The best player on the Padres is Adrian Gonzalez.

The best pitcher, Mat Latos.

David Eckstein is the heart of the team.

^{Photo by mlbpressbox.com}

But the heart of the team, if you poll the players in the clubhouse, is second baseman David Eckstein.

Eckstein knows how to win.

He owns two World Series rings and one World Series MVP award.

The 35-year-old has spent 10 years in the major leagues due to a relentless work ethic, be it on the field, or recently, on the disabled list. While rehabbing from a calf injury,Eckstein earned the nickname "Eddie Haskell," a reference to that pesky character from the classic Leave it to Beaver sitcom.

"When I was on the DL, I was a little bit of a pest," Eckstein admits. "Our strength coach, Jim Malone, changed my name to that so yeah, that's my new name from him."

Malone went so far as to put athletic tape over Eckstein's nameplate in the Padres clubhouse and write "Eddie Haskell." Asked why the name remained on his locker, even after Eckstein came off the disabled list, Eckstein replied, "I can't reach it."

Listed generously at 5-feet, 7-inches, Eckstein often looks like he stole his big brother's uniform and ran onto the field to play. As the youngest of five children, he probably did at one time.

Ken Osmond played Eddie Haskell.

^{Courtesy photo}

This season, Eckstein has a .277 batting average and seven stolen bases, his highest totals in those categories since 2007. His ability to come up with clutch hits, make plays in the field and recently, hit lead-off for the Padres, has drawn the admiration of his teammates.

"It's definitely good to get him back," says Padres third baseman Chase Headley. "He brings a lot of energy, brings a lot of confidence. You kind of feed off the way he plays, the way he goes about his business. Obviously he has come up with some tremendous hits and been a part of a lot of big-time rallies for us. But more than anything, it's the consistency and everyday professionalism that you get from him on the field that we missed the most."

Eckstein plays with heart, so much so, that he wrote a book about it after winning the World Series and MVP award with the St. Louis Cardinals. Have Heart is a first-person account of overcoming adversity.

Eckstein says his parents told him to always give 100 percent and never complain, qualities that have made several of his teammates refer to him as the heart of the Padres.

"It's definitely an honor," Eckstein said. "This club is a very good club. The way I go about my business is that I go out there and play hard every day and give them everything I have and for them to make that reference, I definitely take that as a huge compliment."

Eckstein also knows a great deal about a pennant race, something many of his Padres' teammates are experiencing for the first time this fall. He says that once you've been in one, there is not much of a secret on how to prevail at the end of the season.

"The biggest thing is showing up and taking it one game at a time and focus on that one game," Eckstein says. "Not getting ahead of yourself, not thinking that you have already clinched. It's playing and staying in the monent. I think I had the ability to do that in Anaheim and in St. Louis now I feel that about this club also."