Eckstein Much More Than Warmup Act

The job that David Eckstein has done playing shortstop and batting leadoff for the Angels has been as impressive as it once seemed improbable.

Nevertheless, the Angels are worried.

OK, maybe not worried.

Concerned? Well, maybe not that either.

It’s simply that when the 5-foot-8 Eckstein steps into the on-deck circle and starts into that wild, windmilling warmup . . . well, the Angels fear something or someone may come unhinged.

“It’s hilarious,” batting coach Mickey Hatcher said. “One of these times his bat and arm are going to come flying off.

“About the third time he swings his arm around, both feet are lifting off the ground.”

The routine is that Eckstein picks up two bats in his right hand or one with a lead doughnut and starts swinging overhead, switching from hand to hand, a human windmill fending off Don Quixote.

Sure enough, his feet lift off the ground.

“I’ve never heard so much about it as I have this year,” Eckstein said, laughing. “It’s what I’ve always done, the way I get loose. When I step into the batter’s box, I want to have all the energy in my body flowing.”

No problem. Eckstein may be short, but he’s high on energy.

Watch him in the on-deck circle. Watch him loosening up before a game, running full-bore laps while his teammates run sprints. Watch him dash to and from his position.

Rex Hudler watches in the TV booth. Hudler used to produce so much energy his hair turned red.

“Eck has even more energy than I did, and that’s scary,” Hudler said. “He plays every game like it’s his last game, just like I did, but he’s an every-day player and I wasn’t. He’ll probably learn to conserve, but he’s fun to watch, a breath of fresh air.”

In a .500 season, who needs conservation?

Eckstein’s energy is a welcome addition--”the way he goes about his business is contagious,” Manager Mike Scioscia said--and so are the tools accompanying it.

What tools?

Well, that’s what scouts hardened to measure only size, speed and strength would ask about Eckstein, forgetting, perhaps, that “heart and brains are tools too,” Scioscia said.

General Manager Bill Stoneman agreed.

“Here’s a kid who probably kept hearing he was too small and not good enough and all he kept asking for was an opportunity,” Stoneman said.

“He understands what a lot of young players don’t, the value of an opportunity, and he has maximized his. He’s lifted the entire team.”

Opportunities, of course, come in many forms.

* There was the walk-on opportunity at Florida that Eckstein turned into a school record for hits, recognition as an athletic and academic All-American and a draft pick by the Boston Red Sox.

* There was the claim by the Angels in August that Eckstein turned into a spring buzz, earning the opportunity to stay as a utility man and soon more.

* There was the injury to second baseman Adam Kennedy that put Eckstein in the opening lineup, an opportunity in which he was so impressive that Scioscia gave him another when Kennedy returned, moving Eckstein to shortstop, which he never had played regularly but had worked on alone during off-seasons to enhance his versatility.

Angel coach Alfredo Griffin worked with Eckstein on playing shortstop in the spring, was convinced he could play there, and seems to have had it right.

So did scout Dale Sutherland, who first recommended Eckstein to his brother, Gary, a Stoneman assistant who subsequently saw Eckstein in winter ball and took up the cause with his boss, viewing Eckstein, recalled Stoneman, as a “fireplug player who irritated opponents and played the game right.”

Only a year after he seemed mired at triple A in the Boston system, Eckstein is batting leadoff and playing a new position for a new organization, a 26-year-old rookie saying, “No, I don’t pinch myself because I may find out that it is a dream.”

Of course, it has been his dream since he was a toddler who was allowed to stay up to watch Atlanta Brave telecasts. He has pursued it with the goal of never being satisfied if there was a higher level to achieve, a concept encouraged by his parents, both teachers.

Too short? How many times did he hear it?

Eckstein laughed, thinking of his four brothers and sisters. Three have experienced kidney problems requiring dialysis, but two have gone on to become lawyers and the third is a university advisor.

“It’s no big deal to have people say you’re too short or not good enough when you’ve seen what they’ve overcome,” said Eckstein, who is batting .293 with a .374 on-base percentage and has been hit by pitches an American League-high 12 times.

“He’s not afraid to take one for the team,” Hatcher said. “He may be the first little guy to lead the league in being beaned.”

Among the many impressed with Eckstein’s determination and energy is Gary DiSarcina, who watches on TV as he continues his long recovery from two shoulder operations, knowing Eckstein may be closing the door on his chance to return as the Angel shortstop.

DiSarcina watches that frenetic pace and windmill action in the on-deck circle and worries like others.

“I wish I knew him so I could call him up and tell him to tone it down or he’s going to end up in Dr. [Lewis] Yocum’s office soon,” DiSarcina said, adding wistfully, “Of course, I also wish I had that energy.”