Comments on: Ron Washington on Mike Trout: “He’s not Willie Mays”

By: jon623

jon623 — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:36:10 +0000

I’m with ya. I’m a Mariners fan and love Ichiro (will miss him), but I still think the ROY thing is a little bogus when a guy has played for years in a different country. Ichiro is an incredible athlete and deserving of many titles, but the ROY system is a little flawed.

By: Kevin Gillman

Kevin Gillman — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:24:05 +0000

I have to admit, both Trout and Harper have handled this pressure with such maturity and class. They just both go out, and play baseball. Strasburg too, I remember when Feller said that comment about him right before Steven pitched against my Indians. You’re right, MLB is in good hands. When I started watching baseball, it was in the 1980s and I was a Braves fan, because of Superstation TBS, plus my Grandparents at the time lived in North Carolina, and they became Braves fans, like I did. They had a player back in 1985, 1986 named Bob Horner, who went from being drafted, straight to the Majors. Steven only pitched in the Minors for, what, 3 months? I can’t ever imagine the pressure these kids have gone through to become the players they are. Thinking back when I was 20, I don’t think I could have handled it like they did. So yeah, let’s sit back and just watch.

By: jon623

jon623 — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:19:14 +0000

What a sad state of affairs it is when someone claiming to love the game of baseball is too blinded by “team loyalty” to appreciate and love tremdous athleticism and talent, no matter what jersey that player is wearing.

By: jon623

jon623 — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:16:47 +0000

Willie Mays was Willie Mays, and that’s all there was to it.

By: jon623

jon623 — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:16:01 +0000

Completely and entirely agree with you! I left a similar comment the other night in an article about Bryce Harper coming back from his ankle injury that’s comments started spinning out of control, ranting and raving about either Harper or Trout. These kids are INCREDIBLE athletes, and the MLB is in great hands going forward with these two and other young talent… but they are still kids. Exactly as you were saying, lets just sit back and enjoy watching these kids love the game and see how they do after 3-5 years. I’m pumped to see what Trout and Harper do going forward, but I feel bad for the pressure being put on them by the media. If you were a young and talented baseball player, how would you feel being compared to and expected to play on the level of one of the all time greats in Willie Mays? What a brutal spotlight that would be.

Lets enjoy watching them grow, fellas. It’s going to be one hell of a ride.

By: yahmule

yahmule — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 21:31:21 +0000

It’s natural and normal for people to make comparisons about all kinds of things. It will be up to Trout to maintain the proper perspective and I believe he’s quite capable of doing that. I have made the Angels my default choice on Extra Innings just so I can watch this phenom as often as possible. My girlfriend and I drove from Vegas to Anaheim to see him play in person last Friday. Our reward was watching him smash his 15th home run of the season in a 6-1 win over Texas. I would encourage all baseball fans to watch him play whenever possible. You won’t be disappointed.

By: notsofast10

notsofast10 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:50:09 +0000

Well Mr Washington seems to like to just spew things to make himself look good. While watching the game last night, ESPN interviewed him in the middle innings and when he was asked about Trout, who tripled in the first inning, he replied that Harrison left one up in the zone and that Trout took advantage of his mistake. That’s fine except Harrison threw Trout a Change Up that was about 8 inches off the ground on the outer part of the plate. Just another case of him making up Sh*t even when he does not know what he is talking about.

By: bigharold

bigharold — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:34:39 +0000

Actually, I think Washington’s comments are accurate. You gotta wonder if he wasn’t the manager of the Angel’s chief AL West rival would they be considered even noteworthy. Moreover, what is implied here too is that this type of comparison is not only a waste of time but could actually be detrimental to Trout in the long run.

Exactly how does all the hype make him a better player? If anything it adds pressure that works against him. He might well start thinking about how great he’s suppose to be or who he’s suppose to be better than rather then just being the best he can be and honing his skills. Not to mention that as soon as people get a little tired of the hype, the hype machine starts working against him. As baseball fans we have been know to take perverse pleasure in tearing down the guys we at first build. Case in point, Joba Chamberlain.

Let the guy play a few seasons then “early” indications of his potential can be evaluated with anything resembling intelligence. He’s off to a great start but I think he should play more than about a half a season before he’s compared to HOFers.

By: riverace19

riverace19 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:33:28 +0000

It’s hard to think of anyone else for AL MVP… .350+, 31 SB out of 34 attempts, 15 HR, and 70 runs scored in 74 games, OPS over 1.000
Fred Lynn won ROY and MVP in 1975…
Trout will join his elite company.

Many will say Ichiro won both in 2001 and yes he did. I can’t justify giving ROY to a player that played 8-9 seasons in Japan however, so in my mind Fred Lynn is the only one to do it so far.

By: pkswally024

pkswally024 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:30:02 +0000

Mike makes Cumberland County proud! Go Phills!

By: jarathen

jarathen — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:07:55 +0000

Trout’s arm is his one weakness, actually. he’s not Johnny Damon out there, but he doesn’t have a rocket, either.

By: jengibre23

jengibre23 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:39:40 +0000

Mike Trout for MVP. I watch this kid everyday and I have never seen a more exciting player to watch in the AL since probably ichiro in te early 2000s. He not only has great stats but he can be the only player EVER with a .340 BA 20 HR and 40 Steals at the end of a season. Also he revived a team that was going nowhere and made everybody play better with his overall ability and energy. If he doesn’t win the MVP it will be just like Matt Kemp last season.

By: papacrick

papacrick — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:31:33 +0000

Sorry Miguel Cabrera is the best player in baseball. He does it every year and plays every game. This kid sucked when he first came up and he’s been great for three months. This is dumber then the Josh Hamilton loveliest earlier this year. ESPN jumped off the AL East bandwagon and now it’s just players from the AL West. They’re too blind to notice that Miggy is now once again the only player to have a shot at the triple crown

By: ptfu

ptfu — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:12:57 +0000

That wasn’t the whole Ron Washington quote. What he actually said about Trout: “He’s not Willie Mays HAYES” and on that we can all agree

By: paperlions

paperlions — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:05:41 +0000

When has the media not said “such and such is the next so and so?” The media has always done that….the next Babe Ruth, the next Hank Aaron, the next Wayne Gretzky, the next Michael Jordan….they (and we, the fans) have always made those premature comparisons…and they always will.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:42:59 +0000

Oh, they figured it out, all right. They just want to make sure they discover all other ways to get Trout out, so they are holding off for now on everybody pitching him up. The fact that he’s crushing more than ever this month shows that they still haven’t yet found his other weaknesses, but it’s really the best to let him kill you in the short term just to make sure you’ve covered your bases.

They’ll start pitching him up soon enough, my friend, at which point his career will be devastated. Just you wait and see.

By: vallewho

vallewho — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:20:41 +0000

People often get criticized for speaking the truth. I hope the kid becomes as good or better the WM. But let him play out 5-10 years first….

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:14:22 +0000

Adjust? That’s what all good players do: adjust. If you don’t adjust, you’re out of the league within 3 or 4 seasons.

By: mrwillie

mrwillie — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:39:48 +0000

You should work for a club somewhere since you have some secret information than no major league pitcher, or scout has yet to figure out. You really could have a new career here.

By: mrwillie

mrwillie — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:35:52 +0000

If you can’t have “a favorite” player outside of your own team then you really don’t have much of an appreciation for baseball.

There’s a whole other world outside of the pinstripes bub, you should check it out sometime.

By: normcash

normcash — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:28:56 +0000

This is the exact comparison Al Kaline made last week. And No. 6 doesn’t throw around
compliments. I think he’s right, too—this kid has power, speed, a great arm, hits to all
fields…the only thing Mantle did that Trout doesn’t is switch-hit. Maybe he has holes in
his swing that haven’t yet been exploited (he does chase high fastballs sometimes), but
Al Kaline knows a thing or two about 20-year hitting phenoms, doesn’t he?

And to think the Tigers could have drafted him…but they picked Jacob Turner! Turner may
become a good pitcher one day, but Trout looks like a once-in-a-generation type player.

By: geoknows

geoknows — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:27:59 +0000

Let’s see what he does once pitchers figure out that all they have to do to get him out is pitch him up.

By: dexterismyhero

dexterismyhero — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:26:48 +0000

He is no Ozzie Guillen either. He can actually talk.

Hope he stays healthy. Big guy with wheels.

I watched the triple he got the other day and he just flys around the bases.

By: CJ

CJ — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:24:23 +0000

Not if you’re the yankees, Bryz. If you’re the Yankees and you secretly have a favorite player on another team, you despise him out loud, lust after him quietly, and overpay for him the first chance you get. Now he becomes your favorite Yankee and all is right with the world. It’s the circle of life in the universe.

By: florida76

florida76 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:14:12 +0000

This discussion reminds me how ESPN touted Jason Heyward as the next Mickey Mantle during Heyward’s first game. That turned out to be absurd so far, so let’s ratchet back the hype and let events play out. There have been numerous players in baseball history with excellent first seasons, only to fizzle later.

By: liamj55

liamj55 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:14:08 +0000

He’s not Willie Mayes but he is Mickey Mantle….

By: Kevin Gillman

Kevin Gillman — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:14:01 +0000

That’s not the point, the point is the media puts so much spin into these new players now adays and say “So and so is the next so and so”. Just let them play, let them get their feet wet. Sure they are awesome players right now, but nobody should compare Stras to even Bob Feller, or Roger Clemens, just let him get adjusted. It’s difficult to be consistent in the Major Leagues, same with Trout. He is fun to watch, but we’ll see down the road if those players can sustain a Major League career.

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:03:40 +0000

That said, I wouldn’t bet my five peice spicy chicken nuggets against $10,000 that it continues…

Also, I just double replied to my own comment.

By: Bryz

Bryz — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:01:23 +0000

Seriously? Mike Napoli is one of my favorite players, and he’s never worn a Twins uniform. You easily can have favorite players that don’t play for your team.

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:01:18 +0000

Especially since he’s been every bit the player Mays was at this point, and even a bit more…