Alex Rodriguez and Mike Trout will meet on the field Monday night when the Angels begin a four-game series at Yankee Stadium, but if it were up to the 22-year-old phenom, Rodriguez wouldn’t be in The Bronx.
The Angels outfielder, who held a mini-media tour in New York City before the first game of the series, told WFAN on Monday morning that he thinks that players who are caught using performance-enhancing drugs should be banned from baseball.
“To me, personally, I think you should be out of the game if you get caught,” Trout said. “It takes away from the guys that are working hard every day and doing it all-natural.
“Some people just are just trying to find that extra edge. It’s tough as a guy that goes out there and plays hard every day and puts [in] 110 percent effort every time to wake up the next day and see there’s a list of guys that are on the list. It’s good that MLB caught them and they’re moving in the right direction with suspensions and stuff.”
Trout then made an appearance at the Empire State Building and met with coaches and players from his hometown high school of Millville, N.J., which honored him by renaming their field as Mike Trout Field, after the All-Star had made a donation to help renovate the field.
Trout, who has followed up one of the best rookie campaigns ever with one of the best sophomore seasons ever, has been frustrated by all of the negative publicity the game has received, but said all he can do is keep playing hard, knowing that everything he does is “100 percent natural.”
Trout’s career starter in a similar fashion to Rodriguez. Both had incredible seasons in their first full years, finished second in the A.L. MVP voting and had legitimate claims to the award. They both displayed a rare combination of power and speed, and played excellent defense at highly-valued positions.
But Trout’s father, Jeff, has reminded Mike there is no reason to go down a similar road as Rodriguez, who admitted to using steroids while playing for the Rangers.
“We have sat down and talked to him about that, saying, ‘Listen, please don’t ever be tempted to do that,” said Trout’s father. “You don’t need to do that. Work hard, work out, he can do it naturally. Just do it naturally. Not that he’s had to have the lecture, but he’s gotten it.
“I think he takes pride in being part of a generation of players that are rebelling against that. They’ve had enough. Why should [he] have to compete against this guy if he’s juicing? [He’s] competing for a batting title or stolen bases or whatever. Why should [he] have to face this guy who threw 86 [mph] one year and a few years later he’s throwing 96?”