By Josh:
All morning long I have been scratching my head that today is Mike Trout’s birthday. Okay not just because it is his birthday, but because it is only his 23rd birthday. The best player in all of baseball, the biggest and brightest star in the game, and the face of MLB now that Mr. Jeter is retiring, is just now 23 years old.
This just blows my mind.
Now I’ve seen Ken Griffey Jr., when he was still just a kid, Alex Rodriguez (yes I know he used steriods) when he was first up with the Mariners, and I’ve seen countless other young talent play against the Mariners over the years but no one compares to what Trout has done already in his career.
Angels” Mike Trout makes a leaping catch to rob Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy of a home run.
This is only his third complete season in the major leagues and listen to his awards and stats. MVP voting 2 second place finishes (probably wins this year), AL Rookie of the Year, 2 time Silver Slugger (going to get his third this year), 3 time all-star, 1 all-star MVP, led the AL in runs scored each of his first two seasons (currently 2nd this year), led the AL in stolen bases his rookie seaon with 49, career batting average of .311, he has 87 homeruns, and 527 hits already.
All of that and it doesn’t even consider the fact that he is a pretty solid defender who has made some of the most amazing catches over the past 2 and a half seasons.
If he keeps doing what he is doing he could be considered a first ballot hall of fame candidate if he were to just up and retire at even the age of 30. He is that good, that talented and baseball fans you better take time to sit back and enjoy this.
He is the best player in the game of baseball and the discussion of him being the next Mickey Mantle are slowly quieting down because Mike Trout might be even better then Mantle. Trout still has a long ways to go, but look at what he has done and realize this type of talent only comes along once every 50 years.