Brett’s 3,000th: Easy as 1-2-3-4 : Baseball: The Royals’ star picks up a double and three singles in his first four at-bats to reach landmark in victory over Angels.

The bottle of champagne that sat in his locker was Dom Perignon, from a very good year. No matter its vintage, it couldn’t have been from a better year than 1992 has been for George Brett, who on Wednesday night inscribed an indelible line in baseball’s record books.

After two days off and three days in which a sore left shoulder prevented him from swinging a bat purposefully, Brett came to the plate at Anaheim Stadium needing four hits to become the 18th player in major league history to collect 3,000 in his career.

Not knowing whether one bad swing might stretch his muscles that were already strained beyond endurance, Brett surprised himself and enthralled the crowd by collecting the four hits in his first four at-bats in the Kansas City Royals’ 4-0 victory over the Angels.

Brett, who had recorded his first three hits off Angel starter Julio Valera (8-11), reached 3,000 when he smashed reliever Tim Fortugno’s first pitch to him in the seventh inning for a drive that went past second baseman Ken Oberkfell and into right field.

The hit touched off a cascade of fireworks and sent the Royals flying out of their dugout to mob Brett as he stood astride first base. Brett, who attended El Segundo High and spends his off-seasons in Palm Springs, doffed his helmet to salute the crowd of 17,336--which included his expectant wife, Leslie, and his mother--but was the smallest at Anaheim Stadium in more than 13 years.

He became the second major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits this season, following Milwaukee’s Robin Yount. His feat was accomplished on the 20th anniversary of Roberto Clemente’s 3,000th hit, also the last hit by the Pirate great before his death in a plane crash.

“It felt extremely good when I hit it, then I looked up and saw the second baseman, Oberkfell, standing right there and I thought, ‘Oh, damn, he’s going to catch it,’ ” said Brett, who was one for two against Fortugno before that historic hit. “But it took a bad hop and nearly took his head off. It was amazing. I was the most surprised person in the ballpark.”

He was also the most surprised person in the stadium when he was picked off first by Fortugno, a move that drew a sheepish grin from Brett.

“I was right in the middle of a sentence to (first baseman Gary) Gaetti and he picked me off,” Brett said, pretending to be offended. “He’d asked me if my wife was here, and I said yes, and that I had friends here from Kansas City. I started to say that Monday they went to a bar to watch the Chiefs on Monday Night Football and on Tuesday they didn’t even come to the game, and they picked me off. . . . Believe me, my mind wasn’t on being picked off. I was in never-never land.”

He wasn’t the only person dazed by his feat. Angel coach John Wathan, who roomed with Brett during their playing careers and later managed him in Kansas City, has seen Brett enjoy many nights like Wednesday but was still in awe of Brett’s ability.

“He’s always been such a guy who’s had a flair for the dramatic,” said Wathan, who sent Brett the gift-wrapped bottle of champagne that soon sat amid a pile of bottles in Brett’s cubicle in the Royals’ clubhouse.

“Whether it was a big playoff game or a World Series game, he would find a way to get it done,” Wathan added. “I was just excited to be here to see it. The thing that made me the most excited was when he looked at me in the (Angels’) dugout after he did it and waved to me, that through all the emotion he thought to do that.”

Brett’s first emotion afterward was relief. “I entered the game thinking my game plan was to get one hit and not hurt myself, but I got one and just felt so relaxed,” he said.

After taking 50 swings off a batting practice tee before Wednesday’s game, he said: “I was sure I could play if I didn’t swing any harder than that, and I didn’t. After 19 years, I figured out I didn’t have to swing hard to get hits.

“I wanted to get one hit (Wednesday) and hopefully two more (Thursday). This was the farthest thing from my mind tonight. But if it was going to happen anywhere but Kansas City, I’m glad it’s here, with all my friends here and Rosie Gilhousen, the scout who signed me out of high school, here and so many people from Manhattan Beach and El Segundo.”

Brett reached on an error in his final at-bat, in the ninth inning. “That fifth at-bat was kind of a letdown,” he joked.

Brett, who joined Rod Carew as the only two players to record their 3,000th career hits at Anaheim Stadium, began the final leg of his quest Wednesday with a double in the first inning against Valera and singles in the third and fifth innings. His seventh-inning single off Fortugno gave Brett the 54th four-hit game of his career and raised his career average to .307.

“It’s something I suppose 10 or 15 years from now I’ll think was an exciting moment, but I’m not excited now,” Fortugno said of the fastball Brett smashed for the historic hit. “I wanted to be known as the guy who stopped him. You’ve got to have a lot of respect for him. Like everything else, this is a game of timing. He was going to get it eventually, but I didn’t want to be the guy he got it off. . . . I thought of getting a ball from him, but I guess he’s kind of busy celebrating tonight.”

Brett’s two-out double in the first inning energized the crowd and seemed to give the Royals life. Gregg Jefferies, Mike Macfarlane and Jim Eisenreich all followed his lead and collected singles off Valera, giving the Royals a 1-0 lead.

Brett’s second hit was also a soft one and also came on a 1-and-1 count.

Brett’s 2,999th career hit came in the fifth inning when he reached down for a 1-and-0 forkball and dropped it neatly into short center.

Wally Joyner had led off the inning with a homer run to right, a line shot off Valera’s first pitch. It cleared the fence over the 362-foot sign, Joyner’s ninth homer of the season.

The only excitement for the Angels came in the fourth inning, when first baseman Lee Stevens was ejected by plate umpire Rick Reed for disputing a strike called against him. Stevens had already returned to the dugout when Reed evidently heard his complaints and threw him out. The ejection was his first and the 15th for an Angel this season; Gaetti replaced him at first base.

The fans got what they came to see in the seventh inning. With one out, Brett smashed the first pitch to him past Oberkfell and into right field.

It was suggested Brett might have a better perspective on his accomplishment after he had slept on it, which drew a disbelieving look from Brett. “Who said I’m going to sleep?” he asked.

ROSS NEWHAN: George Brett’s fine performance would be a perfect way to end his major league career. C4

3,000-Hit Club

MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS WITH 3,000 OR MORE HITS:

Player Hits 1. Pete Rose 4,256 2. Ty Cobb 4,191 3. Hank Aaron 3,771 4. Stan Musial 3,630 5. Tris Speaker 3,515 6. Honus Wagner 3,430 7. Carl Yastrzemski 3,419 8. Eddie Collins 3,309 9. Willie Mays 3,283 10. Nap Lajoie 3,252 11. Paul Waner 3,152 12. Cap Anson 3,081 13. Rod Carew 3,053 14. Lou Brock 3,023 15. *Robin Yount 3,023 16. Al Kaline 3,007 17. *George Brett 3,000 Roberto Clemente 3,000

* active

Brett’s Hits, Year by Year

GEORGE BRETT’S HIT TOTAL, YEAR BY YEAR:

Year Hits Avg 1973 5 .125 1974 129 .282 1975 195 .308 1976 215 .333 1977 176 .312 1978 150 .294 1979 212 .329 1980 175 .390 1981 109 .314 1982 166 .301 1983 144 .310 1984 107 .284 1985 184 .335 1986 128 .290 1987 124 .290 1988 180 .306 1989 129 .282 1990 179 .329 1991 129 .255 1992 164 .282 Totals 3,000 .307

Brett’s Milestone Hits

MILESTONE HITS IN GEORGE BRETT’S CAREER:

No. Date Opponent Pitcher Hit 1 Aug. 2, 1973 White Sox Stan Bahnsen Single 100 Sept. 3, 1974 White Sox Jack Kucek Single 500 Aug. 22, 1976 Brewers Jim Slaton Single 1,000 July 23, 1979 Rangers Ferguson Jenkins Single 1,500 Aug. 29, 1982 White Sox LaMarr Hoyt Single 2,000 May 25, 1986 White Sox Joel Davis Single 2,500 Sept. 8, 1989 Twins Roy Smith Single 3,000 Sept. 30, 1992 Angels Tim Fortugno Single