ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Miguel Tejada is a special athlete having a special season.

But the A's shortstop didn't hesitate to recognize another special player when given the chance.

Tejada, a leading candidate for the American League Most Valuable Player award, said he is a big fan of Angels shortstop David Eckstein.

"He's a guy who nobody mentions in the group of great shortstops, but they should," Tejada said.

Tejada was referring to the five shortstops in the AL widely regarded as filling the best pool of talent at the position in history: Tejada, Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers, Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox, and Omar Vizquel of the Cleveland Indians.

Tejada is batting .314 with 31 home runs and 117 RBIs and helped carry the A's through a recent AL-record 20-game winning streak.

Rodriguez has 53 home runs this year, an all-time single-season record for a shortstop.

Jeter has four World Series rings in his first six years in the big leagues.

Garciaparra is in the top 10 in the AL in batting average, RBIs, hits, total bases, doubles and extra-base hits.

Vizquel is considered the best fielder at his position in the Majors.

Eckstein, meanwhile, is hitting .304 with 8 homers, 59 RBIs, 101 runs scored and 20 stolen bases as the Angels' leadoff man and spark plug. Not too shabby, according to Tejada.

"He can do it all," Tejada said. "Steal bases, hit, run, field, and he hits grand slams like nobody does."

Amazingly, Tejada is correct on his last point. Eckstein, who is listed at 5-foot-8 but really stands about 5-foot-6 1/2, has three grand slams this year, the most in the Majors.

He also leads the Majors in another category: Eckstein has been hit by a pitch 26 times.

"He makes the game different when he goes to the plate," Tejada said. "He gets hits, he runs the bases hard. He's one of the best leadoff men in the Major Leagues right now, for me."