Those of you who blame Ken Macha for the A's September collapses of the last two seasons might want to look away.

By far, the toughest month of the A's 2006 schedule will be: September.

Here are the combined 2005 winning percentages of the A's 2006 opponents:

Apr: .481
May: .493
Jun: .490
Jul: .503
Aug: .468
Sep: .521*

Total: .496

*The September total includes one game in October.

This is all subject to change, of course. Maybe Toronto and Tampa Bay will be the AL's best two teams next year, and August will be difficult. Maybe the last six series of the year (against the Twins, White Sox, Indians, Angels, Mariners, and Angels again) will end up being easy. Who knows?

But judging by 2005's results, if the A's are going to win a playoff spot in 2006, they better take advantage of that easy early schedule, get off to a fast start, and then nail that spot down in August. Because the last three weeks could be a dogfight.