Second Time Around, Anderson Is a Big Hit

The Angels’ unsung hero won another game Sunday. Garret Anderson is a beacon of consistency in a world of hype, a throwback to the days when television commercials and endorsement contracts were not confused with reliability and productivity.

“I want my numbers to do the talking for me,” Anderson said. “I think they’re starting to.”

Anderson sent the customers home happy Sunday, driving home David Eckstein with the winning run in the 10th inning and giving the Angels a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers before 29,353 at Edison Field. The Angels, baffled on every pitch but one thrown by knuckleballer Steve Sparks, simply waited him out and pounced on reliever Danny Patterson.

The Tigers wanted no part of Tim Salmon, not after he personally deprived Sparks of victory with a monstrous home run in the sixth inning. So, with the potential winning run in scoring position in the eighth inning and again in the 10th, the Tigers walked Salmon intentionally each time, twice inviting Anderson to defeat them.

“It was weird to have it happen to me twice in one game,” Anderson said.

In the eighth, Anderson flied out. In the 10th, with the bases loaded, his line drive over the head of first baseman Ryan Jackson brought Eckstein home with the winning run and brought his teammates onto the field in celebration of their sixth victory in eight games.

The Angels won despite an unusual motivational maneuver by Detroit Manager Phil Garner, who closed the clubhouse before the game so a hypnotist could entertain the team.

At first, it appeared the Tigers had been hypnotized into believing they were the 1965 Dodgers, a team that won a World Series championship with hall of famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale firing shutouts and Maury Wills manufacturing a run or two.

The Tigers scored both of their runs on groundouts, the first without benefit of a hit. In the first inning, Roger Cedeno, reprising the role of Wills, walked, stole second, took third on one groundout and scored on another.

That run was nearly enough for Sparks, who served up knuckleball after knuckleball and watched the Angels harmlessly hit pitches into the ground. In eight innings, Sparks scattered three hits and recorded 16 ground ball outs.

But in the sixth inning, Sparks walked Darin Erstad and then lost a 2-0 lead on one pitch, a 66 mph knuckler that Salmon redirected 427 feet away, deep into the left-field seats. Salmon had been hitless in 11 at-bats against Sparks before Sunday.

“It was up, I guess,” Salmon said. “but I can’t sit here and say it was a mistake. Next time, I could swing and miss. Whenever you do well against a knuckleball pitcher, you feel lucky.”

Pat Rapp kept the Angels even through six innings, and relievers Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Troy Percival and Al Levine combined for four hitless innings that set the stage for Anderson.

“I like to see him up there in an RBI situation,” Salmon said. “Sometimes they’ll pitch around me with him behind me. Sooner or later people will realize the guy drove in 117 runs last year.

“If they want to walk me and pitch to him, we’re just as strong.”

There may be glamour in home runs, but there is value in consistency. Over the past five seasons, Anderson never has hit below .285, had fewer than 173 hits and driven in fewer than 72 runs. The only American League players with more hits in that span: Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

The Angels last year signed Anderson to a four-year contract extension.

“I’m not content hitting .286 like I did last year,” Anderson said. “But, first and foremost, I’m a run-producer.

“If I’m driving in 117 like I did last year, there’s not much to complain about. From a front-office standpoint, that’s what they expect of me. . . . When it’s all said and done, you can’t deny the numbers.

“You can say what you want about me, but it’s there in black and white. There’s no arguing the numbers.”