Grandma’s legacy

When Howie Kendrick steps to the plate in tonight’s 2007 season opener against the Texas Rangers, he will not carve the initials of his late grandmother, Ruth Woods, in the dirt. Nor will her name be penned on Kendrick’s spikes. No kisses will be blown or index fingers pointed toward the sky.

“You know what? I don’t have to be showy with the things I do,” the Angels’ new second baseman said. “I know in my heart why I’m here today. A lot of it is because of me, but a lot of it has to do with her too. I am my grandmother. Everything I am today, the respect, the morals, the truthfulness, the work ethic, came from her.”

Ruth Woods, who died of lung cancer in November, would be proud of the grandson she reared, and not only because Kendrick survived the scruffy streets of Callihan, Fla. -- where so many he knew succumbed to drugs -- to become a major league starter, a natural-born hitter with batting-champion potential.

She would admire the young man Kendrick has become, a mature-beyond-his-years 23-year-old who is married, who respects his teammates, coaches and the media, who has the humility of a rookie and level-headedness of a sage veteran, and who practically willed himself to the big leagues through sheer effort.

“I wish I had film of him when he first came to camp -- it’s probably a skeleton in his closet,” minor league field coordinator Bruce Hines said of Kendrick’s shaky defense in 2002, the year Kendrick, a 10th-round pick, signed out of St. John’s River Community College in Florida.

“But he put in hundreds of hours, thousands of repetitions, on defense, and he would always come find you for work; you didn’t have to find him. He went through a lot of growing pains, but he always worked through them and mastered it with time.”

No one is predicting a Gold Glove Award or the second coming of Adam Kennedy, the defensive whiz Kendrick is replacing, but for a guy whose bat has gained so much acclaim -- a .361 average, 119 doubles and 249 runs batted in in four minor league seasons -- Kendrick might surprise some with his defense.

He has improved gradually every season -- softer, quicker hands, more confident in his backhand, more comfortable turning the double play, more accurate arm, better positioning, to the point where he is proficient, even above average, defensively.

It helps that he’s a block of granite in the pivot, with a chiseled 5-foot-10, 200-pound frame that makes him look more like an NFL cornerback than a middle infielder -- not an easy mark for those looking to break up the double play.

But Kendrick has been as impressive this spring starting double plays as he has been turning them, going toward the middle and ranging to his left, and after dabbling with first base, a position he had never played before starting 42 games for the Angels there in 2006, he is returning to his natural position this season.

“Everyone says if his defense catches up with his bat he’s going to be real good, but I think he’s already good defensively,” Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera said. “He has good instincts. He’s a kid who wants to learn. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to improve every day.”

Kendrick was a quick study with the bat last season. He hit .115 (three for 26) in his first big league stint after being called up April 24, but after two months at triple A, Kendrick returned to the Angels on July 14 and hit .303 (73 for 241) with four homers, 21 doubles and 30 RBIs the rest of the season.

Cabrera said he thought Kendrick was looking too much for first-pitch fastballs during his first stay in Anaheim, an opinion Kendrick did not dispute.

“If pitchers know you’re up there looking first-pitch fastball, they’re going to start throwing changeups and breaking balls,” Kendrick said. “Guys aren’t going to give in. They’re not going to just give you that fastball, even in 2-0 counts. So you have to be smarter, know your zone and know what pitches you can handle.”

What changed the second time around?

“My mental approach,” he said. “I adjusted through the game depending on what they were throwing. I wasn’t as eager to get myself out.... Once I started getting my pitches to hit rather than chasing everything else, I became more settled, more confident. Now, I have an idea of what to expect after being up here last year.”

After watching Kendrick mature last season and hit .348 with solid defense this spring, the Angels have a good idea of what to expect in 2007: an average in the .300 range, good gap power with doubles coming in bunches, 10-15 home runs and 75-80 RBIs, decent speed on the bases.

“He’s got the talent to be a candidate to win a batting title ... and the potential to hit anywhere from second to fifth ... but right now we want to get his feet settled,” said Manager Mike Scioscia, who will bat Kendrick seventh to open the season. “But his upside is as good as any young player stepping onto a major league field this year.”

Kendrick, for years considered one of the best pure hitters in the minor leagues, is aware of the hype but ignores it.

“Truthfully, I try not to read a lot of stuff on the Internet or in the paper,” Kendrick said. “I know I put up great numbers in the minor leagues, but it’s a whole different game in the big leagues. You have better pitchers, better fielders, and all that stuff’s going to weigh in. You really have to step up and play.”

That’s the message Ruth Woods sent to Kendrick at age 5, when she got tired of the boy throwing rocks at houses and steered him toward baseball, and at age 13, when Kendrick considered quitting the game, and Woods would have none of it.

Kendrick’s parents separated when he was a child, and with military commitments taking his mother away from home for long stretches, Kendrick and his two older sisters were essentially reared by Woods in Callahan (population 900), about 30 miles northeast of Jacksonville.

Woods ruled with an iron fist -- not to mention a belt and a “switch,” thin, flexible branches that, when twisted together, can be used like a whip. Whenever Kendrick misbehaved, which was often -- “Oh, I was a bad kid,” he said. “I got in trouble all the time.” -- Ruth would break out the belt or switch.

“She was a stern disciplinarian,” Kendrick said. “She kept me in a straight line.”

That line, Kendrick said, never veered toward drugs.

“The neighborhood I grew up in, there wasn’t gang-banging all the time, but there were a lot of drugs,” Kendrick said. “A lot of guys I knew got involved with it, and that ruined their chances of doing things in life. Baseball and my grandma kept me out of that.”

Ruth Woods never got to see Kendrick play big league baseball in person, but she saw him play on television last season, “one of the greatest gifts I could have given her,” Kendrick said.

If Kendrick has the distinguished career many envision, it could be the gift that keeps on giving.

“Every day I play is dedicated to her, because if it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Kendrick said. “And every day I go onto the field, I know she’s there, watching me. She probably has the best seat in the house.”

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Utility infielder Erick Aybar, who sprained his left foot sliding into second base Wednesday, worked out with the Angels on Sunday and will be available tonight.... Jered Weaver, who will open on the disabled list because of shoulder tightness, threw 62 pitches over 3 2/3 innings in a camp game in Arizona, and Scioscia said Weaver “felt great and showed good velocity.” After Bartolo Colon (rotator cuff tear) starts for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, Weaver will pitch there Friday, with his return to the Angels rotation scheduled for April 16.... No. 5 starter Dustin Moseley threw 93 pitches over 6 2/3 innings in a camp game.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com