Magic Mike

I know what you're thinking. What in the hell is a dude who bleeds Dodger blue doing writing about the Angels? I've insulted the Angels over the years, with the Mickey Mouse Club being my favorite insult, but, that's not what I'm here for right now. I'm here right now to talk about a dude that has, to be perfectly honest, amazed the fuck out of me. 

His name is Michael Nelson Trout, but we all just call him Mike. What has he done, you ask? Well, let's see. He's hit .348, 1st in the AL in batting, 1st in the AL in RBI with 81, and is 1st in the AL in steals with 31. Also, he's 2nd in the AL in slugging with a .601 average. Not bad for a rookie. In fact, I will go out on a bit of a limb, and say he's the best rookie I've seen in my lifetime. Consider this: The last players to reach 80 runs and 55 RBIs in the first 81 games of a season were Alex Rodriguez and Todd Helton in 2000. The last rookie to do it? A dude by the name of Joe DiMaggio, back in 1936. I thought he was pretty good already, but what really made me take notice of him was this catch he made against the Orioles, where he basically went all Spiderman on the wall, and climbed over to make the catch. I already knew of his hitting and base-stealing ability, but that made me, a lifelong Dodger fan, stand up out of my seat and clap. It was one of those "How the fuck did he do that?" moments in sports that comes along every so often. 

Over the past year, we've seen young players step up, and we've even come up with nicknames for them, such as Tebowmania and Linsanity. Despite the fact that Mike Trout has not gotten quite the media attention of those two nor has been given a catchy nickname, I believe he has the best future out of all of them. Dude is only 20. He doesn't even reach legal drinking age until August 7, little under a week from now. He's playing this well, and is only in his first full year? We've barely scratched the surface with him. He has unlimited potential, and who knows what he can do? First .400 hitter in 70 years? A couple of MVP awards and World Series rings? His future is limitless. So, Mike, this guy who bleeds Dodger blue gives you his respect. You've definitely earned it.