If Your Birthday is August 7th...


...you share it with Mike Trout.  The athletically gifted New Jersey native arrived in the majors just two years after being drafted by the Angels.  Quickly emerging as that rare combination of speed, power and defensive prowess, he's led the American League four times in both OPS and runs scored, while earning four MVP awards as well as the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year.  Unfortunately, he’s been victimized by a badly run franchise that has yet to win a playoff series during his career and was unable to compete even while Trout and fellow superstar Shohei Ohtani were teammates. 

Already a lock for Cooperstown, his only obstacle has been injuries.  Trout hasn't played in more than 130 games in any full season this decade.

Don Larsen is the classic example of an ordinary ballplayer authoring one extraordinary moment.  His perfect game in game five of the 1956 World Series remains a unicorn -- no one has matched the sheer dominance in any post-season outing.  And yet it was thrown by a pitcher with a losing record (81-91) over his career, as he bounced through seven clubs, held back, as he later admitted, by a serious drinking problem.
His special place in history may not have earned a spot in Cooperstown, but the Yankees, always conscious and proud of their history, invited him back to many Old Timers Day celebrations -- especially when he could be joined by David Wells and David Cone -- the only other two pitchers to throw complete games at Yankee Stadium.


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