Touched By An Angel

Direct TV Entertainment Guide
April 2003
By MICHAEL DOJC

David Eckstein is a Power Puff Boy. He may come in a small package, but he’s got fire in his eyes, hustle in his legs and a diligent style of baseball that inspires others to reach deep and deliver. Standing just five feet six inches tall (though the official tally is five feet eight inches), he’s a bundle of effervescence on the diamond, buzzing about like a bumblebee, diving in the dirt to stop hard grounders, and dashing down the baselines—even when he earns a walk. The baseball phenomenon, voted 11th in the American League MVP balloting last season, could be Anaheim’s wild card, the key to defending their World Series title.

After an abysmal start last year, the worst April in franchise history, Eckstein rose up and reversed the team’s fortune with grand slams in back-to-back ball games against the Blue Jays. More of a single-slapper than a ‘there she goes’ kind of guy’, Eckstein’s round trippers had the fairy-dust quality of one of Robert Redford’s slow motion thwocks in The Natural.

He made the Angels believe that if you give your all, anything and everything can happen. The Angels responded by chucking their egos and playing as a 25-man unit with one simple goal: win.

“Never give up. Never give up,” Eckstein repeats, not so much speaking but breathing his personal and team espoused philosophy. The conviction in his words elevates the stock athlete motivational maxim from cliché to baseball gospel.

“Anybody who watched us play throughout the whole year knew we never game up, we always fought till the final out of the game was made,” the 28-year-old explains.

That’s why in game six of the fall classic, bottom of the seventh inning, down 5-0 and facing elimination, the Angels were able to keep cool, manufacture runs, and score a comeback.

“We weren’t going to throw in the towel, we were going to keep trying to find a way to scratch some runs on the board,” reminisces Eckstein.

The Angels went on to reach heaven in seven, and it couldn’t have been have been scripted better—well, maybe Eckstein could have bounced a walk-off shot off the jumboTron while “Going to Fly Now (The Rocky Theme)” blasted out of the AP system, and real life rally monkeys flooded the field—then again this was the World Series, not Miracle on Gene Autry Way.

Though he did go on to lead the majors in grand salamis, the hyper hustling sultan of situational hitting that is David Ecsktein is known more for being well, a major pest—The Guardian in England audaciously referred to Eckstein as “an irritating little fidget.” These jibes are veiled compliments, acknowledgement that this crouching tiger, hidden Ichiro is a threat at the plate. Skipper Mike Scioscia calls Eckstein the smartest player he knows, and Eckstein can count Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and even president George W. Bush among supporters of his brand of hardnosed baseball.

Respect was longtime coming for Eckstein, he was almost invisible as a prospect in the late nineties. In high school they called him ‘little Eck’ because he played in the shadow of his older brother and in college it was ‘just Dave’ because he was a walk-on and nobody knew him. When he made it to Pawtucket, the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate, an unconvinced scout called Eckstein ‘Just Enough’

“I didn’t take any offence, the ‘enough’ part was all I cared about,” says Eckstein. He has a tendency to focus on the bright side of things and all the little things that wins baseball games. He tires pitchers, forcing them into deep counts; runs like a cheetah on the base paths; executes butter smooth sacrifice bunts; and he isn’t shy about taking one for the team. Eckstein led the A.L. in the pitcher inflicted shiner department for two seasons running.

Think that’s wild? The Angels were 59-17 during the regular season last year when Eckstein scored a run and only 8-19 in games where he failed to reach base. This is why in Angels country Eckstein is fondly known as the X-Factor, the spark plug that gives the club its wings. If Tony Robbins were a fly on the wall in the Angels dugout trying to glean some Eckstein motivational mojo, he’d come up with squat because Eckstein leads solely by his actions on the diamond.

“I really don’t say much. I let my play to speak for itself. I just go out there and perform and play really hard, that’s the way I do my talking”

“My job is to get on base for these guys and to find a way to just get it done” Eckstein shrugs, modestly downplaying his role as an impact player. He suggests that he merely sets the table for great hitters like Garret Anderson, Darrin Erstad, and Tim Salmon who follow the leadoff hitter.

“You never can forget about the rally monkey though; its power is unbelievable,” chuckles Eckstein who just may be the living embodiment of that plush Angels good luck charm.

While no longer an enigma, Eckstein and the World Champion Angels will still be underdogs this season with just an outside chance of making the playoffs. This bodes well for the team.

“We like to go under the radar and have no one concentrating on us because that lets us just go out there and play our game” says Eckstein.

With a mix of seasoned veterans and explosive young talent like Jarrod Washburn, Adam Kennedy, and Fransisco Rodriguez, there is reason to believe the Angels will be a better ball club this season.

For his part Eckstein’s hyper confident that the good times will keep rolling for the halos.

“Just from 2001-2002 guys games have elevated and it has been definitely fun to be a part of. No one is satisfied with what we have done—we strive to do even better.”

THE QUOTABLE ECKSTEIN

On getting beaned all the time

“I rarely get hit by a fastball, it’s more off speed pitches. Ever since I was young for some reason I’ve always gotten hit, maybe it’s because I stand so close to the plate.

On not wearing body armor

It’s the pitchers job to pitch inside and I feel if I [wear protection], pitchers are going to think that I’m up there trying to get hit and then I’d probably get hit a lot more and in worse spots.

On playing another sport

I’ve always wanted to play football, I’d play wide receiver on the Miami Dolphins. It’s one sport I’ve never played and that’s what I’d like to try.

Nutty Baseball Superstition