Good morning, I’m Tyler Lauletta, filling in one more time for your usual host, Dan Gartland, who is taking some batting cage swings in case the Mets come calling. Let’s get right to it.
In today’s SI:AM:
Mike Trout and Aaron Judge give a regular-season series to remember
The MLB season is a marathon—more so than any other sport aside from literal marathons. In a season that stretches from crisp spring through the dog days of summer before concluding with the chill of fall, teams battle across 2,430 games that can largely run into one another.
Given the marathon nature of baseball, it’s not often that a regular-season series in April between non-divisional foes cements itself as a moment to remember, but that’s just what we got from the four games played between the Angels and Yankees this week.
It didn’t take long for the fireworks to start, with both teams’ three-time American League MVPs (Aaron Judge and Mike Trout) going yard twice in the first game of the series. All four of those dingers were to either tie the game or take the lead, and the Yankees would eventually win 11–10.
Neither superstar was close to finished. Trout blasted another home run in the first inning of Game 2 of the series, putting the Angels ahead early in what would prove to be a 7–1 blowout. Judge responded with a first-inning home run of his own in Game 3, only to be matched later when Trout went yard in the fifth inning. The cycle repeated in Game 4, with Judge bashing a tater in the first and Trout providing an exclamation point on the series in the seventh with a towering 446-foot shot.
Two of the greatest hitters of the past two decades traded blows and combined for nine home runs over four games, with both going yard in three of the four outings. With his final homer of the series, Trout became the first visiting player to send a ball over the fence at Yankee Stadium on four straight days.
MLB was kind enough to upload all nine of the home runs onto YouTube in a single video. It’s six and a half minutes long, and every second is pure bliss.
Had Judge gone on such a hot streak on his own, it would have been notable but expected. He has averaged more than 52 home runs over the past four seasons, and that includes the 2023 season in which he missed nearly 60 games. With power like that, sometimes you’re going to go yard four times in three days. It’s just math.
But the magic of the series was conjured by Trout, one of the greatest players in the history of the sport and yet one who never reached a level of stardom matching his talent. There are multiple reasons why that’s the case, the biggest of which is that despite his brilliance, the Angels have never contended with him in the lineup. Baseball is not like basketball, where one golden player can revitalize a franchise top to bottom. Even when the best slugger in the world is on your team, there are eight other slots in the lineup, and they all get just as many swings.
Trout played his first full season in the majors in 2012 and was immediately dominant, finishing in the top five of AL MVP voting for the first decade of his career and leading the majors in WAR during his first five years as a pro. Despite his individual success at the plate, Trout appeared in the playoffs just once, getting swept by the Royals in three games all the way back in 2014.
After the shortened season in 2020, injuries largely derailed Trout’s career. Before last season, he had played in more than 82 games just once since the turn of the decade. But Trout is clearly feeling good again, and the results are showing.
“He's the greatest,” Judge said of Trout after the pair traded double-dinger games on Monday. “He's the greatest of all-time. It's been fun to watch his whole career. Coming up at such a young age and instantly putting yourself at the top of the list, it's special."
It’s high praise, and Trout lived up to it, going yard three straight games after Judge offered it.
We might not have gotten the great postseason moments that Trout’s career has deserved, but he is playing special baseball right now. Maybe, just maybe, his 16th year in the majors could flip the script.
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- LIV Golf is reportedly on the verge of losing its funding and possibly shutting down. Bob Harig explores what the league now faces and what may happen next.
- Henrik Stenson, a six-time PGA Tour winner, lost his Ryder Cup captaincy once he joined LIV. Harig reports that he’s not bitter and is simply moving along, starting this week at the Senior PGA Championship.
The top five…
…things I saw last night:
4. Golfer Chris Gotterup owning up to his absolute whiff in the rough. One of us!
3. WWE crowning an Oba Femi strut champion ahead of WrestleMania this weekend.
2. Carlos Ortiz hitting a bank shot off a tree to save par.
1. Jordan Mailata, Eagles offensive tackle and wedding officiant.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | A Power Surge in New York.
