Anderson Avoids Plunks

It won’t be ranked with Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, Eric Gagne’s 84-save streak or Cal Ripken’s streak of 2,632 games played, but it is still, as Angel batting instructor Mickey Hatcher said, “amazing.”

Angel center Garret Anderson has gone almost six years without being hit by a pitch. The last time he was plunked was Aug. 25, 1998, by Yankee right-hander Hideki Irabu, in a 7-6 Angel victory in New York.

Since then, Anderson has played in 866 games and made 3,706 plate appearances without being hit by a pitch. In his entire 10-year career, Anderson has been hit a mere four times.

“I don’t know why that is, or how he does it,” said shortstop David Eckstein, who led the American League by getting hit by 21 pitches in 2001 and 27 pitches in 2002. “You would think just by accident, you’d get hit sometime.”

Anderson, the Angels’ most consistent run producer for the last four seasons, says there has been luck involved in his streak, but there are also tangible reasons why he hasn’t been hit by a pitch.

“I’ve had a lot of close calls,” he said. “Some people have the ability to get out of the way, and some don’t. I don’t dive into pitches, and teams don’t think they can get me out by pitching inside.

“They’ve tried, but most of the time, when they pitch me inside, it’s not to get me out. It’s to move me off the plate so they can get me out pitching away.”

Players who dive into pitches, who lunge toward the outside corner in anticipation of an outside pitch -- think Derek Jeter here -- are most vulnerable to getting hit by fastballs that come inside.

“He’s been knocked down a few times, but he has the ability to lean back on pitches,” Hatcher said. “He also doesn’t dive when he cheats. He really opens up when he cheats, looking for an inside pitch.”

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The Angels appear to have cooled somewhat on the idea of acquiring Arizona ace Randy Johnson, perhaps, in part, because Johnson, according to several baseball sources, is seeking a contract extension in exchange for waiving his no-trade clause.

Johnson, who is making $16.5 million this season, is signed for $16.5 million in 2005, when the 6-foot-10 left-hander who has had back and knee troubles will be 41.

With the Angels unwilling to pay Arizona’s current price in prospects, the Diamondbacks have apparently shifted their attention to the New York Yankees, sending their top talent evaluators to scout the Yankees’ double-A Trenton club.

Alan Nero, Johnson’s agent, said Saturday that “nothing has happened yet,” and that Johnson and Arizona owner Jerry Colangelo would probably meet during the All-Star break to decide whether to seek a trade.

Another source familiar with Colangelo’s thinking said if the Diamondbacks do decide to trade Johnson, Colangelo “will do everything he can to push him to the Angels. Too many things with Anaheim make sense.”

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Manager Mike Scioscia spent several minutes Friday afternoon talking about third-base prospect Dallas McPherson, who had eight home runs and 20 runs batted in during his first 15 games at triple-A Salt Lake after tearing up double-A Arkansas with a .321 average, 20 homers and 69 RBIs in 68 games.

“He’s obviously showing he’s going to be ready for the challenge of the major leagues soon,” Scioscia said.

Then again, maybe not. Friday night, McPherson set a Pacific Coast League record by striking out six times -- five swinging and one looking -- in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Las Vegas.

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Jose Guillen experienced slight stiffness in his back Saturday, forcing a lineup shift from left field to designated hitter.... Chone Figgins’ seventh-inning triple Saturday tied the club single-season record of 13, held by four others.

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Angel President Dennis Kuhl denied telling an Anaheim city executive the team had no plans to change its name to the Los Angeles Angels.

Greg Smith, who oversees the stadium for the city, said Kuhl told him in a telephone conversation that the team was not pursuing the change.

“He said, ‘No, that’s not happening,’ ” Smith said. “My sense of the conversation is, it’s a dead issue.”

Said Kuhl, “I said, ‘Greg, all I’m telling you is I’m not going to comment.’ ”

Owner Arte Moreno has discussed the possible change with Commissioner Bud Selig, a high-ranking baseball source said. But Moreno has made no proposal to the Anaheim City Council to renegotiate the Angel Stadium lease, which requires the team to be called the Anaheim Angels. A majority of the council has indicated it would exercise its right to veto any such proposal.

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Times staff writer Bill Shaikin contributed to this report