Photos courtesy of Nebraska Sports Information
As a Husker, Erstad was a two-sport athlete. He was part of the 1994 national championship football team as the punter/
placekicker. He also batted .410 with 19 home runs his junior and final season on the Husker baseball team.
Erstad hits way Into Angels lineup
By Trevor Parks
Staff Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The front cover of
the California Angels 1996 baseball media
guide shows Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds
and Tim Salmon, who are the team’s “Angels
in the Outfield.”
Now two-thirds of the way through the
1996 season, that cover may need a revision,
thanks to fomier Nebraska baseball/football
star Darin Erstad.
Since being called up from AAA
Vancouver to fill in for an injured Edmonds
on June 14, Erstad has made an impact for
the Angels in a big way. In Edmonds’
absence Erstad hit .321 with 39 hits, 27 runs,
three home runs and 16 RBIs.
His performance earned him a surprise
spot on the Angels 25-man roster once
Edmonds returned July 18.
He was given the opportunity to come up
here and show what he could do under great
pressure,” Salmon said. “Everyone is
watching him to see how he reacts in certain
situations and he’s passed everybody’s test.
“He’s done everything asked of him and
more. He’s opened eyes and his good play
has created that,” Salmon said.
Every time he had the opportunity to shine
at Nebraska, Erstad did so. He helped the
1994 Comhusker football team win a national
title as the punter/placekickcr. In his junior
and final year for the Nebraska baseball team,
he hit .410, hitting 19 home runs.
In his brief career, he’s done everything
the Angels thought he would do when they
made him the first pick of the 1995 amateur
baseball draft.
Although his average—now .292 since
only having three hits in his last 17 at-bats—
has dipped recently, Erstad is happy to be
called tnc one thing every child dreams of
becoming one day: a Major League baseball
player.
First game
Erstad had just finished batting practice
before a game at Edmonton, when Vancouver
manager Don Long informed Erstad of his
promotion.
“It was really a shock, I wasn’t expecting
to get called up but it was a great opportunity
for me,” Erstad said.
Erstad joined the parent club June 14 with
the Angels hosting the Toronto Blue Jays. He
posted a .305 average with 39 runs scored, 16
doubles, four home runs and 29 RBIs in
Vancouver. He had made only one error in
117 chances.
The first thing Erstad did when he found
out he was going to the majors was grab the
phone and call home. There wasn’t any shock
on the other end of the line, however, since
his parents already knew.
The Angels assistant general manager,
Tim Mead, had called the Erstads with the
news, and had said to come out to Anaheim
for those first few games.
“When I called them they had already
heard so they were going crazy, and I think
that they were already packed by the time l
talked to them,” Erstad said. “They were very
excited and proud.”
He had a rather auspicious debut, going 0
for-4 as the leadoff batter in a 7-4 Angels
victory.
Despite alt the hoopla that included a z>
minute pre-game press conference in the
dugout, and taking batting practice wearing a
floppy oversized helmet, Erstad wasn’t
overwhelmed as he shone in the spotlight.
“I’m not one of those guys who sits here
and makes a big deal out of those things,” the
22-year-old Erstad said. ‘To me it was just
another ball game.”
He earned a walk in his first at-bat, along
with making a spectacular diving catch of a
Domingo Cedeno blooper to center field.
Meanwhile, in the stands, 11 friends and
family members from North Dakota watched
No. 27 play his first game as a California
Angel.
Erstad’s 0-for-4 performance stretched to
an 0-for-l 1 start, but he was not discouraged.
The Jamestown, N.D., native picked up his
first major league hit in his third game by
singling to right field off Toronto pitcher Paul
Quantrill at Anaheim Stadium.
Once that was under his belt, Erstad
seemed to feel more relaxed at the plate.
“It was a matter of getting comfortable,”
Erstad said. “I’ve never started any season
very fast before. I just kept my patience and
my confidence and things turned around for
me.”
Away from the Big A, Erstad has hit
safely in 16 of 18 games with an average of
.338. Erstad also has eight multi-hit games in
the last 21 games. In his fourth game in an
Angel uniform, he hit his first Major League
home run off Chicago’s ace Alex Fernandez,
turning his play around after his slow start.
Everyday player
Since getting the call from California,
Erstad has become an everyday player, only
sitting out one game as of Tuesday night.
Such consistency has caused manager Marcel
Lachemann to do some outfield shuffling.
The only game Erstad sat out was
Edmonds’ second game back. Lachemann is
in a situation where he is trying to fit four
quality players into just three spots.
But in all this there is good news for
Erstad.
“One thing the kid has going to him is that
he is a legitimate lcadoff hitter,” Lachemann
said. “That might get him more playing time
than the others.”
At Nebraska, Loacn Jonn banders used
Erstad primarily as a leadoff hitter to give
Erstad as many at-bats as possible. Since
joining the Angels, Erstad has been lead-off
hitter a team high of 34 times.
The person affected most by the whole
thing is Anderson. Erstad has moved to the
left while Anderson, the Angels everyday
left-fielder for more than a year, has been
sent to the bench.
Salmon, who has not been benched, said it
was a difficult situation for Lachemann.
“I’d like to see Jim Edmonds, Garret
Anderson, Darin and of course myself in the
lineup everyday,” Salmon said. “I’m glad
Darin’s here and he’s going to help us.
“How can we make this thing work?
That’s the big question in the puzzle right
now.”
The last thing the humble Erstad wants to
do is be an odd piece in the Angels’ puzzle.
“They must be satisfied with my play if
I’m still here,” Erstad said. “Honestly, I don’t
worry about what other people think. I go out
and play hard everyday, and just try to do
what I can do to the best of my ability, and
whatever happens happens. I don’t try and do
things that I can’t do.”
Besides his overall talent, there have been
two major reasons Erstad is still an Angel and
not back in Triple-A: his outfield teammates
and Angels hitting coach Rod Carew.
Although competing for playing time with
Please see ERSTAD on 10
Erstad’s path to
the majors:
• Drafted out of high school
by the New York Mets in the
13th round of the 1992 ama
teur draft.
• Place/acker/punter on 1994
National Championship
, football team.
% Posted a .410 average with
19 home runs his junior and
final year at Nebraska.
• Drafted as first pick in the
June 1995 baseball draft by
the California Angels. Signed
a $1.725 million contract,
including a $1,575 million
signing bonus on July 26,
yyyj.
• Professional career began at
Mesa, Ariz. (Rookie League),
and was promoted August 6,
1995 to Lake Elsnore (Class
A).
% Registered a .363 batting
average with 24 runs, seven
doubles, five home runs and 24
RBIs in 25 games at Lake
Elsnore.
% Member ofTempe Rafters in
Arizona Fall League. Erstad
hit .344 with 53 hits and
almost won the League batting
title.
• Played 59 games at AAA
Vancouver, batting .305 with
39 runs, four home runs, 16
doubles and 29 RBIs.
% Joined California Angels on
June 14, 1996.