| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 3–27, 2006[1] |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | St. Louis Cardinals (10th title) |
| Runner-up | Detroit Tigers (10th World Series appearance) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | David Eckstein (STL) |
The 2006 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2006 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
In the American League, the New York Yankees made their twelfth straight postseason appearance, the Minnesota Twins returned for the fourth time in five years, the Oakland Athletics returned for the fourth time in seven years, and the Detroit Tigers ended almost two decades of futility by clinching their first postseason berth since 1987.
In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals returned for the third straight year, the New York Mets returned for the first time in six years, the Los Angeles Dodgers returned for the second time in three years, and the San Diego Padres made their second straight postseason appearance.
This was the first postseason since 1990 to not feature the Atlanta Braves, who had previously made fourteen straight appearances from 1991 to 2005, excluding 1994, when the season was cancelled due to a strike.
The postseason began on October 3, 2006, and ended on October 27, 2006, with the 83-win underdog Cardinals upsetting the heavily-favored Tigers in five games in the 2006 World Series. It was the Cardinals' first title since 1982 and their tenth overall.