Mike Trout sees the cavalcade of stop watches and radar guns constantly directed at him, watching his every move, his every at-bat, how he moves his feet, how he reacts to fly balls, how fast he rounds second and heads to third. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Millville (N.J.) High senior centerfielder will take a peek at it all, nod his head, and quickly refocus on what he has to do.
Mike Trout, Millville (N.J.)
Photo Courtesy of Debbie Trout
Trout, No. 50 in the
MaxPreps Baseball Report 2009 Top 100, is projected to be a first-round draft pick in the June 9 amateur draft. He’s already committed to East Carolina on a baseball scholarship, and he’s defined as a five-tool player. He’s been contacted by all 30 Major League teams and 27 team representatives have visited his Millville home. He’s being advised by Craig Landis, whose clients include Major Leaguers Aaron Rowand and Brett Myers.
It’s an anxious time, a happy time, a bittersweet time, since Trout’s Millville team lost their last meaningful game of the season in a 5-4 upset loss to Toms River on Monday in the opening round of the New Jersey state playoffs.
Trout took some time afterward to fish and let his mind escape Monday evening, because less than a month from now, Trout’s life could drastically change.
“Everything I do, I know someone is going to watch me, and to be honest, I love the pressure,” said Trout, who is hitting .500 in 18 games, with 11 homers and 30 RBIs. “It’s a good feeling knowing scouts are out there. It’s a compliment to the time and commitment I put into the game.”
Trout thinks back and recalls all of the countless hours he’s logged, working out, the long tosses, the times he peered up at a blinding sun to pick up a fly ball, when friends were sunning themselves at the beach.
It’s those times Trout recalls, which makes this time so worthwhile.
“Some days I’d think I was crazy,” Trout said, laughing. “I do things every day constantly, the same things over and over again. There is sacrifice involved. I’m lifting weights when kids my age are going fishing and hanging out. But I can’t really complain. I don’t really think about things too much. You can’t. It’s why I push myself to get better all around and continue. It is all about challenging yourself. You have to. It’s the constant challenge of the little things that you have to do to get better, a little more than you did the day before.”
Trout can look back at almost the very day his status changed. A four-year starter on the Thunderbolts, Trout was pitching in an opening-round state playoff game his sophomore year against Toms River South. He pitched well, giving up one hit over seven innings. The hit happened to be a three-run homer, but the scouts who had gathered focusing on a senior had their attention and heads suddenly diverted and paying attention to the sophomore from Millville.
“That did it, you want to look at one game, one point that transformed Mike, it was that game,” Thunderbolts coach Roy Hallenbeck said. “Mike pitched well and there were some scouts there and they saw how well he did. I know he had a very good game, enough to attract the guys who were there and I know a report was filed by the scouts who were there from Major League Baseball.”
Trout’s junior year the attention became more intense. Larger groups began coming to games, and Trout was invited to all the major camps and leagues throughout the country.
“By the end of his sophomore year, you can tell he was different,” Hallenbeck said. “He runs a 4.6 in the 40 and he’s almost 210 pounds. He’s like a bull running that fast. He’s one of thee best pitchers in the state, but we had some quality arms, so we used him in centerfield. Every home game, he had scouts come and watch him play. But the thing about him that is absolutely the best, you wouldn’t be able to pick him out right way from everyone else. Now that becomes a little different when he steps between the lines. I never saw Mike big-league someone. There is a great foundation there with Mike’s family. He is, with everything going on around him, still the same.”
Baseball is in the blood. Trout’s father, Jeff, now a history teacher at Millville, played four years as an infielder in the Minnesota Twins organization, under current Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. Jeff reached the Class AAA level. Mike’s destination could reach beyond that.
For now, Mike is counting down the days to June 9.
“I’ll be excited and nervous at the same time, hopefully everything works out great,” Trout said. “I’m going to try not to think about it too much and try to think about something else. There is nothing you can really do, but I’ll probably jump 10 feet off the couch when the phone rings that day.”
Joseph Santoliquito covers high school sports for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a frequent contributor to MaxPreps.com.
