"A lot of teams shied away because I was an East Coast kid and didn't play a lot," he says. Two teams, Washington and Arizona, let him slip by twice. He was selected straight out of high school by the Angels in the 2009 draft with the 25th pick, which means 21 other teams chose someone else.
Mike trout professional#
While he had blazing-fast speed as a teenager, he largely flew under the radar for professional scouts.
Trout grew up in the small southern New Jersey town of Millville - far from the US baseball hotbeds of California, Texas and Florida, where warm weather means baseball can be a year-round activity. He talks about how, as a boy, he played baseball, basketball, football, golf - anything with a ball. He walks into the dugout at the Anaheim Angels stadium wearing a warm-up jersey and backward cap, and fidgets slightly as the camera starts rolling. He comes across as a small-town high-school kid who just happens to be in the 27-year-old body of a world-class athlete. It turns out he's happy to chat, he just doesn't sound like a typical big-ego multimillionaire sports star. Prior to Trout's interview with BBC Sport, we're told he isn't much of a talker and to be prepared for short answers. That seems to be just the way he wants it. He's a baseball great, appearing in his eighth-consecutive All-Star game on Tuesday (Wednesday 00:30 BST), but not a sport celebrity. Yet he could walk down an average street in the US unrecognised. His name will be mentioned in the pantheon of baseball legends, alongside the likes of Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Ty Cobb. He is the best player in baseball right now and, arguably, on track to rank among the best players in the 150-year history of the game.
What's more, given his performance on the field over his nine-year career, Trout is probably worth every penny - and then some. While some basketball players, like the aforementioned James, make a bit more per year, Trout, 27, will be earning $35m (£27.9m) annual paycheques - guaranteed, unlike other sports - long after 34-year-old 'King James' exits the basketball scene. Trout was selected straight out of high school by the Angels in 2009
Or one of the numerous sluggers on the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs or World Series-winning Boston Red Sox.Īllow me to introduce Mike Trout, starting centrefielder for the Los Angeles Angels who, after signing a 12-year, $426.5m (£340.5m) contract extension in April, tops the North American sport salary list. Or Clayton Kershaw, the golden-armed pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. So maybe it's a baseball star, like the demonstrative Bryce Harper, who recently signed a huge free-agent deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Or perhaps you're familiar enough with US sport to know that the NFL and NBA have salary caps and shorter contract lengths, limiting their players' on-the-books earning potential.
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