#8 Darin Erstad, 1B, OF (1996-2006)

Darin was the first pick of the 1995 amateur draft. He made his debut the very next year, finishing sixth for the ROY Award despite playing less than half of a season. Darin was the heart and soul of the 2002 team that won the World Series, leading them with hustle and grit. He batted .339 in 29 postseason games as an Angel, and cranked out a ML record 25 hits in the ’02 postseason. His Game 6 homer in the ’02 World Series kept the momentum going following Spiezio’s three-run shot, and set the stage for Glaus’s two-run double to win it. It was almost poetic that Erstad caught the final out of Game 7 to clinch it. The two-time Angel All-Star ranks among the all-time ML postseason leaders with:

- a .388 BA (T5th, career LDS)

- a .643 OB% (’04 - T9th, single LDS; 9^th, single PS)

- 71 AB (’02 – T7th, single PS)

- 18 singles (’02 – T3rd, single PS)

Defensively, Erstad was without peer! He won Gold Gloves in ’00, ’02, and ’04 - the first player to ever win a GG in both the infield and the outfield - and holds the top three franchise marks (all LL) in defensive WAR (including 3.8 in ’02). He led the AL with 452 putouts (CF) in ’02, and his career .997 fielding % in CF and .996 F% in OF are MLB records.

Although critics sometimes complain that his offensive numbers were sporadic, a lot of that had to do with nagging injuries resulting from his full throttle style of play. In any case, Erstad cranked out one of the greatest offensive seasons in Angels’ history when he won a Silver Slugger Award in 2000. That year he set several Angels’ single season records with a .355 BA, a league-leading 747 plate appearances, a LL 240 hits, a LL 170 singles, 366 total bases, and 305 times on base. He also set other Top Ten season marks with a 7.7 WAR (T2nd), a 0.951 OPS (7^th), a LL 676 AB (2^nd), 121 runs (2^nd), and a .709 offensive win % (10^th). He also set a ML record with 100 RBI out of the leadoff spot. Although his other seasons never quite matched his production in ’00, he could usually be counted on for 150+ hits, 80+ runs, and 20+ stolen bases. I would also wager that he is the unofficial career leader in “Rally Monkey hits.”

Darin was signed by the White Sox as a Free Agent following the 2006 season. After 11 seasons in Anaheim, Darin is the Angels’ career leader with:

- a 13.9 Defensive WAR

- a 136.5 Power-Speed mark

- 18 postseason runs

- 40 postseason hits

- 9 postseason doubles

- 4 postseason SB

Erstad ranks among the Angels’ career Top Ten with:

- a 28.0 WAR (6^th)

- 1,320 games (5^th)

- 5,258 at bats (4^th)

- 818 runs (4^th)

- 1,505 hits (4^th)

- 2,186 total bases (4^th)

- 1,082 singles (2^nd)

- 279 doubles (4^th)

- 30 triples (6^th)

- 625 RBI (4^th)

- 419 walks (7^th)

- 170 stolen bases (4^th)

- 1,959 times on base (5^th)

- 423 extra base hits (4^th)

- 39 sacrifice flies (T8th)

- 40 intentional walks (9^th)

- 6,326 putouts (3^rd)

- a .995 F% (T3rd)

- 29 postseason games (T3^rd)

- 127 postseason PA (3^rd)

- 3 postseason HR (T5^th)

- 12 postseason RBI (T6^th)

- 5 postseason walks (T9^th)

- 58 postseason TB (T2^nd)

- a .339 postseason BA (3^rd)

- a .368 postseason OB% (6^th)

- a .492 postseason SLG% (6^th)

- a .860 postseason OPS (5^th)