BR Bullpen:News Archive/2006

This is an archive of articles that were featured on the Main Page as part of Current Events in 2006.

• December 13: Daisuke Matsuzaka signs with the Boston Red Sox for at least $52 million over six years.
• December 9: Joakim Soria throws the third perfect game in Mexican Pacific League history, beating the Hermosillo Orange Growers. Two days earlier, he had been the #2 pick in the Rule V Draft.
• November 21: Justin Morneau named American League Most Valuable Player.
• November 20: Ryan Howard voted National League Most Valuable Player.
• November 20: Alfonso Soriano signs an 8 year, $136 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.
• November 17: Bob Geren named manager of the Oakland Athletics.
• November 17: Rollie Stiles, the oldest living MLB player, turns 100 years old.
• November 16: Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins wins his second unanimous American League Cy Young Award in three years.
• November 15: Joe Girardi and Jim Leyland win Manager of the Year awards.
• November 14: Boston Red Sox pay $51.1 million for the rights to negotiate with Nippon Pro Baseball star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.
• November 14: Manny Acta named manager of the Washington Nationals.
• November 14: Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks is named the National League Cy Young Award winner.
• November 14: Michihiro Ogasawara and Kosuke Fukudome win Pacific League and Central League MVP honors, respectively.
• November 13: Justin Verlander and Hanley Ramirez win Rookie of the Year awards.
• November 9: Bud Black becomes skipper of the San Diego Padres.
• November 6: Ron Washington named manager of the Texas Rangers.
• November 3: Pitcher Greg Maddux wins a record-tying sixteenth Gold Glove.
• October 29: Si Simmons, a former Negro League pitcher and professional baseball's oldest former player dies at the age of 111.
• October 29: The Samsung Lions win their fourth Korean Series, defeating the Hanwha Eagles four games to one with one tie. Jin-Man Park is named the series MVP.
• October 27: The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers, four games to one in the World Series for their tenth title. David Eckstein is named series MVP.
• October 27: Former Major League pitcher Joe Niekro dies at age 61.
• October 27: Bruce Bochy named manager of the San Francisco Giants.
• October 26: The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters win their first Nippon Series, defeating the Chunichi Dragons four games to one in the 2006 Nippon Series. Atsunori Inaba is named the series MVP.
• October 25: The La New Bears win their first Taiwan Series, sweeping the Uni-President Lions in four games. Chin-Feng Chen is named the series MVP.
• October 17: Lou Piniella named manager of the Chicago Cubs.
• October 16: Ken Macha fired as skipper of the Oakland Athletics despite leading the club to the 2006 ALCS.
• October 14: The Detroit Tigers defeat the Oakland Athletics to reach the World Series for the first time since 1984.
• October 11: New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle is killed when his private plane crashes into a New York highrise.
• October 10: The Chunichi Dragons clinch the Central League pennant, overcoming a strong September push by the Hanshin Tigers. They advance to the 2006 Japan Series to face either the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks or Nippon Ham Fighters.
• October 9: The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks advance to the second stage of the Pacific League's playoffs by defeating the Seibu Lions two games to one.
• October 7: The first stage of the Pacific League's playoffs begin between the Seibu Lions and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
• October 6: Buck O'Neil, a former Negro League player and advocate, and Chicago Cubs coach passes away at the age of 94 in Kansas City, MO.
• October 5: Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter is fired after four years with the team.
• October 3: The 2006 Major League Baseball Postseason begins with four Division Series matchups
• October 3: Skipper Joe Girardi relieved of his duties with the Florida Marlins and replaced by Fredi Gonzalez.
• October 2 to October 5: Five MLB managers are either fired or let go by their teams within a week of the season's end. Among these are Hall of Famer Frank Robinson of the Washington Nationals and first-year skipper Joe Girardi of the Florida Marlins who is quickly replaced by Fredi Gonzalez.
• October 2: Dusty Baker fired as manager of the Chicago Cubs; Felipe Alou let go by the San Francisco Giants.
• October 1: The Pacific League ends its regular season with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters placing first. The second-place Seibu Lions and third-place Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks will met in the first stage of the league's playoff system on October 7.
• October 1: Major League Baseball ends its regular season.
• September 23: Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's National League home run record.
• September 18: The 2006 Dodgers hit four home runs in a row, becoming the fourth team to do so in MLB history
• September 16: Masahiro Yamamoto, at 41, becomes the oldest pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball to throw a no-hitter.
• September 16: Ichiro Suzuki sets a new American League record for consecutive steals without getting caught, with 34.
• September 16: Alfonso Soriano becomes the fourth player in baseball history to join the 40-40 club.
• September 16: Luis Gonzalez becomes the oldest player in MLB history to hit 50 doubles, breaking a 80-year-old record held previously by Tris Speaker.
• September 10: Francisco Rodriguez becomes the youngest pitcher to reach 100 career saves.
• September 9: Masahiro Yamamoto becomes the oldest pitcher in Nippon Pro Baseball to reach 2,000 career strikeouts.
• September 6: Anibal Sanchez of the Florida Marlins tosses the first MLB no-hitter in over two years, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 2 - 0.
• September 3: Ryan Howard breaks Ralph Kiner's record for home runs by a second-year player.
• September 2: Kevin Kouzmanoff becomes the third player in MLB history to hit a grand slam in his first at-bat.
• August 28: Columbus, GA defeats Kawaguchi, Saitama, 2 - 1, in the finals of the Little League World Series to become the second consecutive American team to claim the title.
• August 27: The Leones de Yucatán stun the favored Sultanes de Monterrey for the Mexican League championship.
• August 24: Albert Belle is sentenced to three months of jail for stalking.
• August 20: Waseda Jitsugyo High School defeats two-time defending champion Komazawa University Tomakomai High School in the championship game of the summer Koshien tournament.
• August 19: John Hattig becomes the first Guam native to play in Major League Baseball.
• August 16: Bruce Froemming becomes the second umpire in MLB history to work 5,000 games, following Bill Klem.
• August 14: Matt Diaz ties a new National League record with hits in 10 consecutive at-bats.
• August 12: The Santa Barbara (CA) Foresters win the 72nd National Baseball Congress World Series.
• August 6: The United States wins the 2006 Women's Baseball World Cup with a 13 - 11 win over Japan to finish the tournament with 5 wins and 1 loss.
• July 31: Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Ryohei Hasegawa dies of cardiac arrest at age 76.
• July 31: 300-game winner, Greg Maddux is traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Cesar Izturis.
• July 31: The Second Women's Baseball World Cup begins in Taipei, Taiwan.
• July 30: Bruce Sutter and seventeen Negro League and pre-Negro league players and executives are enshired in the Hall of Fame.
• July 25: IBAF President Aldo Notari dies at the age of 73 in Parma, Italy.
• July 17: Sadaharu Oh, diagnosed with the early stages of stomach cancer, undergoes a gastrectomy to remove his stomach.
• July 16: Chipper Jones collects an extra-base hit in his 14th consecutive game, tying a 79-year-old record held by Paul Waner.
• July 15: Howdy Groskloss, the Oldest Living MLB Player, dies at age 100.
• July 11: In the All-Star Game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA, the American League is victorious for the tenth straight time. A ninth inning triple by All-Star Game MVP Michael Young of the Texas Rangers gives the AL a 3-2 win.
• July 2: The rosters for the 2006 MLB All-Star Game in Pittsburgh are announced.
• June 27: The Pittsburgh Pirates unveil seven statues at PNC Park honoring seven former Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays stars including Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, and Smokey Joe Williams.
• June 26: Oregon State wins the 2006 College World Series over North Carolina, 3-2.
• June 25: Mike Mussina becomes the 9th American League pitcher to reach 2,500 career strikeouts.
• June 19: David Segui admits to the use of human growth hormone and that he is a player identified by Jason Grimsley.
• June 6: The house of Jason Grimsley is searched by federal officials under the suspicion that he is a distributor of human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs. Grimsley later confesses to using human growth hormone, amphetamines and steroids in 2003.
• June 6: The 2006 MLB Amateur Draft takes place with the Kansas City Royals selecting Luke Hochevar with the first pick.
• May 31: Roger Clemens signs with the Houston Astros for an estimated $13 million for the remainder of the 2006 season.
• May 30: The Industriales Lions win their 11th Cuban League's Championship beating the Santiago de Cuba Wasps four games to two.
• May 28: Barry Bonds hits his 715th home run, off Byung-Hyun Kim, moving past Babe Ruth into second on the Major League Baseball career home run leaders list.
• May 18: The sale of the Washington Nationals to Theodore Lerner and Stan Kasten was unanimously approved by the other MLB owners.
• May 17: The Cuban League's Championship begins between Industriales Lions and the Santiago de Cuba Wasps.
• May 12: Hideki Matsui leaves in the first inning of the Red Sox-Yankees game, halting his consecutive games played streak at 1,768 games, fourth all-time.
• May 9: Interleague play in Nippon Professional Baseball begins.
• May 7: Barry Bonds hits his 713th home run, off Jon Lieber, placing him one behind Babe Ruth.
• April 26: Delmon Young is ejected, and later suspended for 50 games for throwing his bat at an umpire.