Sit Back and Enjoy the Show as New Jersey Native Mike Trout Continues to Shine

Mike Trout (Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports)

When someone new wants to learn about Major League Baseball it is easy to teach them. Well there is Ruth, Aaron, Mays and Gehrig. Koufax, Bench, Cobb and Williams. DiMaggio, Mantle and Robinson. Then there’s Griffey and Ripken. Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux and Johnson. Then of course, Rivera and Jeter.

But that’s the past, those legends will live on in Cooperstown if they are not already there. And then there is a 24-year old phenom roaming the outfield in Los Angeles. Mike Trout is the Los Angeles Angels centerfielder, and the New Jersey native is known by many as the “face of baseball.”

Trout, who turned 24 on Friday has already been compared to a number of Hall of Famers. The reigning American League Most Valuable Player is coming off one of his best months in a 3 year career. In the month of July Trout was well Trout hitting .367 with a career high 12 home runs.

In his young career, Trout has homered an outstanding 131 career homers, which ranks fourth All-Time among players before 24. Ahead of Trout are stars Eddie Mathews, Mel Ott, Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Robinson.

Included in those 131 homers are three on August 7^th, Trout’s birthday as he has become the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs before his 25^th birthday.

Trout, is currently leading the majors in homeruns with 33 and is on pace to win another Most Valuable Player award.

So how does Trout stack up against other Major League greats? Well according to Baseball Reference, before age 24 Trout has more hits, 689, than eight of the top 10 hit leaders of all-time including Derek Jeter, Carl Yastrzemski and number one Pete Rose. He only trails Hank Aaron (718), and Ty Cobb (959).

In Trout’s first year in the big leagues he was named the American League Rookie of the Year, hitting .326 with 30 homers and knocking in 83 runs in 2012. In 2013 Trout hit .323 with 27 homers and 97 RBI. Trout lost in the MVP voting in 2013 to Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera who led the league in home runs, batting average and runs batted in.

Trout came back in 2014 and hit a solid .287 with 36 homeruns and 111 runs batted in, and was voted the American League Most Valuable Player. Trout became the fifth youngest MVP winner and the 10^th MVP ever to be unanimously picked.

Along with the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, Trout has made four consecutive All-Star teams, won three Silver Slugger Awards as well as the All-Star Game MVP for both the 2014 and 2015 Midsummer Classic.

However, the most impressive of Trout’s statistics is that he is only the second player in the history of the MLB to collect 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases before turning 24. The only other player to do it was Alex Rodriguez.

The Jersey native is also just one of five players in the history of the MLB to have three 30-HR seasons before the age of 24, joining Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Matthews, Frank Robinson and his teammate, Albert Pujols.

Bottom line is if the new face of baseball continues to produce, MVPs, records and even Cooperstown could be in his future. Not too bad for a kid out Millville High School in southern New Jersey.