Pay Attention! We are Watching Greatness….
Do we realize that Mike Trout is the best baseball player in the modern era? Maybe of all time?
I tried to think back to a player that had all the greatness that Mike Trout currently embodies? After all, I have been watching baseball since 1977 and have witnessed wonderful players such as Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera to name a few. Then it came to me; George Brett. George Brett reminds me of the greatness of Mike Trout.
There are few players (other than Barry Bonds) that you feared so greatly to watch hit against your team. Eddie Murray and even Ken Singleton along with the great Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. struck fear when they entered the batters box against my beloved Yankees. However, Brett was so much better because he could hurt you in three deadly ways; a walk, a double and the home run. Like Trout and especially Barry Bonds, you were happy to see a walk or a straight single hopefully with no one on base.
California Dreamin’
The Angels selected Trout in the first round of the 2009 M.L.B. draft. He made a brief major league appearance in 2011 before becoming a regular player for the Angels the subsequent season, and won the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year Award.
Trout has led the American League in runs (2012–14, 2016) and times on base (2013, 2015–16, 2018) four times. As of 2018, he led all active major league ballplayers in career slugging percentage (.573), on base plus slugging (.990), and stolen base percentage (84.75%), and was second in career on base percentage (.416).[6][7] In 2019, he signed a 12-year, $426 million contract with the Angels, the richest contract in North American sports. Bryce Harper signed a similar contract falling short to Trouts record. Harper he signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Big Fish
Trout has been no stranger to awards and All Star appearances and has had a full career for most at the young age of 27 turning 28 in August of 2019.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
7× All-Star (2012–2018)-2× AL MVP (2014, 2016)-AL Rookie of the Year (2012)-6× Silver Slugger Award (2012–2016, 2018)-AL Hank Aaron Award (2014)-5× AL Player of the Month-4× AL Rookie of the Month (2012)-4× AL Player of the Week-AL RBI leader (2014)-AL stolen base leader (2012)-30–30 club (2012)-Hit for the cycle on May 21, 2013
Who’s Watching?
Trout is destined for the Hall of fame when he decides to retire in a decade or so. However, the East Coast is in bed by the time the “left coast” is just getting started. MLB has done the best job they could to expose Trout and all West Coast Games but they cannot force the other half of the United States to stay up and watch.
“I love coming to the ballpark,” he said. “You can ask my buddies. I’m always almost the first one here every day.”
What is known about Trout is that he’s from a small town in New Jersey, an amateur meteorologist and a fan of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. And he likes playing for the Angels.
“Spending your whole career with one team, I think is pretty cool,” Trout has stated.
Trout will play for the only team he has known until he is 40 years old after the Angels added 10 years at $36 million per year to the two years left on his current deal. He has $430 million guaranteed coming on top of the $78 million he’s already earned — which catapults him past Alex Rodriguez ($441 million) as baseball’s career earnings champion and its first half-a-billion-dollar man ($508 million). That’s all good news for Trout, the Angels and baseball fans, because one-team iconic players are an important part of the game’s history. God knows we need baseball in our lives for eternity and beyond. We just need to remind ourselves that Trout is quietly displaying the highest level of talent but in the wee hours of the night while the East Coast sleeps.
