Angels legend Garret Anderson dies at 53

Garret Anderson, who played 15 seasons for the Angels and finished as one of the all-time greats in franchise history, has died at the age of 53.

“The Angels organization is mourning the loss of one of our franchise’s most beloved icons, Garret Anderson,” Angels owner Arte Moreno said in a statement. “Garret was a cornerstone of our organization throughout his 15 seasons and his stoic presence in the outfield and our clubhouse elevated the Angels into an era of continued success, highlighted by the 2002 World Series championship.

“Garret will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Angels fans for his professionalism, class, and loyalty throughout his career and beyond. His admiration and respect for the game was immeasurable. We extend our deepest condolences to Garret’s wife Teresa, daughters Brianne and Bailey, son Garret ‘Trey’ Anderson III, and his entire family.”

The Angels will honor Anderson by wearing a memorial patch with “GA” — as he was commonly referred to — on their jerseys for the remainder of the season. There will be a moment of silence and tribute video before tonight’s game against the San Diego Padres.

The Orange County Coroner’s Office was to perform an autopsy on Friday, April 17, on Anderson, said Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman. The cause of death won’t immediately be determined because the results of toxicology tests can take weeks, Gwisdalla said. There was no preliminary determination as to whether this was a natural death, the sergeant said.

Dan Cupido, a retired Riverside County chief deputy coroner, said Friday that it’s not unusual for an autopsy to be performed after a death under these circumstances. He said that Anderson’s relatively young age, and possibly a lack of knowledge by authorities of his medical history, likely factored into the decision to do the autopsy. Whether Anderson was under a doctor’s care was not immediately announced.

The three-time All-Star outfielder, who played 17 major league seasons, is the Angels’ leader in games played (2,013), hits (2,368), runs batted in (1,292), doubles (489), total bases (3,743), extra-base hits (796) and grand slams (eight).

Tim Salmon, a teammate of Anderson’s for 10 years, held him in high esteem, on the field and off.

“I think about the person, the man and, you know, and that’s kind of what life is about,” Salmon said. “All the accolades of what you do out there, they’re meaningful, but it’s really who you are as a person and the people you come in contact with, and (when) they walk away, what do they think? I think that’s the biggest thing. And Garret was … Garret was the best. … He was just true all the way to the end and I was just grateful we were friends and grateful we had time together.”

In a sitdown with Orange County Register columnist Mark Whicker before his induction into the Angels Hall of Fame in August 2016, Anderson offered an assessment of his career.

“People come up and say I had a great career and I say, can I give you a different perspective?” Anderson said. “I failed seven times out of 10 (his career average was .293). So I wasn’t really that good. It’s a hard game and you have to deal with failure. I was a mess in the minors. If I struck out in my first at-bat, I was done. For a good player to become better, he has to put that aside.

“I miss the one-on-one with the pitchers. I miss competing against Pedro Martinez, a guy who could make you miss. Other than that, I don’t miss anything. When it was over, I was going home to be with my family. The game was never my identity.”

The Angels drafted Anderson out of Kennedy High in Granada Hills, where he was a three-sport star, in the fourth round of the 1990 MLB draft. Anderson made his major-league debut July 27, 1994.

Anderson was a key member of the Angels’ 2002 World Series championship team, with his three-run double to break a 1-1 tie in the third inning of Game 7 against the San Francisco Giants winding up to be the series-winning hit. Anderson went 9 for 32 with six RBIs in that series, which is the Angels’ only World Series title since the franchise began in 1961.

“He’s a baseball player and he did everything right,” said first-year Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, who was a freshman at Cal State Fullerton when the Angels won the World Series. “There was nothing flashy. He never pimped home runs. Everything that he did was just professional. When you have your kids playing the game, for me anyway, that’s who I want my kids to model themselves (after). Just play the game right, do the things right, never bring attention to yourself, and that’s the type of player he was. And he was phenomenal at it too.”

Stoic and with a smooth swing from the left side of the plate, Anderson finished fourth in the 2002 American League Most Valuable Player voting with a .306 batting average, 29 home runs and 123 RBIs.

Angels star Mike Trout shared his sentiments on social media early Friday before speaking to the media before Friday’s game.

“When I first got drafted, he was a guy. So really devastated when I heard that this morning,” Trout said. “Great guy. I saw him around the ballpark and got to hang out a little bit outside the park. Just tough. I feel for the family right now. Tough.

“He was a great dude. Always a smile on his face. He was quiet. But seeing the highlights, he held every record here for such a long time. He meant a lot to this organization. He won a World Series in ’02 and that’s the biggest goal here is to get to the World Series. Just talking to teammates that played with him, just hearing the great things they said about him, I don’t think I heard a bad thing said about him. Tough day. Tough loss.”

On Aug. 21, 2007, Anderson had one of the greatest hitting performances in a game, becoming only the 13th major-leaguer to drive in 10 runs in an 18-9 victory over the New York Yankees at Angel Stadium. He went 4 for 6 with a grand slam, a three-run home run, a two-run double and an RBI double.

He won Silver Sluggers awards, given to the best offensive players at their position in each league, in 2002 and 2003, and was voted All-Star Game MVP in 2003 in addition to defeating St. Louis Cardinals slugger and future Angels star Albert Pujols in the Home Run Derby.

His 272 career homers are third in Angels history behind Trout and Salmon. Only Trout has scored more runs in an Angels uniform than Anderson.

Anderson played the last two seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves and Dodgers before retiring after the 2010 season. He finished his career with a .293 batting average, 2,529 hits, 287 home runs and 1,365 RBIs.

“The Dodgers are deeply saddened by the passing of local native, longtime Angel and former Dodger Garret Anderson. We send our deepest sympathies to his family and friends,” the Dodgers said in a statement.

Anderson had regularly worked for the Angels as a television broadcaster on their pregame and postgame shows since his retirement and had bonded with some of the current generation of players and coaches.

“I just remember talking to him before spring training and wanting him to come around and have an influence that he could bring,” Suzuki said. “The guy is a winner. He knows what it takes to win. I wanted that type of person to hang around the club, to be around myself, to give myself tips. Anything that he saw from his perspective I wanted that around. Just a sad day.”

“He was just a remarkable talent,” current Angels outfielder Jo Adell said. “Any time you get a chance to have guys like that around the field and to be in the presence of that is really, really special. He’s, he’s missed beyond words, and we’re hanging with the family this time. We’re going to continue to go out there and play our brand of baseball and really do it for him.”

Salmon choked up while talking about a recent conversation he had with his friend that went deeper than normal chit-chat.

“I had a conversation with him last week. It was unique. It was like a 45-minute conversation,” he said. “We talked about life, and we hadn’t had that in a little while. The winter had gone by, and we really checked in on each other and what was going on (with family) … and I was really encouraged. And I sit here today and like, ‘Alright Lord, thank you for that last blessing. That last opportunity to have that deep meaningful conversation for the last time.’”

Reporters Doug Padilla and Brian Rokos contributed to this story.

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