Angels great Garret Anderson dies at 53

The Los Angeles Angels said Friday that franchise great Garret Anderson, the longtime outfielder who helped lead the club to its only World Series title, has died. He was 53.

The Angels said in a statement that Anderson had “passed away suddenly.” No cause of death had been publicly released as of Friday.

Anderson was one of the most important players in Angels history, a central figure on the team’s 2002 championship club and still the franchise leader in several major offensive categories. He spent 15 seasons with the organization and remained one of the defining stars of the Angels’ modern era.

His major league career ran from 1994 to 2010. Anderson played 15 seasons with the Angels before finishing with one season for the Atlanta Braves and one for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a three-time All-Star, selected in 2002, 2003 and 2005, and won Silver Slugger awards in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, he also won the Home Run Derby and was named the All-Star Game’s most valuable player.

Anderson’s place in Angels history was built on both longevity and production. According to the club and MLB, he remains the franchise’s all-time leader in games played with 2,013, hits with 2,368, RBIs with 1,292, doubles with 489, total bases with 3,743, extra-base hits with 796 and grand slams with eight. Across his full major league career, he had 2,529 hits, 287 home runs and 1,365 RBIs.

He was a key contributor to the Angels’ 2002 World Series championship, the only title in franchise history. In Game 7, Anderson delivered a three-run double, one of the defining hits of the series and a lasting part of the club’s championship legacy.

Born June 30, 1972, in Los Angeles, Anderson was a local product who spent the bulk of his baseball life with the Angels organization. The then-California Angels drafted him in the fourth round of the 1990 amateur draft out of John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, California. He was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in 2016.

In the team’s announcement, Angels owner Arte Moreno called Anderson “a cornerstone of our organization throughout his 15 seasons” and said his “stoic presence in the outfield and our clubhouse elevated the Angels into an era of continued success, highlighted by the 2002 World Series championship.”

The Angels said Anderson is survived by his wife, Teresa; daughters Brianne and Bailey; and son Garret “Trey” Anderson III.