37th edition of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series
The
2006
American League Championship Series
(
ALCS
), the second round of the 2006
American League
playoffs, began on October 10 and ended on October 14. The wild card
Detroit Tigers
swept the West Division champion
Oakland Athletics
4 games to none to advance to the
2006 World Series
, and became the fourth AL team to win 10 pennants, joining the
New York Yankees
(39), the Athletics (15), and the
Boston Red Sox
(11).
Magglio Ordonez
's game-winning
walk-off home run
in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 4 sealed the pennant for the Tigers. This ALCS marked the 5th different AL pennant winner in as many years (following
2005 with the White Sox
,
2004 with the Red Sox
,
2003 with the Yankees
, and
2002 with the Angels
).
The Athletics defeated the
Minnesota Twins
3 games to none in the
AL Division Series
, and the Tigers defeated the Yankees 3 games to 1. The Tigers faced the
National League champions
St. Louis Cardinals
in the
World Series
, but lost in five games. The Athletics had home-field advantage (despite the Tigers having a better regular season record) as the wild card team defers home field advantage in the LCS regardless of regular season record.
The Athletics were seeking their first AL pennant since
1990
, while the Tigers captured the league title for the first time since their win in the
1984 World Series
. The series was a rematch of the
1972 American League Championship Series
(then a best-of-five series), in which Oakland defeated Detroit in 5 games. Detroit manager
Jim Leyland
, who led the
Florida Marlins
to the
1997 World Series
title, became the seventh manager in history to win pennants in both leagues. It was the second consecutive ALCS without the Yankees and Red Sox.
Summary
[
edit
]
Oakland Athletics vs. Detroit Tigers
[
edit
]
Detroit won the series, 4?0.
Game
|
Date
|
Score
|
Location
|
Time
|
Attendance
|
1
|
October 10
|
Detroit Tigers
? 5, Oakland Athletics ? 1
|
McAfee Coliseum
|
3:20
|
35,655
[2]
|
2
|
October 11
|
Detroit Tigers
? 8, Oakland Athletics ? 5
|
McAfee Coliseum
|
3:06
|
36,168
[3]
|
3
|
October 13
|
Oakland Athletics ? 0,
Detroit Tigers
? 3
|
Comerica Park
|
2:57
|
41,669
[4]
|
4
|
October 14
|
Oakland Athletics ? 3,
Detroit Tigers
? 6
|
Comerica Park
|
3:23
|
42,967
[5]
|
Game summaries
[
edit
]
Game 1
[
edit
]
Tuesday, October 10, 2006, at
McAfee Coliseum
in
Oakland, California
Oakland was 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, while Detroit turned four double plays (both are LCS records). Tigers first baseman
Sean Casey
left the game in the bottom of the sixth inning due to an apparent leg injury. Brandon Inge homered with two outs in the third off Barry Zito, who allowed a double and two walks to load the bases before
Magglio Ordonez
's single scored another run. Next inning, Ivan Rodriguez hit a leadoff home run off Zito, who then walked
Craig Monroe
.
Marcus Thames
then hit into a forceout, advancing to second on
D'Angelo Jimenez
's error and scoring on Inge's double. Inge moved to third on
Curtis Granderson
's groundout, then scored on
Placido Polanco
's single. Oakland avoided a shutout when
Milton Bradley
doubled to lead off the eighth off
Joel Zumaya
, moved to third on
Frank Thomas
's groundout, and scored on
Jay Payton
's groundout.
Game 2
[
edit
]
Wednesday, October 11, 2006, at
McAfee Coliseum
in
Oakland, California
Oakland struck first in Game 2 when
Mark Kotsay
doubled in the first with one out off Justin Verlander, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on
Milton Bradley
's single, but Detroit tied it when
Carlos Guillen
doubled to lead off the second off Esteban Loaiza, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on
Craig Monroe
's sacrifice fly. In the third, Kotsay doubled with two outs off Verlander before Bradley homered to put Oakland up 3?1. In the fourth, Detroit loaded the bases on two singles and a walk with one out off Loaiza before Monroe's single scored a run,
Alexis Gomez
's 2-run single gave Detroit the lead, and
Brandon Inge
's sacrifice fly put the Tigers up 5?3. In the sixth, Monroe doubled off Loaiza with two outs before Gomez homered to put Detroit up 7?3.
Eric Chavez
's leadoff home run off Verlander in the bottom of the inning cut the lead to 7?4. Next inning, Bradley homered with two outs off
Wilfredo Ledezma
to make it 7?5 Detroit, but the Tigers got that run back in the ninth on Granderson's leadoff home run off
Huston Street
. In the bottom of the inning, Oakland got three straight two-out singles off
Todd Jones
to load the bases, but
Frank Thomas
flew out to center to end the game. Since the ALCS has been increased to a seven-game series, no team has come back to win the series after losing the first two games at home.
Game 3
[
edit
]
Friday, October 13, 2006, at
Comerica Park
in
Detroit, Michigan
Oakland infielder
Mark Kiger
, who was called up from the minors for the ALCS following an injury to
Mark Ellis
, entered the game in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement for second baseman
D'Angelo Jimenez
, thereby becoming the first player in modern baseball history to make his major-league debut in a postseason game.
[6]
Kenny Rogers also continued to dominate, not allowing the A's to score once for his second victory in the postseason.
Curtis Granderson
walked to lead off the first off Rich Harden, moved to third on Craig Monroe's single, and scored on Placido Polanco's single. Magglio Ordonez's sacrifice fly made it 2?0 Tigers. Monroe's leadoff home run in the fifth off Harden made it 3?0. Todd Jones picked up his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Game 4
[
edit
]
Saturday, October 14, 2006, at
Comerica Park
in
Detroit, Michigan
In Game 4, Mark Kotsay walked with one out in the first off Jeremy Bonderman, then scored on
Milton Bradley
's double. One out later, Bradley scored on Eric Chavez's double to put Oakland up 2?0.
Jay Payton
homered in the fourth to make it 3?0. In the fifth, however, Brandon Inge singled off
Dan Haren
, moving to second on an error. After moving to third on a groundout, Inge scored on a double by
Curtis Granderson
, who then scored on
Craig Monroe
's double.
Magglio Ordonez
homered in the sixth to tie the game at three. In the bottom of the ninth,
Huston Street
got two outs, then allowed back-to-back singles to Polanco and Monroe before Ordonez launched a three-run walk-off home run to win the game and advance the Tigers to the
2006 World Series
. Ordonez's blast was the first pennant-winning home run since
Aaron Boone
's in Game 7 of the
2003 ALCS
and came on the 30th anniversary of
Chris Chambliss
' pennant-winning walk-off in Game 5 of the
1976 ALCS
.
Composite box
[
edit
]
2006 ALCS
(4?0):
Detroit Tigers
over
Oakland Athletics
Aftermath
[
edit
]
A few days after the conclusion of the series,
Billy Beane
fired manager
Ken Macha
. Although the A's went 368?280 in his four seasons as manager, Macha frustrated management and players throughout his tenure. Macha's fractured relationships with players such as
Nick Swisher
and
Rich Harden
had been the source of Bay Area stories for several seasons.
[7]
Even prior to the 2006 season, there was controversy with Macha as he opted out of the last year of his contract and almost took the
Pittsburgh Pirates
' manager job, but was later rehired by Oakland for the 2006 season. After his firing following the AL Championship Series, Macha would later serve as the Milwaukee Brewers' manager from 2009 and 2010.
After the season, ace pitcher
Barry Zito
signed a record seven year free agent contract with the
San Francisco Giants
, ending his seven-year run with the Athletics. Zito was the last man standing in Oakland's
Big Three
rotation of Zito,
Mark Mulder
, and
Tim Hudson
. From 2000 to 2004, the Big Three helped the A's win a division title in
2000
,
2002
,
2003
and a wild card berth in
2004
. In those years, each man made an All-Star appearance multiple times and Zito won the 2002
Cy Young Award
. To date, Zito was Oakland's last Cy Young award winner.
The Tigers and Athletics would meet again in the postseason in the American League Division Series in
2012
and
2013
, with the Tigers winning both series in five games. By 2012,
Justin Verlander
was the only player on either team that played in the 2006 American League Championship Series. Verlander's pitching performance in 2012 and 2013 gave him 30 straight scoreless innings against the A's in the playoffs, breaking the record for scoreless innings against one team in the postseason set by
Christy Mathewson
(28).
[8]
As of 2023, the Athletics and Tigers have not won a World Series since the 1980s (
1984
for Detroit and
1989
for Oakland).
References
[
edit
]
- ^
FOX dismisses Lyons for racially insensitive comment
,
Associated Press
. October 14, 2006.
- ^
"2006 ALCS Game 1 ? Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"2006 ALCS Game 2 ? Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"2006 ALCS Game 3 ? Oakland Athletics vs. Detroit Tigers"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
"2006 ALCS Game 4 ? Oakland Athletics vs. Detroit Tigers"
. Retrosheet
. Retrieved
September 13,
2009
.
- ^
Jenkins, Chris (October 14, 2006).
"Kiger says historic debut with A's spoiled by loss"
.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
. Retrieved
October 25,
2009
.
- ^
"Players snipe over Macha's management style"
.
ESPN.com
. October 16, 2006
. Retrieved
February 27,
2021
.
- ^
Schoenfield, David (October 17, 2012).
"Justin Verlander's scoreless streak"
.
ESPN.com
. Retrieved
November 16,
2023
.
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