Forgettable ’99 Still Fuels Erstad

Motivation was not a problem for Darin Erstad last season. From the first day of spring training, the Angel outfielder was on a mission to prove that a dismal 1999 season, when he hit .253 with 13 home runs and 53 runs batted in for a last-place Angel team, was an aberration.

So, how will Erstad motivate himself in 2001 after hitting .355 with a major league-leading 240 hits, 25 homers, 100 RBIs, 121 runs, 39 doubles and 28 stolen bases?

“All I have to do is look on the back of my bubble-gum card and see that .253 in 1999,” said Erstad, who will join position players for the team’s first full-squad workout today. “That’s enough to scare the . . . out of you and motivate you for the rest of your life.”

Erstad’s hit total last season was the 12th highest in major league history, and his 100 RBIs were the most ever from the leadoff position. An encore will be difficult, but Erstad doesn’t feel pressure to match last season.

“I don’t look at numbers,” he said. “I might have 160 hits this season but 150 walks. As a leadoff hitter, my job is to get on base and score runs. That’s the only statistic I care about.”

After playing first base in 1997 and ’98 and left field in ’99 and 2000, Erstad, who won a Gold Glove last season, will move to center field this season, switching places with Garret Anderson. With his closing speed and the opportunity to make diving catches in two gaps instead of one, Erstad could have a greater impact on defense. Maybe.

“I don’t know, I was pretty busy in left last year,” Erstad said. “I won’t approach it any differently.”

Nor will he change in the clubhouse. Several teammates have pointed to Erstad as a player who can fill the leadership void created by Mo Vaughn’s absence, but Erstad will continue to be himself, the type who leads more by actions than words.

“I don’t like designating someone as a ‘clubhouse leader,’ ” Erstad said. “If someone says he’s a leader and his teammates don’t believe him, it doesn’t matter. You have to earn the respect of your teammates.

“Last year, all people cared about in here was winning, and that was a special thing to have, especially in this day and age when everyone is talking about money and contracts.”

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One of the Angels’ most respected and beloved minor-league coaches is not in camp this spring. Howie Gershberg, who was supposed to be the pitching coach at double-A Arkansas, is at his Long Island, N.Y., home, undergoing chemotherapy treatments for lung cancer.

Gershberg, who tutored John Franco and Frank Viola as the pitching coach at St. John’s from 1979-84, has a reputation as a guru for young pitchers. The Angels told the 64-year-old coach he could work as a scout and special instructor when he felt up to it.

“I really believe I’m going to beat this thing,” said Gershberg, who underwent treatment for intestinal cancer two years ago. “I’ll be coaching next year. You can bet on that.”