Anderson Shows Something
There was no doubt in Garret Anderson’s mind he could score the go-ahead run from second base on Orlando Palmeiro’s hit to shallow left field in the ninth inning Friday night, and with such plays, Anderson continues to erase the doubt in some minds that he does not always give the maximum effort.
No one is calling Anderson Charlie Hustle, but there has been a noticeable increase in his intensity this season. Once yanked from a game in the fourth inning last season for not running hard on a grounder to the pitcher, Anderson’s times to first have been among the team’s best this season.
Replacing the injured Jim Edmonds in center field, Anderson has ranged into the gaps to chase down fly balls, and he may have won Friday night’s game with his aggressive running, beating the tag with a hook slide to the inside of the plate.
“Garret’s whole approach since spring training has been different,” Manager Terry Collins said. “He’s playing the game hard, busting his butt on the bases, going after balls in the outfield. He’s playing like he has something to prove.”
Anderson can’t say that he has made a conscious effort to be less passive this season, “but I knew there were some things I needed to do to make myself a complete player,” he said. “I never worried about how people perceive me. I worry about what I think of myself.”
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Matt Walbeck got to the visiting clubhouse in Kauffman Stadium on Friday, took one look at the Angel lineup card and thought he was hallucinating.
The first thing he noticed was his name wasn’t listed under the “extra” players. Great, Walbeck thought. I’m starting. Then he began at the bottom of the order and scanned all the way up to the second spot, where he found his name right between leadoff batter Darin Erstad and No. 3 hitter Mo Vaughn.
“I thought, ‘Wow, pretty cool,’ ” Walbeck said. “I’ve never hit above the sixth spot in the big leagues. I think I’m going to take that lineup card home with me.”
Randy Velarde hit second in the Angels’ first 15 games, and though he took a .319 average into Friday night’s game against the Royals, he has not made the kind of consistent contact Collins would like to see in the two hole--Velarde had a team-high 16 strikeouts and only two walks.
So Collins tried Palmeiro in the two spot against Toronto on Thursday night and went with Walbeck, a switch-hitter with a .306 average, Friday. Walbeck rewarded the move when he followed Erstad’s leadoff single by slapping a single to right in the first inning, but the Angels didn’t score.
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Walbeck in the second spot wasn’t the only lineup change Friday. Collins replaced Palmeiro in left field with Todd Greene, a catcher/designated hitter who started 11 games in left last season.
“I kind of saw this coming, so a few days ago I did some early work with [outfield coach] George Hendrick chasing down some fly balls,” Greene said. “I did it last year and only messed up one play. Other than that, I was fine. I’ll catch, DH, play left field, shortstop . . . whatever I have to do to stay in the lineup.”
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Talk about out of sight, out of mind: Asked what became of Matt Luke, a left-handed power hitter who was supposed to add some pop to the Angel bench this season, Collins was befuddled.
“I have no idea,” Collins said. “That’s a name I’ve got to ask about.”
Luke, slowed by a back injury in spring training and sent to minor league camp in March, is still on triple-A Edmonton’s disabled list and is out indefinitely.
Today
ANGELS’
STEVE SPARKS
(0-3, 9.42 ERA)
vs.
ROYALS’
JEFF SUPPAN
(0-3, 4.67 ERA)
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo., 11 a.m. PDT
TV--KVEA, Channel 52. Radio--KLAC (570).
* Update--Sparks has been hit hard in his first three starts against Cleveland, Oakland and Seattle, giving up 15 earned runs on 22 hits, including three home runs, in 14 1/3 innings, but the knuckleballer sees some reasons to be encouraged. “I’m getting a lot of swings and misses and the knuckleball is moving good, I’ve just got to keep it lower in the strike zone,” Sparks said.
