Misters October: Anaheim's David Eckstein heads the list of players who must stand tall in the playoffs or their teams will have a short postseason

Sporting News, The, Sept 30, 2002 by Ken Rosenthal

All Eckstein wanted was a chance.

"I had a timetable for myself," Eckstein says. "My family, my sisters were telling me, `Hey, give it a couple of years. But if you don't feel like you're doing it, we want you to go back to school.' I was going to go to law school. That was my goal."

One scout says Eckstein throws like a shortstop who has had three shoulder operations. Another doubts Eckstein could return to second long-term, saying, "Too many throws at second have to be short and flipped. He has to wind up to get anything on the ball."

"I hate the way I throw" Eckstein says. "That's one thing I wish could look more natural, but it doesn't. My main thing at shortstop is being in the fight position to make sure I get my feet underneath me when I throw."

Playing shortstop is difficult even for players with strong arms, yet Eckstein seized his opportunity with the Angels much as he had at Florida, replacing injured second baseman Adam Kennedy last opening day, then beating out Benji Gil at shortstop later in the season.

Angels first base coach Alfredo Griffin, who had an 18-year career in the majors, says he never has seen a player prepare as diligently as Eckstein. He occasionally will walk away from Eckstein, refusing to hit him any more grounders, only to find Eckstein coaxing additional work out of Scioscia or another coach.

"You can't stop him" Griffin says.

You can't change him, either. Former major league shortstop Garry Templeton, the Angels' Class AAA manager last season, tried to get Eckstein to throw with two fingers in spring 2001 but was told by Griffin to stop. Eckstein also holds the ball fighter than most infielders. "I put a death grip on it," he says, smiling,

Clearly, though, Eckstein is doing something right. His range isn't especially good, but he knows the tendencies of each Angels pitcher and most opposing hitters. "He looks in, sees the pitch, knows that so-and-so throws 89 mph, recognizes swings," Angels pitching coach Bud Black says. "Maybe he slides over a few feet after he sees the sign. But he just has that instinctive first step."

Scioscia raves about Eckstein's balance, saying it enables him to throw with maximum velocity. Scouts say Eckstein has no fear turning the double play, even when baserunners are on top of him. "He's so in tune with every pitch," Black says. "Some guys, over 2 1/2 to 3 hours, will become distracted. This guy doesn't."

Yet the Red Sox failed to grasp what was in front of them, viewing Eckstein for what he wasn't, not for what he was. Boston snubbed him to name a higher draft pick its Player of the Year at Class A Lowell. And when the Red Sox needed to dear a spot for infielder Lou Merloni two years ago, general manager Dan Duquette bumped Eckstein from the 40-man roster.

The Angels were waiting. Scout Dale Sutherland, brother of Gary Sutherland, the Angels' special assistant to the general manager, first was impressed by Eckstein in 1999 at Class AA Trenton. Gary Sutherland saw him four or five times that offseason in the Arizona Fall League. Another Angels scout, Jon Neiderer, filed more glowing reports early in 2000.