The 21-year-old Millville High School graduate and center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has MLB scouts wondering 'How the hell did we miss this guy?'
Millville High School graduate Mike Trout was drafted with the 25th overall pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Before the 2010 season, Trout was considered the Angels' third best prospect and 85th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America’s rankings.
Oops.
As things have panned out, Trout is not only playing like no other rookie in MLB history, he’s putting most Major League veterans to shame. According to MLB.com, as of Thursday, Aug. 23, Trout became — at 21 years, 16 days — the youngest player since at least 1901 to record 40 steals and 20 homers in a single season.
The center fielder also leads the American League with a .345 average and 99 runs scored, and leads all rookies this season with 24 homers, 72 RBIs and 45 walks. In a recent three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, Trout had six hits, three runs and two steals.
If he continues to maintain his batting average, he'll become the first player in Major League history to hit at least .340 with 20 homers and 40 steals.
Trout graced the latest cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. The cover headline on Tom Verducci’s nine-page spread on Trout says “The Supernatural; How Can Mike Trout Be So Good So Young?”
The inside story says “Kid Dynamite: Angels teammates, dazzled fans and shell-shocked pitchers already wonder where Mike Trout, all of 21, belongs in the discussion of the game’s all-time greats. Front offices in baseball post a more vexing question: How the hell did we miss this guy?”
The Atlantic City region hosted Aretha Franklin, Nicki Hilton and Mike Trout, plus more!
Here, in no particular order are 11 AC Weekly feature stories we are proud of from 2011.
“He told me about what I was going to have to go through. [He said] that it’s going to be a grind everyday and to just go out there and even if you’re not healthy … you just have to play through it and someday it’s all going to pay off.”
See all of Atlantic City Weekly's custom-made baseball cards here. Just click each player icon to go to that player's card. Print out the fronts and backs for a full set.
“It freaked me out. I don’t really know exactly what happened next, but I dug down deep and decided that I’m either going to stop baseball and get a job, or I have to do something here. My last few games, I took the ball and threw it as hard as I possibly could.”
As a young child, Shawn Sanford thought his father, Jimmy Sanford, was an actual superhero.
Outfielder Mike Trout, a 2009 Millville Senior High School graduate who was promoted to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from Double-A last week, had a somewhat rough start to his Major League Baseball (MLB) career this past weekend.
Widely considered the top prospect in baseball, Trout was selected 25th overall by the Angels in the 2009 MLB Draft. Since then, the local product has been tearing up the minor leagues, which led to his promotion.
The ultimate goal of the draft was to put together a Top-30 list of who would be the best players to start a baseball team with, if the baseball experts in the draft had to build their franchise around one single player. Trout was the 12pick overall.
Article:
Fight Night at Boardwalk Hall
Article:
Stacy Lewis Eager to Defend Her ShopRite LPGA Title
Article:
April Fools Half Marathon, 11K & 7K Races April 6-7 at Revel
Article:
CRDA Approves Skate Park for Atlantic City
Article:
The Problem Is Back
Article:
Phillies Will Be Rockin' the WZXL Airwaves
Article:
Super Bowl Watchin’ Spots
Article:
A.C. Marathon Series Joins ‘Restore the Shore’ Crusade
1. Anonymous said... on Aug 24, 2012 at 02:17PM
“Love the baseball card!”