{"id":275345,"date":"2026-04-19T08:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/275345\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T08:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:15:21","slug":"on-emotional-night-angel-stadium-mourns-franchise-icon-garret-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/275345\/","title":{"rendered":"On emotional night, Angel Stadium mourns franchise icon Garret Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 The facial default of Tim Salmon is a smile. As he sat in the Angels\u2019 dugout on Friday afternoon, discussing the tragic death of the man that he\u2019s most closely associated with, that smile still rarely escaped him.<\/p>\n

In many ways, Garret Anderson and Salmon are the Angels. They played more than a decade together and won the franchise\u2019s lone World Series in 2002. They populate nearly every relevant page of this club\u2019s history books.<\/p>\n

Talking about his friend, and what made him special, brought and kept that smile on Salmon\u2019s face. But the joys of those memories were interchangeable with the heartbreak of the reality that cast a pall over the ballpark all night.<\/p>\n

As he described a phone call the two shared just last week, the emptiness caused by Anderson\u2019s loss became evident. The emotions started to overwhelm Salmon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about life,\u201d said Salmon, his voice starting to quiver. \u201cWe really checked in on each other. I sit here today, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Alright Lord, thank you for that last blessing. That last opportunity to have a deep, meaningful conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson died Thursday afternoon from a heart attack<\/a>. He was 53 years old, and is survived by his wife and three children. An all-time Angels icon, leading the franchise in games played (2,013), hits (2,368) and RBIs (1,292), Anderson was known for being stoic and serious \u2014 a tough nut to crack. But \u201conce you were in with him,\u201d said longtime Angels VP of communications Tim Mead, \u201cyou were locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Post-retirement, Anderson had worked Angels television broadcasts for years, but wasn\u2019t scheduled to be on-air in 2026. He was a beloved figure among some of the longest-tenured players, who\u2019d forged meaningful relationships.<\/p>\n

Word spread to current players when their flight landed Thursday night, following a cross-country trip from New York. Mead, who spent four decades with the Angels and has often been a liaison with the 2002 championship team, said he called dozens of former players and others in the Angels\u2019 orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still in shock,\u201d said Scott Spiezio, a teammate of Anderson\u2019s for four years, including in 2002.<\/p>\n

Spiezio remembered buying a flashy car off Anderson, and how Anderson playfully bullied the Midwesterner into acquiring a better fashion sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d get on the plane, he\u2019d be like, \u2018Spiez, you got on a horse blanket? You\u2019re giving me allergies.\u2019 Before you know it, I\u2019m buying Canali, Hugo Boss and Armani.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four hours before first pitch, the team\u2019s grounds crew was busy, cutting a massive \u201cGA\u201d into the center-field grass. Behind that was a space on the right-center field wall displaying his initials. Clubhouse attendants collected all the Angels jerseys out of the lockers pregame, in the hopes of having the \u201cGA\u201d jersey patch ready to go by first pitch.<\/p>\n

The video board displayed an image of Anderson during batting practice. Outside the home plate gate, fans brought flowers and notes for a vigil. Some touched their hearts as they walked up to it. His No. 16 jersey was worn by supporters roaming the concourses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Fans placed flowers and notes outside the gates of Angel Stadium. (Credit: Sam Blum \/ The Athletic)<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I had it in my closet. I just fumbled through the whole closet,\u201d said lifelong Angels fan and Anaheim native Dale Snooks. \u201cHe\u2019s around the same age as my little brother, who passed away a couple years ago from a heart attack. \u201cIt\u2019s the same thing. All of a sudden, out of nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Trout, the man who might someday surpass Anderson\u2019s spot atop many of the team\u2019s leaderboards, said he developed a friendship through chitchats at the ballpark. They hung out outside the field, he said, and Anderson even lent Trout his boat.<\/p>\n

Manager Kurt Suzuki recalled the days of playing against Anderson, when the catcher first came up with the Oakland A\u2019s in 2007. Anderson was a player that Suzuki looked up to, watching the 2002 World Series as a freshman down the road at Cal State Fullerton.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust really speechless, I would say,\u201d said Angels right fielder Jo Adell, who had also forged a bond with Anderson, who manned left field for nearly all of his 15 years in Anaheim. \u201cYou get used to seeing somebody. The sad part about it is the familiarity of going to the ballpark, knowing you\u2019re going to be around the same faces. Not being able to have that anymore is really kind of disturbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s missed beyond words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson isn\u2019t simply a figure of the Angels\u2019 past. He\u2019s not a former great that faded into the background, only to show up once a season to throw out the first pitch. He was a presence, known and beloved by many who came to work Friday, who had to navigate the emotions of losing a friend and colleague.<\/p>\n

Broadcasters knew tears might be shed on television or radio. Producers navigated the responsibilities of covering the news, while processing their own grief.<\/p>\n

Before the game started, the Angels played a video tribute to Anderson, starting with him as a baby-faced 22-year-old wearing the old periwinkle blue uniforms, and ending with him holding the World Series trophy that he helped win.<\/p>\n

In the montage, countless clips played against the backdrop of Angel Stadium, in the same spot all those fans, friends and former teammates watched brokenhearted. It was a reminder of how important he was to this place, and just how empty it felt, in that moment, without him there.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was more than a ballplayer,\u201d Salmon said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a tremendous legacy, between the lines, on the field. But I would argue that his legacy has been bigger off the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur world has so many heroes. And heroes always seem to let you down at some point. Garret was impeccable. His biggest legacy was who he was as a man.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 The facial default of Tim Salmon is a smile. As he sat in the Angels\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,2866,1334],"class_list":["post-275345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-mlb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}