Erstad Decides to Play It Safe for Body’s Sake

It goes against all of the competitive instincts he has honed since he was a kid in Jamestown, N.D., where he starred in baseball, football, hockey and track, and developed the blue-collar approach that has made him one of baseball’s grittiest players.

Darin Erstad will hit a routine grounder to second, then ease up when he sees the defender field the ball cleanly and make an accurate throw to first. The Angel first baseman who for years sacrificed his body crashing into walls as a Gold Glove center fielder; who never met a grass stain he didn’t like; who ran the bases with an almost maniacal aggression, cringes at the thought of not giving 100%.

But he admits that has been the case this season, nagging hamstring problems finally forcing him to ease off the throttle.

“You just pick your spots,” said Erstad, who sat out more than a month of May and June because of a strained right hamstring and was limited to 67 games in 2003 because of right hamstring tendinitis. “I hate to play that way, but I can’t take a chance this time of year.

“Once you see a routine grounder to second and a good throw, it’s not sprinting the last 10 feet to the bag. You hit a pop fly, how fast do you have to go to get to second if the ball is dropped? Stuff like that. It’s not that I’m not playing hard, but I have to be smart about it.”

Always before, when asked about his borderline reckless play in the outfield, Erstad would always say that was the only way he could play -- one speed, all out.

Asked the other day how his new approach was working, he said, almost begrudgingly, “I’m still playing.”

And for that, the Angels, starting a key three-game series here tonight against the Red Sox, are thankful. Erstad, 30, has a .316 average, six home runs, 26 doubles, 64 runs and 55 runs batted in. He is hitting .343 since returning from the disabled list June 14 and .358 in August. Eight of his 15 RBIs this month have tied the score or given the Angels the lead, and he is hitting .326 with runners in scoring position this season.

Since moving in the batting order from sixth to second -- the spot he filled during the Angels’ 2002 World Series-winning season -- Erstad is hitting .365 with two homers, five doubles and 11 RBIs in 14 games.

He also has made a marble-smooth transition from center field to first base, playing Gold Glove-caliber defense and leading American League first basemen with a .999 fielding percentage, his only error the result of a controversial call in foul territory at Detroit on April 27.

Not bad for a slacker.

“His body may only have a couple of all-out runs in it a game, but we understand that,” second baseman Adam Kennedy said. “Right now, his play is reminiscent of the playoffs in 2002, when he got a hit in every game and was our most consistent guy throughout the postseason.”

After a forgettable, injury-plagued 2003 -- .252, four homers, 17 RBIs -- Erstad is back among the game’s elite players, though Manager Mike Scioscia said, “He’s never left that group. He’s an extremely underrated player.... This guy contributes to our games in too many ways to count.

“He’s a great big-game player, and he has only one thought process, to win. For a guy to be a Gold Glove center fielder and now a Gold Glove first baseman speaks volumes. Some Gold Glove center fielders, you tell them to play first base and they’d say, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m not going to move.’ That’s why Ersty is a special player.”

No player has won Gold Glove awards as an outfielder and an infielder, but Erstad figures to be the first. His superior lateral quickness makes him rangy, he has soft, agile hands, and his fearlessness has resulted in several spectacular diving stops.

“There are one-hoppers and line drives that I’ll think he has no shot at,” Kennedy said. “Next thing you know, he’s making the play.”

In his only “error,” he failed to glove a pop foul after a long run down the right field line in Comerica Park.

“That was a brutal call,” Scioscia said. “I’ve never seen a guy sprint 100 feet, with his back to the infield, get there as the ball did, not make the catch and get an error....Without a doubt, he’s played at a Gold Glove level.”

His offense may not be at an AL most-valuable-player level, but he has been a significant contributor with the bat.

“I’m being productive,” Erstad said. “I’m not back to where I want to be. It’s still a struggle every day. But I’m helping the team win.

“I do what I have to do to win games and put the personal stuff aside.”

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AL Wild-Card Race

*--* W L GB Boston 76 53 -- ANGELS 75 55 1 1/2 Texas 73 56 3

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