Friday, August 24, 2012

'Trout Fishing For Records'

Is Mike Trout the next Barry Bonds (pre-steroids)?
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout isn't just having the best statistical rookie season for a position player in Major League Baseball history; he's also on pace to have one of the best speed/power single seasons of all-time. 
Trout recently became the first player to ever have 20+ homeruns and 40+ stolen bases in his rookie season.  Quite an accomplishment when you consider some of the great young phenoms to grace the field in a pastime that has lasted over a century long and counting.  But if Trout reaches the 30 homerun mark and maintains his 1.011 OPS for the season, he will join Barry Bonds (1996) as the only players in MLB history to have 30 HRs, 40 stolen bases, and an OPS over 1.000 in a single season. 
Remarkably, Bonds had two other seasons where he came very close to achieving this feat.  In 1992 with the Pittsburgh Pirates he had 34 HRs, 39 SB, and a 1.080 OPS, and in 1997 he had 40 HRs, 37 SB, and a 1.047 OPS with the San Francisco Giants.  Only two other players have come close: Ken Williams (1922) - 39 HRs, 37 SB, 1.040 and Willie Mays (1957) - 35 HRs, 38 SB, 1.033.

2 comments:

  1. Barry Bonds was on steroids! Mike Trout is All Natural! Never compare the two again!

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    1. Never compare the two again? You're trippin, and definitely missing the point. Assuming Trout is clean, he is putting up all time numbers regardless of age. Furthermore, Bonds wasn't linked to BALCO until 1999. Like him or not, the man was a MVP and Hall of Fame calibur player long before all the steroid induced homerun numbers.

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