Angels Great Garret Anderson Dies at 53

Anderson was an underrated and prolific hitter for the franchise over 15 seasons.

Garret Anderson still holds many Angels offensive records after a remarkably consistent career. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Former Angels outfielder Garret Anderson has died at the age of 53, the organization announced on Friday morning.

Anderson, a member of the team's Hall of Fame, played 15 of his 17 Major League Baseball seasons with the Angels and was a pivotal part of the franchise's run to the 2002 World Series title.

"Garret will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Angels fans for his professionalism, class, and loyalty throughout his career and beyond," Angels owner Arte Moreno said in a statement. "His admiration and respect for the game was immeasurable. We extend our deepest condolences to Garret’s wife Teresa, daughters Brianne and Bailey, son Garret ‘Trey’ Anderson III, and his entire family.”

Los Angeles will pay tribute to Anderson with a jersey patch for the rest of the season.

Here’s the patch the #Angels will wear the rest of the season to honor Garret Anderson pic.twitter.com/9L6S0ZlJrU

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 17, 2026

Anderson broke into the big leagues in 1994 to play five games and then put together a standout full rookie year in '95 that saw him hit .321 and post an .857 OPS en route to a second-place finish in American League Rookie of the Year voting. The lefty was calm and measured in the box while authoring a remarkably consistent career, constantly hovering around a .300 batting average, finishing with a .293 mark when he retired. His best years came from 2001 to '03 when he garnered MVP consideration as the organization built toward and then realized its only World Series. In that 2002 season Anderson hit .306, with 29 home runs, 123 RBIs, and provided the most important hit of Game 7 of the Fall Classic—a three-run double.

He was one of the most underrated offensive players of his era and retired as the franchise's leader in in games played (2,013), hits (2,368), RBIs (1,292), doubles (489), total bases (3,743), extra-base hits (796) and grand slams (eight).

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