969 and retained in the 1990s
  • February 11 - Robert W. Peterson, 80, author of the 1970 book Only the Ball Was White, which focused attention on the Negro Leagues; member of the 2006 Hall of Fame committee responsible for electing Negro Leaguers
  • February 20 - Curt Gowdy, 86, broadcaster whose voice was the soundtrack of 13 World Series and 16 All-Star games, as well as the Red Sox from 1951-1966 and ten years with NBC
  • February 26 - Ace Adams, 94, All-Star pitcher for the New York Giants who led the National League in saves in 1944 and 1945
  • March 6 - Kirby Puckett, 45, Hall of Fame center fielder for the Twins who batted .318 lifetime and won six Gold Gloves; 1989 batting champion; led AL in hits four times, total bases twice and RBI once; MVP of 1991 ALCS, his 11th-inning HR won Game 6 of 1991 World Series

April-June

  • April 9 - Billy Hitchcock, 89, infielder for five AL teams who later managed Orioles and Braves, was minor league executive
  • April 9 - Jimmy Outlaw, 93, outfielder and third baseman, primarily for the Tigers, who was the left fielder on the 1945 World Series champions
  • April 26 - Russ Swan, 42, relief pitcher from 1989-94, primarily for the Seattle Mariners
  • April 28 - Steve Howe, 48, All-Star relief pitcher, mainly with the Dodgers and Yankees, who was the 1980 NL Rookie of the Year but was suspended from baseball seven times and eventually barred from the sport due to drug abuse
  • May 4 - Jim Delsing, 80, outfielder for five AL teams best remembered as the pinch runner for Eddie Gaedel
  • May 14 - Jim Lemon, 78, All-Star outfielder for the Senators/Twins who led AL in triples in 1956, had two seasons of 30 HR and 100 RBI; later a coach
  • June 4 - Bill Fleming, 92, pitcher for Red Sox and Cubs from 1940 to 1946; led 1940 Pacific Coast League in strikeouts with Hollywood
  • June 5 - Eric Gregg, 55, NL umpire from 1975 to 1999 who worked in the 1989 World Series and four NLCS, noted for weight problems and a wide strike zone
  • June 10 - Moe Drabowsky, 70, Polish relief pitcher for several teams from 1955 to 1972 who won Game 1 of the 1966 World Series with the Orioles
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