Garret Anderson

Garret Joseph Anderson was born on June 30, 1972, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in the San Fernando Valley. He attended John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, where he was a three-sport athlete in baseball, football and basketball. In baseball he earned two All-Los Angeles City and two All-League honors and helped Kennedy win the Los Angeles City Championship as a junior. In basketball he earned All-City and All-League honors as a senior.

Anderson graduated from Kennedy High School in Granada Hills. He accepted an athletic scholarship to play baseball at California State University, Fresno, but signed with the Angels after the 1990 draft instead of enrolling. Years after retiring he took classes at Irvine Valley College, as noted at the time of his 2016 Angels Hall of Fame induction.

Drafted by the California Angels in the fourth round in 1990, Anderson worked through the minors with Palm Springs, Midland and the Triple-A Vancouver Canadians before debuting on July 27, 1994. In 1995 he hit .321, was named American League Player of the Month for July and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

From 1995 to 2008 he was the Angels' everyday left fielder and, later, a frequent designated hitter. He hit a career-high 35 home runs in 2000. In 2002 he batted .306 with 29 homers and 123 RBIs, finished fourth in MVP voting and hit the three-run double that won Game 7 of the World Series. In 2003 he won the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game MVP award. He was an All-Star in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and won Silver Slugger Awards in 2002 and 2003.

On August 21, 2007, he drove in 10 runs against the Yankees, a club record, and that September he set a franchise mark with an RBI in 12 straight games. After the Angels declined his option in October 2008, he signed with the Atlanta Braves for 2009, collected his 2,500th hit on October 1, 2009, and spent part of 2010 with the Los Angeles Dodgers before his release in August. He retired on March 1, 2011, with a .293 average, 2,529 hits, 287 home runs and 1,365 RBIs.

In 2012 Anderson worked as an Angels pregame and postgame reporter on Fox Sports West during home games and some road games. He appeared on the 2016 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot and received one vote. He spent most of his retirement out of the public eye with his family in Orange County.

Anderson met his wife, Teresa, in junior high school. They had three children: daughters Brianne and Bailey and son Garret "Trey" Anderson III. He was a practicing Christian. Teammates described him as stoic and private, and the family kept a low public profile throughout his career.

Anderson spoke about baseball with notable humility. Before his Angels Hall of Fame induction he said he had failed seven times out of 10 and that the game was a constant test of dealing with failure. He said he missed competing against pitchers such as Pedro Martinez but little else, because when his career ended he was going home to his family. He said he would not have changed his reserved playing style, though he had learned to be more accessible.

Anderson holds Angels franchise records for games played (2,013), at bats (7,989), hits (2,368), runs (1,024), RBIs (1,292), total bases (3,743), extra-base hits (796), singles (1,572), doubles (489), grand slams (8), RBIs in a game (10) and consecutive games with an RBI (12), plus home runs by a left-handed hitter (272). His Game 7 double remains the only World Series-winning hit in club history. Angels owner Arte Moreno called him "one of our franchise's most beloved icons," and manager Mike Scioscia said he was "really the foundation of our championship run back in 2002."

World Series champion (2002). Three-time American League All-Star (2002, 2003, 2005). All-Star Game MVP (2003). Home Run Derby champion (2003). Two-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2002, 2003). American League Player of the Month (July 1995). The Sporting News Rookie of the Year (1995). Fourth in AL MVP voting (2002). Angels Hall of Fame (inducted August 20, 2016, the organization's 14th inductee).

Anderson's Game 7 double is among the most replayed moments in Angels history and closed the highlight reel the club showed at his 2016 Hall of Fame ceremony. After his death, MLB Network devoted tribute segments to him, the Angels, MLB and the Dodgers posted statements, and the Angels' April 17, 2026, tribute video traced his career from his 1994 debut to holding the World Series trophy.

Anderson died on the afternoon of April 16, 2026, at his home in Newport Beach, California, at age 53, after a medical emergency. The Angels announced his death the next morning. His wife told ESPN she thought he had died of a heart attack, but on April 21 the Orange County Sheriff Coroner's Office said the cause was acute necrotizing pancreatitis and that the death was natural. Before their April 17 game against the San Diego Padres the Angels held a moment of silence and played a tribute video, fans created a memorial outside Angel Stadium, and the team wore a "GA" patch for the rest of the 2026 season. Funeral and burial details were not made public.