By Mike Trout Puts The Finishing Touches On A “Surreal” Season
September 21, 2012 – 8:45 am by Steven Cuce
Mike Trout is having a rookie season for the ages. The 21-year-old Los Angeles Angels outfielder was hitting .327 with 27 homers and 77 RBIs heading into Thursday night’s action. No.27 also has signed an endorsement deal with the beverage brand BODYARMOR SuperDrink.
As the MLB season comes to a close in the next few weeks, Trout is attempting to become the first player since Ichiro Suzuki (2001) to win the Rookie of the Year and also the league MVP award in the same season. Whatever happens down the stretch, the Angels have some talent for years to come.
Mike Trout joined WFAN in New York with Mike Francesa to discuss the inconsistent play of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, his impressions of the Oakland Athletics, his work ethic in spring training, the impact of his rookie season with the Angels and being surprised with the amount of home runs he’s hit this year.
It’s been a tough chase for the Angels to get over the top huh?
“Yeah it’s been tough. It started off a little slow, but we picked up steam a little bit and these last couple of weeks we have been winning a lot of ball games. We are just not gaining any ground because all these other teams are winning, too, and we just gotta do our jobs these last couple of weeks. Our goal is to get to the playoffs, obviously , but another job is if we do our business and win every game then it puts a lot of pressure on the other teams.”
Have the Oakland Athletics surprised you?
“Yeah. They have a lot of young guys on their team. They are just coming together and fighting. They compete and they want to win. They are out there having fun, playing aggressive baseball and just leaving everything out on the field. … We have won nine out of 10 and they came into town and just took it to us. That was a tough series for us … even if we would have split or took it to them it would have been different story right now. We gotta give them credit. They are playing good baseball.”
When you were in spring training this year what were you thinking?
“I was just trying to do what I can to help the team and I had a little rough stretch in the spring and got sick and had a little arm problem, but I got sent to Triple-A and it just made me work harder to get up here and I know what to expect up here. Just being here is pretty cool.”
Are you surprised with the impact you have made as a rookie?
“Yeah it’s been pretty cool for me. It’s been pretty fun. It’s pretty surreal actually meeting all the guys and going to the All-Star Game and just being on the field and playing every day at such a high level. I just gotta stay confident. That’s the big thing for me is staying confident and going out there. My goal is scoring runs and that is going to help the team win.”
Are you more surprised to be hitting .327 or more surprised to have 27 homers?
“The average has always been there. The homers went up this year a little bit — changing the stance a little bit. I stood up a little higher and tried to get more extension on the ball and more extension on my swing to keep that short, quick swing. I’ve been swinging at balls more and they have been going out of the park. It’s pretty cool.”
Listen to Mike Trout on 660 WFAN in New York here
Tags: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Mike Francesa, Mike Trout, MLB, MLB playoff race, Oakland Athletics, WFAN in New York
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