ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Garret Anderson is just one of the crowd in the Los Angeles Angels clubhouse, and that's the way he likes it.
The three-time All-Star went 2-for-4 with a run scored in the Angels' 4-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox in the AL division series opener on Wednesday night, but you wouldn't know it by talking to him. He prefers to leave the spotlight to his teammates.
"That's just not me. I'm not a boaster," said Anderson, whose tiebreaking three-run double in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series helped the Angels beat San Francisco. "I mean, the numbers speak for themselves. The factual statistical things are obvious. I'll talk about anybody else's accomplishments, but I won't talk about mine. I'm just not comfortable with it."
It took a long time for the 36-year-old Anderson to feel secure in the major leagues despite the impressive numbers he put up early on - Anderson is the Angels' career leader in hits, games played, runs scored RBIs, total bases and doubles.
"I would say after probably my fourth, fifth, sixth year when I established myself I started realizing how fortunate I am to be here," Anderson said. "I haven't taken it for granted, and I never did. It's just that when you're young, you're so busy trying to prove yourself that you kind of wear blinders until you establish yourself because you get a small window of opportunity up here to do that. Then about my fourth or fifth year I started realizing how fortunate I am and I started to really love what I do. I've been appreciating the game."
Anderson signed a four-year, $48 million, four-year contract extension in April 2004 that included a club option for 2009. He made two trips to the disabled list last season with hip problems, but rebounded with a solid '08 batting .293 with 15 homers and 84 RBIs.
"I haven't felt great on the field since I was 25," he said with a grin. "But, yeah, I've been feeling pretty good this year. It just took me a little longer to get going."
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NERVOUS ZIM: Rays senior adviser Don Zimmer won four World Series rings as the New York Yankees bench coach and two more during his playing career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yet "Popeye" was nervous before the start of the Rays' AL division series against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
Zimmer was talking with two sons of Tampa Bay principal owner Stuart Sternberg near the batting cage and the topic came up.
"I said, `How do you guys feel?"' Zimmer said. "One said, `I'm nervous,' and I looked at the other one, and I said, "How do you feel? And he said, 'I'm nervous.' One asked me how do I feel. I said 'I'm 77 and I'm nervous.' It's just fun, that's all. We should all have fun and let the best team win."
Zimmer has been part of a surprising playoff team before, when he managed the 1989 Chicago Cubs, who like the 2008 Rays, were given little or no chance of success.
