ShareThisFor fear of being labeled, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Garret Anderson doesn't want to think much about the recent numbers showing that he may be becoming a second-half player. "I don't want to be known as a second-half guy. I want to be known as a full-season guy," Anderson said. "Second-half guys don't get a chance to get to the second half if they don't have a good first half." Anderson's statistics in the 95 games before the All-Star break weren't terrible -- a .263 average, eight homers and 44 RBI. But his second half is otherworldly. Anderson is second in the American League with a .376 average since the All-Star break, bringing to mind his torrid finish last season. After hitting .285 with three homers and 15 RBI before the All-Star break, Anderson batted .305 with 13 homers and 65 runs batted in afterward. The season before, Anderson hit 41 points higher with three more homers after the All-Star break, although he had nine fewer RBI. His third-inning single in Wednesday night's loss to Seattle extended his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest by an Angel this season. Anderson also have five homers and 23 RBI since the break."What's strange with what we've seen from Garret the last couple of years is his second-half surge," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "He had been so consistent from start to finish you never noticed huge upswings or downswings. It's a trend you have to look at, but it's tough to put a finger on any one thing." Anderson tried, but even he had trouble, saying only "the whole key with me is playing every day." He has said in the past it doesn't take long for him to feel comfortable with his swing. "That doesn't mean it translates into hits," he said. "There's no correlation there. ... It doesn't take a lot to get going, but it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to be successful. I can still get hits even when my swing is not there. But to keep building momentum, I need to play every day and have my at-bats pile up." At the end of the season the Angels have to make a decision whether to pick up the 36-year-old's $14 million option or buy him out for $3 million. (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Angels' Anderson surging to finish once again
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 08/15/2008 - 16:17
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