By Ellen Bell, AngelsWin.com Staff Reporter –
OK, at this point in history, everyone is going to wish that they were there.
July 8, 2011. Angels vs. Mariners. Friday night fireworks.
I thought it was just another ballgame; a mid-summer evening watching the Angels take the field. I had no idea I was witnessing a moment of baseball history.
For some reason, I had a feeling that this night was special. The Angels had just called up a kid from the minors. His name was Mike Trout. He was 19 years old.
His age caught my attention even if his name didn’t.
19 years old.
The same age age as my oldest child. A kid the same age as my son would be playing for the Angels that night.
This got my attention. So I wrote about it.
Three years later, I watched him collect the MVP trophy from the 2014 All-Star Game. Mike Trout has become a legend in the making, a Hall of Fame candidate for the future.
I love how life works; how we never know what we are witnessing in the moment or know the impact of what’s to come.
I am so glad I was there on that Friday evening in July. I’m so glad I saw the beginning of things.
And I’m really glad I took the time to write about it.
From The Orange County Register: Afternoon Angel Blog
“Hey 19”
19. A pivotal age. A “jumping off” point in life. A time when you’re young enough to dream big dreams and old enough to believe that they are about to come true.
I spent the weekend watching 19 year-old Mike Trout live out his childhood dreams as he took his place in center field.
Where were you when you were 19?
Finishing your first year in college? Living in your first apartment? Starting your first full-time job?
I spent the summer of my nineteenth year traveling around central Illinois, singing in smoky biker bars, believing that I was going to be the next Pat Benatar. Even though my parents still paid my bills, I felt independent and strong and on the brink of something big. I lived in the moment and never considered a time, way out in the future, when I’d do most of my singing in the shower and have a 19 year old son of my own.
At 19, anything is possible. You’re still young enough to believe that you can be President, or a rock star, or a major league baseball player.
Maybe that’s what made Trout’s debut so special to witness. Most Angels fans, who have lived long past the age of 19, can remember back to that time full of potential and promise. This weekend, as we saw him catch his first fly ball and hustle out a bunt for his first major league hit, we knew the importance of what we were witnessing.
Mike Trout’s first trip to the major league level may be a short one: Just until Peter Bourjous, an old-man veteran of 24, recovers from a hamstring tear. It certainly won’t be his last. After all, he’s only 19.
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