Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

On Fri, Apr 17, the Los Angeles Angels announced the news that former left-fielder and franchise icon Garret Anderson had passed away at the age of 53 years old. According to TMZ, Anderson died of a “medical emergency” at his home in Newport Beach, Calif on Thur, Apr 16. Anderson leaves behind three kids and his wife Teresa.

Born in Los Angeles, Calif on June 30, 1972, Anderson was drafted by the Angels in the fourth round of the 1990 amateur draft out of Kennedy High School in Granada Hills. Anderson made his major league debut on Jul 27, 1994 and would become the team’s anchor in left field for many years as he formed a great trio in the outfield with Tim Salmon(in right field) Jim Edmonds and Darin Erstad(both in center field). Anderson was a key part of helping the Halos break their 15-year playoff drought in 2002 and powering them all the way to the World Series, where he had plenty of clutch hits, including the bases-clearing hit that gave them the lead over the San Francisco Giants in Game 7. In 2003, Anderson made his second All-Star appearance and won the Home Run Derby at Chicago’s US Cellular Field and on the next day he was the All-Star Game MVP award winner. Anderson set so many franchise records during his time in Anaheim, including for games played, total bases, extra base hits, doubles, grand slams and RBIs. Anderson was once the leading run scorer in Angels history as well before being surpassed by Mike Trout, who is approaching Anderson in so many categories where he holds the franchise mark. Known affectionally as G.A, Anderson played parts of 15 seasons for the Halos before concluding his career with the Atlanta Braves in 2009 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010. Anderson was inducted into the Angels’ Hall of Fame in 2016 and he is also part of the 2002 World Series winning team in the Hall of Fame displayed at Angel Stadium.

The Angels announced that a special patch will be worn on their jerseys for the rest of the season commemorating their most recently deceased franchise star, with the patch simply being GA in red letters and his birth year and year of passing being etched below. There will be a moment of silence and video tribute before the game on Fri, Apr 17 against the San Diego Padres to Anderson, who is featured in the team’s “Calling All Angels” pregame video commemorating the individual and team achievements in the franchise’s 65-year history playing as a Major League ballclub. Anderson made recent appearances as an analyst on the Angels’ TV network in their pregame and postgame show coverage of home games in Anaheim and he was also featured in the team’s televised pregame tribute video to Jackie Robinson, who died at the age of 53 years old in Oct 1972.

Garret Joseph Anderson was just an infant when Jack Roosevelt Robinson passed away. If not for Robinson breaking the MLB color barrier, many great African-American ballplayers would have never gotten the chance to show their talents to the biggest audience of the world watching America’s National Pastime. By the time Anderson was born, plenty of those early Black stars were entering their final years playing baseball at the professional level, including Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente(who sadly passed away in a plane crash delivering aid items to earthquake survivors in Nicaragua two months after Robinson’s death). Anderson may be gone, but his legacy will live on through his ballclub, his old teammates and his family. Rest in peace G.A.