From Millville to 1,200

25th Pick

Mike Trout was born August 7, 1991, in Vineland, New Jersey, and grew up in Millville, where his father Jeff played four years in the Minnesota Twins minor league system and coached baseball at Millville Senior High School. As a freshman, Mike made varsity at second base and threw wildly under the pressure of his father's local legend — until coaches stepped back and asked a team captain to mentor him quietly. He settled, and thrived.

On March 28, 2026, Trout crossed 1,200 runs scored in his sixteenth major league season. The Angels took him 25th overall in 2009 with a compensation pick. He set a New Jersey record with 18 home runs as a senior, signed for $1.215 million, and passed on East Carolina University. Angels scout Greg Morhardt, a former minor league teammate of Jeff's, had pushed hard to draft him after rating him the fastest and strongest 17-year-old he had seen. The debut came July 8, 2011.

The Line

He won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2012. Three MVP awards followed — 2014, 2016, 2019 — along with two Hank Aaron Awards, nine Silver Sluggers, and twelve All-Star selections. The career line reads .291/.406/.565 — a .971 OPS — with 422 home runs, 222 stolen bases, and 1,057 runs driven in across 1,732 games. He has played every one of them for the Angels.

What He Carries

There is a habit underneath the stat line. Trout stuffs his pockets with grass, dirt, and wrappers during games — a quirk that messes up the laundry and that teammates tease him about. It traces to his father, who collected stadium dirt while courting Mike's mother and told her he would give her the world one day.

Through 84 games this season, 18 home runs. He is 34 years old and still an outfielder.

Reporting: ESPN, MLB.com, Wikipedia, The Springfield Student. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.