With 8 straight wins the Los Angeles Angels have broken the .500 barrier, crept back toward respectability, and creating buzz around their young star Mike Trout - baseball's Rookie of the Year if the season ended right now.

SoJO has been following the progress of the South Jersey product from Millville High School, and there is no doubt that the Angels have been slowly improving since he arrived from Salt Lake City about 30 games ago.  Trout is hitting .304  with 6 Doubles, 5 Home Runs, 14 Runs Batted In and 8 Stolen Bases.  More important than his impressive numbers has been the spark he seems to have brought a club that needed it when some of their more established players were struggling.

Only in the last few weeks has the Angels seen any production from their 250 Million Dollar Man - Albert Pujols.  Suddenly the prolific home run hitter has belted 8 in his last 90 at-bats - he statrted the season with no homers in his first 110 at bats.  During this time we have seen Trout get even better and blossom into a young star worth watching.

ESPN analyst Jim Bowden has predicted big things for the soon-to-be 21-yr-old (August 7th).  His Insider story today has him predicting a Hall of Fame career for Trout.  Might be too soon to tell, but the first step has happen by helping the L.A. Angels get back to winning baseball.  The next step could reward Trout with the Rookie of the Year Award.

No player right now deserves it more than Mike Trout!  Yes we do support our home-area guy, but the numbers don't lie, the impact has been there, and the respect of his teammates have him at the top of the American League class.  Check out Trout and the Angels tonight at 10pm on ESPN when he plays against the New York Yankees.

 

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