Resilient Eckstein talks about life since his Series MVP

                    

	David Eckstein was a walk-on at Florida and drafted in the 19th round by the Red Sox. David E. Klutho/SI

There's nothing about David Eckstein that would make you look twice at him. His appearance could best be summed up by Charles S. Dutton's memorable line in Rudy. "You're 5-foot nothin', 100 and nothin', and you have barely a speck of athletic ability."

While Eckstein certainly can relate to the first two, the third description couldn't be further from the truth. It's been Eckstein's athletic ability that has made the 5-foot-7, 165-pound shortstop a two-time All-Star, two-time World Series champion and the current World Series MVP.

Yet as he rolls up to the campus of USC to speak at the ROTC Commissioning Ceremony, he has to introduce himself to the parking attendant who has no idea who he is and asks him to repeat his name twice. It's nothing new for Eckstein, who has had to re-introduce himself to people over and over again throughout his career. He failed to get an athletic scholarship offer out of high school, walked on to the baseball team at Florida, was drafted after 500 other players in the 19th round of the MLB Draft and got waived by the Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston's Triple-A team, before ever making the majors.

Eckstein's road to success has been littered with setbacks and heartbreak and after winning the World Series last season, he decided to share his experiences and ability to overcome the odds in a children's book, Have Heart. I recently sat down with Eckstein to talk about going from a no-name minor leaguer to a World Series MVP who is married to a Hollywood actress.

SI.com: I think some people who are unfamiliar with your past would be surprised to know that you were basically an unwanted player coming out of high school and even coming out of college despite the success you had. What do you attribute that to?

Eckstein: I like to say I was a naïve young man at that time. Playing high school and winning a state title my junior year and then playing very well my senior year, I just assumed I would get an athletic scholarship. I thought some school would want me on the Division I level, but that was not the case. Fortunately enough I did well in school and it was always a dream of mine to play at the University of Florida. Both my parents and all my brothers and sisters had gone there and graduated from there. My decision came down to this: If I ever thought I was going to be a major league player I needed to try and play at one of the top Division I schools and prove to these people that, 'Hey, I might be short, I might not be the most talented, but I can compete at the highest level and you need to take me seriously.'

SI.com: So you go from being a walk-on at Florida to getting picked after about 500 players, and then you got waived soon after. What happened?

Eckstein: I was brought up to respect my elders and whatever they say I was told to respond with 'Yes sir' or 'Yes ma'am.' After I got drafted by the Red Sox I had hit .300 every year throughout their system and then I got to Triple-A. When I got there, the hitting coach comes up to me and says you cannot hit like that in the big leagues. You have to change your swing. So I did what I was told and said, 'Yes sir.' I changed my swing the way he wanted me to swing it and it was something that did not work. It was a great life lesson for me that if you know yourself and you believe in yourself you should be able to say, 'No, I'm sorry. I respect you and your advice but I can't do it that way. I have to do it the way I know.' By that time though, it was too late. During that period I got 99 at-bats and I was 4-for-99, but two of the hits were bunts so I don't count those, so when I was actually swinging the bat I was 2-for-97.

It was just not working so I had to go back to my old ways. It was one of these things that Boston had to make a move and I'm the type of player that if I'm not performing they're going to find someone else. I don't have much leeway. They had to make a move and I was an easy choice for them to let go.

SI.com: After getting waived by the Red Sox, was there ever a point where you thought your career might be over?

Eckstein: Certainly, but when I was claimed off waivers by the Anaheim Angels and went to their Triple-A club, I had already corrected my swing and I went out there and performed well the last 16 games of the season. Going into Spring Training the next year, I knew they had the team set but I was hoping to find a way to be able to show that they needed me on the club. It was a difficult time. I was fighting my way and just hoping for an opportunity. My opportunity came when Adam Kennedy broke his hand and I knew they were going to need a second baseman to start the season for at least the first seven games. So I knew that was my chance to go out there and prove myself and hopefully they select me and let me start.

It was a wild time. They say that Spring Training means everything and that year it truly meant everything to me. That was my chance to prove to them that I could play and I went out there and I was able to earn the job, but needless to say it was only for seven days. Then the decision came to send me back down to learn how to play shortstop. Alfredo Griffin, who was the infield coach at the time, stepped in and said, 'No, he can learn up here with me at this level.' By him stepping up that paved the way for me to be the player I am today.

SI.com: Your career with the Angels will always be defined by the 2002 World Series you guys won and the series that you had which earned you the Babe Ruth Award. What was that season like?

Eckstein: That was a very special club. I think one of the biggest things for that team was in 2001 we were averaging about 20,000 people at the most at the stadium, but we knew we were good. We had a bunch of guys that not that many people knew of and we said, 'Hey, we can compete, we're not going to give up.' We started out that season horrible. We were 5-13 or something really bad and the club had a little meeting and we decided that we're going to go out there and play as hard as we can. We're not going to give up and we're going to fight through this and this team had a knack for never giving up. That started off with Mike Scioscia and his leadership as a manager. We just took his character and the toughness that he had when he played behind the plate and we brought that to the club.

No matter what the score was we were going to do our best and battle out there. One of the good testimonies of that was during the Yankees series, we were down 5-0 in the first game at home and we were able to battle back and beat them and go out there the next day and be relentless. It set the tone for the rest of playoffs. It was a very magical time. You had the Adam Kennedy three-home run game against the Twins and the epic seven-game series against the Giants in the World Series. That club came out of nowhere, but it showed that if a team can get on the same page and play as one anything is possible.