David Eckstein

San Diego 2, at Atlanta 1 (12 innings): David Eckstein's 12th-inning double drove in Nick Hundley. at Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 4: Andrew McCutchen hit a game-ending two-run homer off closer Brad Lidge. at St. Louis 1, Houston 0: Adam Wainwright became the league's first 15-game winner. Cincinnati 8, at Milwaukee 6 (13 innings): Joey Votto and Laynce Nix hit solo home runs in the top of the 13th inning to give the Reds the win. at San Francisco 5, Arizona 4: Travis Ishikawa hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning.

David Eckstein is not playing baseball, but the scrappy 36-year-old infielder who helped the Angels win the 2002 World Series and won World Series most-valuable-player honors with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 has not officially retired. Nor has the game retired him, like it has so many veterans who simply fade away. Eckstein, who played the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the San Diego Padres, got an offer to sign with a club four weeks ago and turned it down. He said he received more offers — including major league deals — last winter than he ever has a free agent but has spent the last few months working for his wife, actress Ashley Drane , and not diving around infields and driving up pitch counts.

David Eckstein is not playing baseball, but the scrappy 36-year-old infielder who helped the Angels win the 2002 World Series and won World Series most-valuable-player honors with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 has not officially retired. Nor has the game retired him, like it has so many veterans who simply fade away. Eckstein, who played the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the San Diego Padres, got an offer to sign with a club four weeks ago and turned it down. He said he received more offers — including major league deals — last winter than he ever has a free agent but has spent the last few months working for his wife, actress Ashley Drane , and not diving around infields and driving up pitch counts.

Assuming it lasts through the weekend, the most amazing achievement of the season will be David Eckstein's error-free season. The Padres second baseman had played 110 games without an error and had only two in 241 games the last two seasons ? Since becoming the Royals closer in August 2007, Joakim Soria has a better save percentage than Mariano Rivera . The Royals may one day deal him, but they'd have to be blown away to do that this winter ? Major league clubs are preparing for a bidding war over Yu Darvish , the stylish kid pitcher from Japan.

There is a cartoon character in the Eckstein household, but it's not the scrappy little infielder. It's his wife. She wields a green lightsaber, trains under Anakin Skywalker and kisses a two-time World Series champion good night. Ashley Eckstein commutes to work from San Diego, where her husband, David, plays second base for the Padres. In Hollywood, she's the voice for the Ahsoka Tano character in the "Clone Wars" animated series. Her character might live forever, at least in reruns.

I guess David Eckstein ["Winner Ball," Jan. 19] didn't get the memo. The one that says you're supposed to slack off, get a big head and hang with your entourage after winning a championship. Sadly, in this day of the self-absorbed modern athlete, the humble, hard-working Mr. Eckstein is more the exception than the rule. As a lifelong San Francisco Giant fan whose heart was broken by the Angels last fall, this isn't easy to say: I will be rooting for Eckstein this spring. Kirk Jue Santa Monica Bill Plaschke's article on David Eckstein was wonderful and refreshing.

The Angels expect to learn today whether they have won their salary arbitration case with shortstop David Eckstein. Eckstein faced the Angels on Wednesday in an arbitration hearing, in which agent Ryan Gleichowski pleaded on behalf of Eckstein for a $2.15-million salary and Angel negotiator Mark Rosenthal argued for the club proposal of $1.6 million. General Manager Bill Stoneman said he expected a decision today.

BATTING Shea Hillenbrand, Boston: 4 for 5, double, homer, 3 RBIs in victory over the Athletics. Steve Cox, Tampa Bay: 3 for 5, 2 homers, 4 RBIs helped defeat the Yankees. Jacque Jones, Minnesota: 2 for 5, 2 homers, 4 RBIs in victory over the Royals. David Eckstein, Angels: 2 for 4, homer, 3 RBIs helped extend club's win streak to seven games. PITCHING Jeff D'Amico, New York Mets: Complete game, 2 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts in shutting out the Dodgers.

Major league players who earned bonuses for being chosen for the All-Star game: $100,000 Garret Anderson, Bartolo Colon and Vladimir Guerrero, Angels; Derrek Lee, Chicago (NL); Alex Rodriguez, N.Y. (AL); Carlos Beltran, N.Y. (NL). $75,000 Manny Ramirez, Boston; Roy Halladay, Toronto.

San Francisco 6, at St. Louis 3: Randy Johnson won his third straight decision and 303rd of his career despite giving up two home runs to Albert Pujols. It was the third multi-homer game in 10 games for Pujols. at Pittsburgh 3, Chicago 0: Freddy Sanchez went three for three and drove in two runs for the Pirates. The Cubs went 11-14 in June. Arizona 6, at Cincinnati 2: Dan Haren held the Reds scoreless into the seventh inning and hit his first career home run for the Diamondbacks.

If David Eckstein is right, if players like him are an endangered species because computer-generated calculations can't quantify the value of hustling and the little things he does so well, baseball will be the poorer for it. If there's no room for someone like the San Diego Padres' second baseman, the ultimate little guy with a big heart and a winning influence on every team whose dirt-stained uniform he has worn, the sport will lose a piece of...

The Dodgers' clubhouse was silent, so much so that the humming of a stationary bicycle in an adjacent room was audible. About the only other sounds that could be heard came from the showers. The Dodgers lost their fourth consecutive game on Tuesday night, their 2-1 defeat to the first-place San Diego Padres at Petco Park dropping their season record to 69-70. They were 10 games behind the Padres in the National League West, 10 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card race and the end of the offensive hibernation felt like it was nowhere in sight.

Joe Torre says he won't announce his plans for next season until the Dodgers' postseason outlook is clear.… That day is near.… Roger Clemens , certain not to misremember Thursday's disheartening turn of events, will soon be wearing a uniform of a different stripe if the feds have their way.… Adrian Beltre and the Boston Red Sox, dominant against the Angels before Thursday night's game, also swept an...

As the Dodgers struggled through the first month of the season, closer Jonathan Broxton had only one save and there were questions about whether he was getting enough work. But with the Dodgers playing much better, Broxton is busy again. The right-hander had recorded four saves in seven games before the Dodgers' game against the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, and his earned-run average was a stingy 1.32. "Stats are stats; as long as we're winning that's all that matters," the burly 25-year-old Georgian said.

San Diego 2, at Atlanta 1 (12 innings): David Eckstein's 12th-inning double drove in Nick Hundley. at Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 4: Andrew McCutchen hit a game-ending two-run homer off closer Brad Lidge. at St. Louis 1, Houston 0: Adam Wainwright became the league's first 15-game winner. Cincinnati 8, at Milwaukee 6 (13 innings): Joey Votto and Laynce Nix hit solo home runs in the top of the 13th inning to give the Reds the win. at San Francisco 5, Arizona 4: Travis Ishikawa hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning.

San Francisco 6, at St. Louis 3: Randy Johnson won his third straight decision and 303rd of his career despite giving up two home runs to Albert Pujols. It was the third multi-homer game in 10 games for Pujols. at Pittsburgh 3, Chicago 0: Freddy Sanchez went three for three and drove in two runs for the Pirates. The Cubs went 11-14 in June. Arizona 6, at Cincinnati 2: Dan Haren held the Reds scoreless into the seventh inning and hit his first career home run for the Diamondbacks.

PHOENIX -- Stephen Drew became the first player to hit for the cycle in Chase Field, and newly acquired David Eckstein singled home the winning run to help the Arizona Diamondbacks rally past the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-6, Monday. Adam Dunn, Chris Young and Mark Reynolds also homered for the Diamondbacks, who overcame a poor start by Randy Johnson. Batting leadoff, Drew singled in the first inning, tripled in the third and homered in the fifth against starter Joel Pineiro. He hit a ground-rule double in the seventh against Kyle McClellan (2-7)

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein was scratched from the lineup Friday night, after he suffered a minor concussion while breaking up a double play during Wednesday night's game against Pittsburgh. Eckstein, second in the National League with 86 hits and batting .322, had been in the leadoff spot against the Colorado Rockies.

There is a cartoon character in the Eckstein household, but it's not the scrappy little infielder. It's his wife. She wields a green lightsaber, trains under Anakin Skywalker and kisses a two-time World Series champion good night. Ashley Eckstein commutes to work from San Diego, where her husband, David, plays second base for the Padres. In Hollywood, she's the voice for the Ahsoka Tano character in the "Clone Wars" animated series. Her character might live forever, at least in reruns.

Hiroki Kuroda returned on Monday to the same park where he made his spectacular major league debut a year ago. Kuroda didn't pitch as long as he did that day last April and he wasn't as dominant. But he said the win he earned in the Dodgers' 4-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on this day was more satisfying. Or, at the very least, more stressful. "I was very conscious of the fact that they made me the opening-day starter," he said in Japanese.