“I Needed This”: Mike Trout Reveals How World Baseball Classic 2023 Run Fuels His Hunger For Postseason Success With the Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout made his Los Angeles Angels debut in 2011. Throughout the 12 seasons that Trout has spent with the Angels, they have made the postseason only once in 2014. However, the team’s postseason absence is not emblematic of Trout’s ability in the park. With 10 All-Star appearances, three American League MVP awards, and 350 home runs already, Trout stands among the greatest players in the sport.

But the fact of the matter that remains is that barring his long list of individual accolades, Trout has only made it to one postseason in his entire MLB career. In the World Baseball Classic, however, the USA baseball team, led by Trout, found its way through the final gold medal match. And since such a high stake game was relatively new territory for Trout, it reignited the urge to reach the MLB postseason.

Historic WBC leads Mike Trout fuelling to finally reach the MLB playoffs

While Trout would’ve hoped for the tournament to end on a high, with the USA national team bagging the gold medal, it didn’t steal the kind of experience he felt. He said, “It was an unbelievable experience, obviously. Probably one of the coolest experiences I’ve had on a baseball field.”

The 10-time All-Star continued to talk about how he needed a postseason-stimulated atmosphere. Trout said, “You know, I needed this. I needed to play in this atmosphere, I needed to experience it and be in the moment. It made me think how bad we want to get back in the playoffs. I obviously had it in ‘14, but [the WBC] atmosphere was… as a baseball fan, as a competitor, that’s where you want to play. You want to be in that moment.”

Finally, Trout summarised his WBC experience by saying, “It was just a special, special few days.”

How did the much-awaited Ohtani-Trout matchup turn out?

Among the many show-stopper moments of the World Baseball Classic was the much-awaited face-off between Angels teammates Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. However, only the two-way Japanese wonder will hold on to the moment, while Mike Trout prepares for round two in 2026.

With Ohtani on the mound and Trout in the box, the ultimate showdown of the WBC finals was was written out of a storybook. However, in sports, there is usually just one winner. And in this case, it was Shohei Ohtani and Japan ended up lifting the WBC trophy.

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