The scene was the state Class 3A prep baseball semifinals at Baseball City. Sanford Seminole had this little second baseman named David Eckstein. He was just 5-foot-4, and if a stiff wind came along he was even money to go blowing toward the backstop like a tumbleweed.

The head coach at Cardinal Newman took one look at Eckstein and waved for his outfielders to move several steps closer toward the plate. After all, how much damage could this shrimp of a kid do?

Of course, Eckstein made them pay.

``He crushed a ball, past their outfielders, and turned it into an inside-the-park homer, clean. We went on and beat Jesuit the next night for the state title,'' Seminole coach Mike Powers said.

No one should have been surprised. That kind of thing happens when you underestimate David Eckstein.

That's as true today as it was a decade ago, except now Eckstein's stage is a little larger. So is he. Eckstein has sprouted all the way to 5- 6 1/2, and he keeps coming up big for the Anaheim Angels. He's their starting shortstop and is one reason the Angels are in the American League Championship Series.

``He is just a jewel of a kid,'' said Andy Lopez, who helped turn Eckstein from a college walk-on into the first two-time academic All- American ever at the University of Florida.

``David has what everybody says you look for in a player but most of them are afraid to live with. He has the intangibles. As coaches, we say we want that, but then we recruit the 6-3 guy who looks like a player instead of the 5-8 guy who is one.''

Always A Battler

Eckstein's secret is simple: He never let anyone tell him he couldn't do something.

``There's no pouting in our family,'' his father, Whitey, said. ``I'm not trying to brag on him, but here's a kid who goes to Mass, loves animals, puts Mom and Dad first, and just does things the right way.

``It's just a mentality you have to have. I guess the biggest word for him is `competitive.' I always taught him and his brothers and sisters to compete.''

Whitey retired Wednesday after 34 years as a public school teacher, which is the same amount of time he has been married to Patricia. She also is a teacher.

Four of their five children finished in the top 10 of their high school graduating classes; David was one of the four. His brother and one sister are lawyers. David probably will go to law school and join them when he is finished as a player.

Just the perfect small-town family.

``We're Ozzie and Harriet,'' Whitey said.

In case you doubt that, the boys in the family are named Ricky and David.

There wasn't much doubt David was going to be a baseball player. That's all he ever wanted to do. Whitey remembers when David, about 4 years old at the time, marched into the living room in Sanford and recited the entire 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates starting lineup from memory. He didn't play other sports.

It was always baseball.

``If you want to be decent today in this society, you can't spread yourself too thin,'' Whitey said. ``You have to concentrate on something.''

David concentrated on getting the most out of a body that most coaches would overlook. He learned to make contact, to take the extra base, to make all the routine plays in the field, and to always be in the right position.

He couldn't grow to be as large as Barry Bonds, but he could bust full-out down the first-base line on every ground ball.

``He applies everything he learns, every day,'' Lopez said. ``When I took the job at Florida, I was told I would need a second baseman, that all I had was this walk-on kid. But after watching him for three weeks, I knew I didn't need anything.''

Got His Break

After David helped Florida to the College World Series, Boston took him in the 19th round of the 1997 draft. The Red Sox gave him a $1,000 signing bonus and sized him up as someone who would help their minor-league clubs for four or five years until they released him. That's just what happened, too.

The Red Sox waived Eckstein in August 2000, and Anaheim quickly claimed him for the $20,000 fee. He hit .285 as a rookie last season, but what he really excels at is being a pest. He was hit by pitches 27 times this year, the most in the majors. He ranked third in the American League in infield hits and stole 21 bases.

Somehow, he also hit three grand slams.

All the while, he makes the plays at shortstop, even with the funky throwing motion he uses because his fingers are too small to use the regular two-finger grip.

Fame hasn't changed him. He still drives the old Nissan he had back in Sanford. Last year, as a rookie with the Angels, he stayed in the house of a family friend during the season. Now he has his own apartment, but it's not a swinger's pad.

``I'll bet it doesn't even have furniture,'' Powers said.

What it does have is an occupant who wasn't listening the day people said he couldn't do something. He keeps proving them wrong, as he did to that Cardinal Newman coach. It took a while, but people finally figured out his heart is 10 feet tall. The rest of it doesn't matter.