Mike Trout Stopped at 7 Games Straight - Enters Top 100

    Mike Trout is special. He may be the best of all time. Give him another ten years and he may have the numbers to prove it. He has had a bad year in a few senses, the season almost over halfway through September. One, as he would readily declare, his team is a bust in 2022. Again. They have not been able to win, even with the amazing Shohei Ohtani, the incredible pitcher and hitter. Not enough hitting or pitching to make the playoffs. This negative result after spending a lot of money on talent for many years. So as a team player, things are bad.

    Second, he got hurt this season and has missed a lot of games. His presence in the lineup would have made the difference in a few more wins for this Anaheim-based club, but likely not enough to get them even to .500. So, his overall normal, superior numbers are down as an individual player. 

    On to the bright side. Upstaging himself and past feats, which is hard to do, he went on a home run tear upon returning from the Injured List, and hit homers in seven consecutive games, which is one game from the all-time list, tied three ways at eight. He came up short tonight. 

    During this streak he achieved becoming one of the top 100 home runs hitters of all time, tied with two others at 344 total long balls, the other two having played 15 and 16 years in the majors. Trout has now played 12 total seasons, to include the pandemic 60 game season in 2020, and having suffered a few other injuries over the years. The dude is amazing. He usually hits over .300. This year he is in the .280s, but he may raise it into the .290s by October, his season's end.

    On the alarming side, he does have a back condition that might be unfixable, but he claims that it is not threatening his career or performance. Most of us hope that he is right.

    He is a special talent. 

    We salute Mike Trout in his latest exploit. Seven games in a row. Wow.

    Only four players are ahead of him on the all-time home run list: one is still young, Giancarlo Stanton, while the other three are aged and almost done. Albert Pujols now has 697 and will retire in a couple of weeks. Nelson Cruz is 42 and almost done. Miguel Cabrera is in his late 30s. Trout is poised to be the man. If only his team could become a winner. He would have everything.    

        The best of south Jersey, perhaps the best of all time.

    Here's to Mighty Mike. A former coworker new him as a kid, and his family would babysit him. Did they know he might be the next Babe, Willie Mays, Hammering Hank, or Barry Bonds? You never know who these little ones will become. We will wait and see.