2006 Oakland Athletics: More Moneyball

2006 Oakland Athletics: More Moneyball

2006 Oakland Athletics: More Moneyball

The Moneyball Era of the Oakland Athletics had plenty of modest success as General Manager Billy Beane had constructed reliable rosters that would compete in postseason play. However, more work had to be done by the Athletics in order to take that next step as a franchise.

In 2006 the Oakland Athletics went 93-69 won the American League West division by 4 games over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Athletics went 49-32 at home and 44-37 on the road. The Athletics played great baseball during some months as they went 12-12 in April, 18-8 in June, 14-13 in July, 21-6 in August and 15-13 in September.

Outfielder Jay Payton batted .296 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI’s off 165 hits, 32 doubles and 8 triples in 142 games. Catcher Jason Kendall batted .295 with 163 hits, 23 doubles and 11 stolen bases. On December 13, 2005 right fielder Milton Bradley was traded to the Athletics from the Los Angeles Dodgers along with utility player Antonio Perez in exchange for outfielder Andre Ethier. Bradley batted .276 with 14 home runs, 97 hits, 14 doubles and 10 stolen bases in 96 games. Center fielder Mark Kotsay batted .275 with 138 hits, 29 doubles and 6 stolen bases in 129 games.

The Athletics signed a key free agent on January 31, and it happened to be a powerful slugger who came off a successful 2005 World Series campaign with the Chicago White Sox. Also known as the “Big Hurt”, designated hitter Frank Thomas batted .270 with 39 home runs and 114 RBI’s off 126 hits and 11 doubles.

Outfielder Bobby Kielty batted .270 with 8 home runs, 73 hits and 20 doubles in 81 games. Left fielder Nick Swisher had 35 home runs and 95 RBI’s off 141 hits and 24 doubles. Third baseman Eric Chavez had 22 home runs and 72 RBI’s off 117 hits and 24 doubles. Second baseman Mark Ellis had 11 home runs, 110 hits and 25 doubles. Middle infielder Marco Scutaro had 97 hits, 21 doubles, 6 triples and 5 stolen bases in 117 games. Shortstop Bobby Crosby had 9 home runs, 82 hits, 12 doubles and 8 stolen bases in 96 games. First baseman Dan Johnson had 9 home runs, 67 hits and 13 doubles in 91 games.

Starting pitcher Barry Zito went 16-10 with 151 strikeouts and a 3.83 ERA. Zito would be the lone representative of the Athletics in the 2006 MLB All-Star Game. Joe Blanton went 16-12 with 107 strikeouts, 1 complete game and 1 shutout. Dan Haren went 14-13 with 176 strikeouts and 2 complete games. Esteban Loaiza signed with the Athletics out of free agency on November 29, 2005 and made the most of his opportunity, going 11-9 with 97 strikeouts, 2 complete games and 1 shutout. Kirk Sarloos went 7-7 with 2 saves in 16 starts. Rich Harden went 4-0 as a starter.

Closer Huston Street went 4-4 with 37 saves and a 3.31 ERA. Relief pitcher Justin Duchscherer went 2-1 with 9 saves and a 2.91 ERA. Brad Halsey went 5-4 from the bullpen. Joe Kennedy went 4-1 with 1 save and a 2.31 ERA. Chad Gaudin went 4-2 with 2 saves and a 3.09 ERA. Kiko Calero went 3-2 with 2 saves and a 3.41 ERA.

The Athletics impressed the rest of the baseball world with a 10-game winning streak which began with a 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field on June 8. This winning streak ended on June 18 with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at McAfee Coliseum.

The Athletics would prove to be a unique team in postseason play as they went right past the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series, sweeping them 3 games to none. In Game 1 on October 3 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the Athletics beat the Twins 3-2. Barry Zito pitched 8 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks and 1 run while recording 1 strikeout. In the top of the 2nd inning Frank Thomas hit a solo home run, and Marco Scutaro followed with an RBI doubled. In the bottom of the 7th left fielder Rondell White got the Twins on the board with a solo home run. In the top of the 9th Thomas struck again with another solo home run. Center fielder Torii Hunter had an RBI groundout in the bottom of the 9th but the Twins fell 1 run short.

In Game 2 on October 4 the Athletics won again by the score of 5-2. Esteban Loaiza pitched 5 innings and gave up 8 hits and 2 runs while recording 2 strikeouts. In the top of the 5th inning Scutaro had an RBI double, and then Jason Kendall followed with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 6th right fielder Michael Cuddyer and first baseman Justin Morneau both hit solo home runs. In the top of the 7th Mark Kotsay had a 2-run inside the park home run, and then in the top of the 9th Nick Swisher scored off a wild pitch.

Defeating the Twins 8-3 in Game 3 at McAfee Coliseum, the Athletics managed to advance further in the postseason than any other team Billy Beane had constructed. Dan Haren pitched 6 innings and gave up 9 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs. In the bottom of the 2nd inning Eric Chavez hit a solo home run, and Scutaro followed with an RBI double. In the bottom of the 3rd Milton Bradley smacked a 2-run home run. In the top of the 4th Hunter hit a solo home run, and in the top of the 6th White had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 7th Swisher drew a bases loaded walk to score Thomas, and then Scutaro broke the game open with a 3-run double. Morneau’s solo home run in the top of the 8th came much too late for Minnesota.

Unfortunately for the Athletics, they would be on the receiving end of a series sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, falling 4 games to none to the Tigers in the American League Championship Series. After the season there would be key departures from the Athletics as manager Ken Macha would be fired and third base coach Ken Washington agreed to become the new manager of the Texas Rangers. Barry Zito left Oakland and crossed the San Francisco Bay to join the San Francisco Giants while Frank Thomas would move far east to join the Toronto Blue Jays.

The great run the Athletics had in 2006 only encouraged Billy Beane and other fans of Moneyball to continue building Major League rosters in rather unique, money-saving ways.