ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The biography has him listed at 5-8 and 170 pounds, which seems high by about two inches and heavy by about 20 pounds. Even his boyish looks and tender smile are deceiving, making David Eckstein, 27, appear about six years younger.

To see the Angels' leadoff hitter in action, however, it is obvious he belongs in a baseball uniform. He is scrappy and persistent, equal parts determination and skill.

"First of all, just being in the leadoff spot with the way he is and his attitude, he sets the tone for us," Angels closer Troy Percival said of Eckstein. "He is our spark plug.

"He gets out there and gets things started. When you have him and (Darin) Erstad at the top of the lineup, you can't ask for two better guys that are more willing to give themselves up to get things going for the team."

The San Francisco Giants have definitely taken notice.

Although Troy Glaus is the Angels' biggest power threat and Tim Salmon has had Anaheim's clutch hits in the World Series, Eckstein is a major reason the Series is tied at one game apiece.

And after handling the opposing leadoff hitters with relative ease in the first two playoff series, the Giants know a key to the World Series may lie with keeping Eckstein off base.

"He's the engine," Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti said. "That guy gets their offense started."

While beating Atlanta in five games in the Division Series, Giants pitchers held Braves leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal to a 6-for-24 performance at the plate with a .250 on-base percentage.

Cardinals leadoff hitter Fernando Viņa, who terrorized the defending World Series champion Diamondbacks in the Division Series, couldn't do much against the Giants in the NL Championship Series.

Viņa went 6-for-23 (.261) in the NLCS, limiting his chances to steal and wreak havoc on the basepaths.

The Giants did a good job on Eckstein in Game 1, winning 4-3 after allowing him to reach base just once. Sunday was a completely different story as Eckstein went 3-for-5 and scored three runs to help the Angels win 11-10.

Only Salmon and San Francisco's Barry Bonds scored as many runs as Eckstein in the slugfest. Not surprisingly, Eckstein's performance was lost amid Salmon's power display and Francisco Rodriguez's amazing pitching.

Eckstein, whose three hits were second only to Salmon's four in Game 2, doesn't worry much about notoriety. Because of his stature, he is accustomed to being overlooked.

Coming out of high school, the Sanford, Fla., native, couldn't even earn a scholarship at the University of Florida. He walked on and eventually played a major role for the 1996 Gators team that reached the semifinals of the College World Series.

He began his professional career with the Red Sox organization, hitting over .300 in each of his first three minor-league seasons. He struggled with a .246 average over 119 games in 2000, his fourth minor-league season and first at Class AAA Pawtucket.

At that point, the Red Sox gave up on Eckstein and put him on waivers. The Angels claimed him on Aug. 16, 2000.

"I'm just happy that in this game it doesn't matter how tall you are if you get the opportunity," he said. "I'm just fortunate that the Angels gave me this opportunity."

Eckstein has rewarded the Angels royally. He hit .346 in 15 games at Class AAA Edmonton to finish the 2000 season and earn a true shot heading to spring training the next year.

In 2001, he set a single-season record for rookies by getting hit by a pitch 21 times, surpassing by one the mark Hall of Famer Frank Robinson set in 1956. Eckstein finished second to Ichiro Suzuki among American League rookies with a .285 average, 82 runs and 166 hits.

He lifted his average to .293 this season, totaling 107 runs, 22 doubles, six triples, eight home runs and 63 RBIs. He hit .282 (11-for-39) with three runs in the first two postseason series. After two games, he is hitting .400 (4-for-10) with three runs in the World Series.

Nonetheless, the majority of the questions he has received during the World Series have been about his stature.

"I get questions pretty much like, `How many times have you been told you can't make it?' " he said. "That's been pretty much the most asked question out there."

Teammates still tease Eckstein about his height, but hardly anybody is laughing anymore.

"He might have heard it a little bit last year," Percival said. "But this year we find other things to rag him about. You know what? He plays a lot bigger than he is. His heart is so big."