LOS ANGELES — THIS DAY IN SPORTS… Aug. 21, 2007:
The biggest day at the plate by any former Boise Hawk to make the majors, as Garret Anderson of the Los Angeles Angels knocks in 10 runs, a franchise record, in an 18-9 win over the New York Yankees. Included in Anderson’s barrage were a grand slam and a three-run homer. He was 35 years old and past his prime at that point, but not by much. At his peak from 2000-03, Anderson hit a combined 121 home runs with 479 runs batted in.
Anderson was named to three All-Star teams during his career, winning MVP honors in the 2003 game, and was a key member of the Halos’ 2002 World Series championship team. He’s still the Angels’ all-time leader in games played, at bats, hits, runs scored, total bases, singles, doubles, grand slams, extra-base hits, and runs batted in. Mike Trout hasn’t caught Anderson yet in any of those categories. Trout is the Angels’ career home run leader with 368 — Anderson has the most by a left-handed hitter with 272. Anderson had the second-longest big league career of any Hawks alum at 17 seasons.
The former Hawk with the longest career in the bigs is still active today. Pitcher Rich Hill is in his 19th season and at 43 is the oldest player in Major League Baseball. Hill began the season in Pittsburgh and is now with San Diego—he’s 0-3 with a 9.53 ERA since being dealt to the Padres at the trade deadline, so this might be it. Hard to believe, but Hill’s time in Boise dates back to 2002 and 2003 in the Cubs organization.
Others among those who came through Boise and are noted for longevity include John Lackey, Troy Percival and Josh Donaldson. Lackey, who in 2002 became the first rookie pitcher to win a Game 7 in the World Series in 93 years, played 15 seasons and went 188-147 with a 3.92 ERA. Percival, who was converted from a catcher to a closer during his two years with the Hawks, pitched for 14 seasons and is No. 13 on the MLB career saves list with 358. And Donaldson, the 2015 American League MVP, is in his 13th season and is now a New York Yankee. Donaldson has 276 career homers and 805 RBI.
I guess we need to include Francisco Rodriguez here. Rodriguez had a 16-year big league career and recorded 437 saves, the fourth-most in MLB history. K-Rod won a record five postseason games in 2002, including one against the San Francisco Giants that made him the youngest pitcher ever to win a World Series game. The thing that makes this tough? Well, yes, Rodriguez was a former Boise Hawk. He played exactly one game for the team toward the end of the 1999 season (he started the game and won it, so there’s that.)
Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.
Watch more Sports:
See KTVB sports coverage in our YouTube playlist:
