Kerry ;-)

I'm equally amazed that the Angels burried Ersdat at first base for two years. Pure idiocy.

As far as my skill goes, let's just say that a good camera goes a long way...

Where he won two Gold Gloves while the Angels won two Division titles.

Playing Erstad at first is like having Olivier in your cast of Hamlet, and having him play Guildenstern. Sure, he makes a helluva Guildenstern, but c'mon.

The Angels didn't put him at first because they wanted him there. They put him at first because at the start of 2004 he was owed almost 19 million dollars and the team believed he would earn almost all of that money from the DL if they kept sticking him in the outfield.

Not to mention the fact that if you look at the 2004 team, Erstad was clearly the fourth best outfielder on the squad and just as clearly the best first baseman they had. Oh, and with respect to "pure idiocy," a much better example is the signing of Esteban Loaiza.

So, Cliff and TheRedMenace, you are both hereby on the Catfish Stew "On Notice" list for use of offensive language. Please behave yourselves in the future, lest you be demoted further to the "Dead to Catfish Stew" list. ;)

So I don't think it was idiocy, but even though I understand why the Angels did what they did, I do think the Angels could have found more creative and effective solutions than the one they ended up choosing.

That's because words cannot express how much I respect and admire Darin Erstad's play in centerfield. Hence the title. I believe he's one of the all-time defensive greats at a very important position on the field.

I remember all those AL West games in the early 2000s with Erstad and Mike Cameron roaming centerfield at the Coliseum against the A's, and feeling like it was practically impossible to hit a double to the gap.

11 Yes, the photo is real. I cropped it, but that's all.