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.

George Brett, who wasn’t considered a sure major league prospect at El Segundo High School and wasn’t even deemed the best athlete in his family, seized a place in baseball history Wednesday night when he became the 18th major league player to collect 3,000 hits in his career.

Showing a flair for the dramatic that matched his unquestionable flair for hitting, the Kansas City Royals’ Brett went four for five against the Angels, reaching his milestone when he smashed the first pitch from reliever Tim Fortugno in the seventh inning past second baseman Ken Oberkfell and into right field.

“It felt extremely good, then I looked up and saw the second baseman, Oberkfell, standing right there, and I thought, ‘Oh . . . he’s going to catch it,’ ” Brett said. “But it took a bad hop and almost took his head off.”

While an Anaheim Stadium crowd of 17,336 cheered and Brett’s wife and family exulted in the stands, Brett was mobbed by his teammates. Brett, who had missed the Royals’ previous two games because of a strained left shoulder, saluted the crowd by doffing his batting helmet and waving as the cheers continued.

Twenty years ago Wednesday, Roberto Clemente also recorded his 3,000th hit, which would prove his last when the Pirates’ star was killed in a plane crash. Brett is the second major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits this season, following Milwaukee’s Robin Yount.

Brett is also the second player to record his 3,000th career hit at Anaheim Stadium. Rod Carew, the first player to do so, in 1985, is now the Angels’ batting coach and was watching from the Angels’ dugout as Brett duplicated his feat.

Talking about what the accomplishment meant to him, Brett said: “It means I played a long time. I got a lot of at-bats, and I got a lot hits. My mind’s going too fast right now to really know. This is just such a shock. I came in here not knowing if I might take one swing and my season could be over (if he re-injured his shoulder.)”

Brett was sheepish about being picked off first base after his landmark hit.

“I was the most surprised person in the ballpark. I was right in the middle of a sentence to (first baseman Gary) Gaetti and they picked me off,” Brett said. “He asked me if my wife was here and I said, yes, and I had friends here from Kansas City . . . He didn’t even let me finish the sentence. Believe me, my mind wasn’t on being picked off.”

Brett reached on an error in his final at-bat, in the ninth inning, as the Royals completed a 4-0 victory over the Angels before the smallest Anaheim Stadium crowd in more than 13 years.

Brett began the final leg of his quest when he doubled in the first inning against Julio Valera (8-11) and singled in the third and fifth innings. His seventh-inning single off Fortugno, a left-hander against whom Brett had gotten one hit in two previous at-bats, gave Brett the 54th four-hit game of his career and raised his career average to .307.

Brett’s shoulder had rendered him doubtful for Wednesday’s game, and Manager Hal McRae had formulated two lineups, one with Brett and one without him as the designated hitter. However, shortly before 6 p.m., Brett decided the 50 swings he had taken off a batting practice tee had sufficiently prepared him to play.

“I was sure I could play. If I didn’t swing any harder than that, and I didn’t,” Brett said. “After 19 years, I finally figured out I didn’t have to swing hard to get hits.”

Although he said he felt comfortable from the outset, Brett said getting four hits was “the farthest thing from my mind tonight.”

“But if it was going to happen anywhere but Kansas City, I’m glad it was here,” he said.

Brett’s 3,000th hit was his 10th in his last 13 at-bats against the Angels.

Before the game, Brett showed his eagerness to end the pressure that has mounted as he neared 3,000.

“My mom is driving in from Palm Springs and she’s thinking of flying to Kansas City, so I’d better get it here or else I’m going to have a house full of people,” Brett said.

His brother, Ken, interviewing him for the Angels’ pregame TV show, also wanted George to accomplish his goal Wednesday. “I don’t want to have to fly to Kansas City this weekend to see you do it,” Ken said.

Now, he doesn’t have to.

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 edge.

That lead might have been even greater except for a strong throw home by Rob Ducey that got Jefferies as the Royal third baseman tried to score from second on Eisenreich’s single.

Brett, who was four for six against Valera in their previous encounters, took Valera’s first pitch to him Wednesday for a ball. He swung and missed at a forkball for a 1-and-1 count and blooped the next pitch softly to left. It apparently glanced off Ducey’s glove and rolled past him, enabling Brett to end up at second with his 632nd career double, the eighth-highest total in major league history.

After he chugged into second, TV cameras showed him grinning widely, no doubt in relief at having edged closer to his milestone. He didn’t stay at second very long, scoring on Jefferies’ single to center.

Brett’s second hit was also a soft one and also came on a 1-and-1 count. Wally Joyner preceded him with a single to left to open the third inning, and Brett fouled off one pitch with the hit-and-run on and took an outside pitch that evened the count. He then topped the ball to the right side, barely hard enough for it to elude the dive of Oberkfell and roll into right field. Joyner took third as Brett improved his success rate against Valera to six for eight.

Jefferies collected his second hit and second run batted in when he singled to right, scoring Joyner and moving Brett to second. Mike Macfarlane then grounded into a double play and Eisenreich grounded to short to end the inning.

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, setting off roars from the crowd.

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.

Brett then singled but was erased when Jefferies grounded to short for a double play.

The only excitement for the Angels came in the fourth inning, when first baseman Lee Stevens was ejected by home 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.

Brett was on deck when the sixth inning ended with the Angels throwing Keith Miller out attempting to steal second. That left him to make history in the seventh.