| 2006 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 21–27 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Comerica Park (Detroit) Busch Stadium (St. Louis) | |||||||||
| MVP | David Eckstein (St. Louis) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Randy Marsh (crew chief), Alfonso Márquez, Wally Bell, Mike Winters, John Hirschbeck, Tim McClelland | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Cardinals: Tony La Russa (manager) Scott Rolen Tigers: Jim Leyland (manager) Iván Rodríguez | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | Fox (United States) MLB International (International) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox) Dave O'Brien and Rick Sutcliffe (MLB International) | |||||||||
| Radio | ESPN KTRS (STL) WXYT (DET) | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (ESPN) Mike Shannon and John Rooney (KMOX) Dan Dickerson, Ernie Harwell (Game 1) and Jim Price (WXYT) | |||||||||
| Streaming | ||||||||||
| ALCS | Detroit Tigers over Oakland Athletics (4–0) | |||||||||
| NLCS | St. Louis Cardinals over New York Mets (4–3) | |||||||||
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The 2006 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2006 season. The 102nd edition of the World Series,[1] it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Detroit Tigers and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals; the Cardinals won the series in five games to win their tenth World Series championship. This was the third World Series meeting between the Tigers and the Cardinals, the first in 38 years. The Cardinals won the first in 1934, and the Tigers won the second in 1968; each went the full seven games.
It was only the fifth time in 40 years that the Series featured two teams that had both remained in the same city since the formation of the AL in 1901, the last time being the 2004 World Series between St. Louis and the Boston Red Sox. The last three prior to 2004 were in 1975 (Boston–Cincinnati), 1968 (Detroit–St. Louis) and 1967 (Boston–St. Louis).
The Cardinals, who moved into Busch Stadium III in April, became the fourth team to win the Series in their home stadium's debut season, joining the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates (Forbes Field), 1912 Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park) and 1923 New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium I).[2] In 2009, they would be joined by the 2009 New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium II). With this win, the Cardinals would join the Yankees on becoming only the 2nd team in MLB history to win 10 World Series Championships. It also marked the franchise's first World Championship since 1982. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who won the 1989 World Series title with the Athletics, became the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, joining Sparky Anderson. Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who won the 1997 World Series title with the Marlins, also could have become the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, had the Tigers won the series.
The Cardinals finished the regular season 83–78. This is the second-worst record ever for a league champion (the 1973 New York Mets finished 82–79) and the worst record ever for a World Series champion. Previously the 1987 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77 and defeated that year's Cardinals team in the 1987 World Series.[3]
This World Series would be the last time until 2023 in which both teams failed to make the next season's playoffs.
- ^ "2006 World Series". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
- ^ Lawrence, Andrew (November 8, 2006). "By the Numbers". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
- ^ The 10 Worst MLB Teams Ever to Win the World Series, Bleachreport