i tried to look up stats for eckstein as a leadoff hitter (and failed miserably). what i found was that his average was usually a solid .280+ and his obp at least .339 (except towards the end of his career. what i was hoping to find was something that said "here's his obp as a leadoff hitter", but i couldn't find that on baseball reference.com.
what i remember as a fan was that he was pretty green when he arrived in anaheim and there were a lot of doubts about him hitting leadoff. he made it work and was a terrific table setter for us for his time here.
i don't know if he evolved as a better hitter or not as it looks like he didn't have any major league experience prior to being on the angels. in my heart, i'd like to believe that players can improve, and we know that confidence shown in them can go a long way. maybe that's what johnny g. needs, or maybe he won't ever be any better than what he is now. would it be unreasonable to give johnny g. the job as leadoff hitter next year and see how it goes? i'm not really sure he could do any worse than aybar, though that sets the bar extremely low.