Garret Anderson

Garret Joseph Anderson (born June 30, 1972) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the California / Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He holds Angels franchise records for career games played (2,013), at bats (7,989), hits (2,368), runs scored (1,024), runs batted in (RBI) (1,292), total bases (3,743), extra base hits (796), singles (1,572), doubles (489), grand slams (8), RBI in a single game (10) and consecutive games with an RBI (12), as well as home runs by a left-handed hitter (272). A three-time All-Star, he helped lead the Angels to the 2002 World Series title, and was named Most Valuable Player of the 2003 All-Star Game.

Garret Anderson attended Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, California. He was a three-sport star in baseball, football, and basketball. In baseball, he won two All-Los Angeles City honors and two All-League Honors, and as a junior, helped his team win the Los Angeles City Championship. In basketball, as a senior he won All-Los Angeles City honors and All-League honors.

Anderson was selected by the California Angels in the fourth round of the 1990 MLB draft and made his major league debut on July 27, 1994. He had two hits in four at bats in that game, recording his first career hit on a single to right field off Oakland Athletics pitcher Ron Darling in the bottom of the third inning. He appeared in only five games with the Angels in 1994, getting five hits in 13 at bats.

In 1995, he was called up to the team on April 26 and spent the rest of the year in the majors. He hit his first career home run on June 13 against Kevin Tapani of the Minnesota Twins. He batted .321 in 106 games with 16 home runs and 69 RBIs, and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting to Marty Cordova of the Twins. From that point forward, Anderson became a mainstay in the Angels lineup.

Over the next eight seasons, he accumulated at least 600 at bats every year, breaking 90 RBIs and 20 home runs five times while compiling a batting average near .300.

While Anderson hit a career-high 35 home runs in 2000, he drew few walks. He became only the second player to conclude a 30-homer season with more homers than walks (35 HR, 24 BB), joining Iván Rodríguez (35–24 in 1999); the dubious feat has since been duplicated by Alfonso Soriano (39–23 in 2002), Javy López (43–33 in 2003), José Guillén (31–24 in 2003), Joe Crede (30–28 in 2006) and Ryan Braun (34–29 in 2007).

In 2002, when the Angels won their first World Series championship, Anderson finished fourth in the Most Valuable Player voting after compiling a .306 average with 29 home runs and 123 runs batted in, including a 3-run double in the third inning of Game 7 which would turn out to be the series-winning hit. Anderson also scored a career-high 93 runs; however, the fact that he never scored 100 in a season was a result of his main weakness as a player – an inability to draw walks and achieve a high on-base percentage. Anderson had a similarly strong performance in 2003, and was named an American League All-Star. That All-Star weekend, he stole the show by becoming the Home Run Derby Champion and voted the Most Valuable Player in the All-Star Game, the first player to win both since Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991. In 2002 and 2003, Anderson tied for the American League lead in doubles with Nomar Garciaparra and Vernon Wells, respectively.

On April 13, 2004, Anderson agreed to a $48 million, four-year contract extension through 2008. The deal included a team option for 2009 with a $3 million buyout.