The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #15 Mike Trout

Swimming in at #15 is Angels Outfielder Mike Trout. Trout is smack dab in the middle of his prime so his career numbers are TBD, but what he was able to accomplish by the age of 29 is unrivaled in baseball history.  Trout holds the record with nine consecutive seasons in the top-5 of the MVP voting. He’s the only player in history with three MVPs and two all-star game MVPs. He’s also tied for 2nd with seven top-2 finishes in MVP voting (Musial and Pujols). Trout is tied for 5th all-time in OPS+, 8th in OPS, 9th in slugging %, and he has the 2nd highest OPS+ since 1960. Trout’s worst season in terms of OPS+ in which he had at least 250 plate appearances is 169. For perspective, that is better than Ty Cobb’s career OPS+ and would be the 10th best career mark in history. In just eight non-COVID seasons as an everyday player, Trout has led the league in OPS+ six times, runs and on-base percentage four times, and slugging percentage and walks three times.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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