Meet Jeff Trout: The Failed Prospect Behind Mike Trout’s MLB Dream

The Los Angeles Angels ballpark often can be heard echoing with a bashful cheer of enthusiastic fans during their seasons’ games. One name that stands out the most is that of Mike Trout. Intriguingly enough, Trout’s passion for the sport seems to have been passed down by his father, Jeff. Jeff Trout’s past interactions with baseball might not have been fruitful for him, but they certainly did help Trout Jr. shape a diamond-shaped dream of his own.

Although little is known about his involvement in his son’s career, Mike’s posts on social media have never failed to show his reverence for Trout Sr. over and over again, proving his influence on his son’s life. Thus, the lore of baseball’s one of the biggest stars’ fathers demands to be brought to light today.

Who is Jeff Trout? How is he related to Mike Trout?

Born in Indianapolis, Jeff Trout is related to Mike Trout by the bond of blood that goes deeper than anything. Mike is the youngest of the three children of Jeff and his wife, Debbie Trout. Jeff played three major sports other than baseball during his Northwest High School days: football, basketball, and wrestling. However, only the baseball part of his athletic endeavors continued into his latter days.

Jeff has been named a Hall of Fame alumni of one of the many institutions that had the chance to watch him play: the University of Delaware. Per their in-house report, “In the long history of championship baseball at the University of Delaware, few players have matched the pure hitting talents of Jeff Trout.” The instances of the said hitting talent later became prominent in his minor league days.

A star at a diamond: A look at Jeff Trout’s baseball career

When asked to speak about his career in his own words, Jeff Trout chuckles before giving a humble comeback: “I can tell you I wasn’t nearly as good as my son,” according to Grantland. His career record, however shortlived it was, tells a different story.

Many mentions of Trout Jr.’s early years in MLB come along with a certain, default sentence to act as an homage to his father—that he “topped out at Double-A.” Neither that line nor Mike’s innate talent for hitting .356 at just 18 years of age reveals a single hint of the magnitude of the powerhouse that is Jeff Trout.

Trout Sr. hit .398/.482/.602 while playing for the University of Delaware, a Division 1 institution, where his coach tagged him as a “really outstanding player.” “I was kind of a Pete Rose–type hitter, a grinder,” Jeff recalled, musing back to the days when he focused more on taking calculated, patient steps as opposed to a traditional hitter’s aggressive and fast-paced stance.

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His history of excellence and aptitude in the sport brings the next question to mind: what exactly happened in his past that made Jeff Trout, who was considered the best college player in the country back in 1983, completely drop off any chance of stepping foot in the major leagues?

A battle of fates: The reason he never played in MLB

Upon entering the minors with the Minnesota Twins back in 1984, within a year, Jeff Trout had to face some darker sides of a pro-baller’s career. Up until his university days, Trout Sr. seldom had to think about his health. That all changed during his first pro season.

The man got his plantar fascia torn, which was further affected by his high school football injuries that led to two surgeries on each knee in his later years. The slugger kept at his form despite the growing pain and a decline in health, but the magnitude of the time missed on the field due to the injuries might have been instrumental in hitting the final nail in the coffin of his slugging career.

Three seasons into the minors, Jeff Trout was in Triple-A following the ‘87 Spring Training. There, he heard rumors about being sent back to Double-A Orlando after his time in that camp ended. He decided to quit the game right then and there. Several factors were at play behind that decision other than just the injuries and a shortage of time to cope.

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He’d already started a family of his own by then, and the earning potential of the minors was not well enough to let him support his home while dealing with the regular fatigue from the long bus rides to and from the games. His major league dreams, however, didn’t fade away. They just changed vessels in the form of Mike Trout, of whom Trout Sr. is so proud to be the father, philosopher, friend, and guide. And as things transpired in the later years, it seems like fate must have had a hand in making sure of that.

His role as a father: Man behind Mike Trouts’s rise on the bigger stage

The Angels scout Greg Morhardt used to play with Jeff Trout in the minors. So it was no wonder when someone mentioned the last name of Mike, who, with his gigantic stature, was standing right outside the stadium. In a matter of seconds, Morhard wondered and got answers to his question about how that kid was related to one of his favorite teammates back in the day.

Apart from his Angels connection, Jeff Trout has never failed to pass on all of the wisdom he has for the sport to his son. The youngest of three kids—Teal, Tyler, and Mike—Trout Jr. was encouraged to play ball with his siblings whenever they wanted.

Jeff tried his best not to involve himself in his son’s pro career. “He had heard what he needed to hear from me baseball-wise by the age of 13 or 14,” he told ESPN. He chose to let the coaches of the school where he taught history handle the scope of talent in his kid. The space that he chose to give Trout Jr. proved to be an instance of the farsightedness Jeff has. Makes one wonder, how that would have changed had Jeff given in to his coaching instincts, which he finally did after retiring as a history teacher at Melville High School.

Is he also a baseball coach? A look at his after an early retirement

Both Jeff Trout and his wife, Debbie, act as coaches for the Youth League of the school. Their love for sports isn’t the only reason that caught their attention on that front of the profession, though.

The couple often witnessed some underlying complications with the kids and their parents that they had to deal with every day. “When you’re in education like Deb was with the young kids, she saw… this is an economically distressed area, we have seen it all,” Jeff revealed to Follow South Jersey.

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The financial inability of those children or their families to seek proper training played a major part in deciding their coaching endeavors. Not to mention, Jeff’s experience in the sport and Debbie’s experience playing assistant to the coach of their daughter’s softball team. No wonder Mike’s magnanimous gestures are so deep-rooted, given he has a family of such caliber to always have his back, come hell or high water.