Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
No young player in either league brought as much excitement, talent and power to the game as Mike Trout. Unlike some of the other young players who arrive in the majors with manufactured media hype that always seems to culminate in disappointment, Mike Trout seemed to come out of nowhere, step into the Angels line up and set the AL on fire. The unbridled joy Trout seems to get out of every minute he's on the field and his limitless talent has made him that one exciting player who comes along just once in a generation. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 and it took Miguel Cabrera winning the Triple Crown to keep him from snatching the AL MVP as well. Trout started of 2013 a little slower than usual but that all changed in late April when he began assaulting the horsehide with a vengeance. On May 10th, Trout and the Angels rolled into Chicago where over the next two days the young star collected 4 hits in 9 at bats against the White Sox. One of those hits was a 2-run homer off Jose Quintana in the first inning of the May 11th game. Trout would go on to have another season for the ages, batting 323 with 27 homers. This bat has been photo-matched to the one used by Trout to collect 4 hits during those two games in May including the 2 run homer off Quintana, his 6th of the season. Photos include pictures of Trout on deck and during the home run at bat. Also matched are photos of Trout from his 2 hit game on May 10. The photos and the MLB authentication establish a continuity of use of the bat on May 10 through the 5th inning of May 11th when Trout cracked the bat grounding out against Quintana. Who knows how many more hits he would have gotten with this bat had not been broken?
As befits the offensive onslaught he put on those two May days, the Old Hickory model J143M bat shows evidence of outstanding game use. The handle, broken during that May 11th game, has been cracked and repaired. The barrel is covered with ball marks and stitch impressions and the blue ink transfers show the power wielded by this young superstar. Cleat imprints can be found on the barrel and the immersion of a weighted batting donut is visible. The lower handle and knob end are taped in a spiral pattern used by Trout to enhance his grip. The length of the bat "33.5" is stamped into the barrel end. The barrel brand has Trout's order number "1303098-MT11" stamped into it, revealing that this is the 11th bat from that order. The front barrel has MLB hologram EK377247 affixed to the barrel. To complete an already incredible bat with solid provenance, this piece of MLB timber has been signed by Trout in nice contrasting silver pen on the barrel. This is as close to a perfect game used bat as you can get, made all the more special by it's photo-matched use by the game's most exciting player. PSA/DNA have inspected this bat and after photo-matching it have awarded it their grade of GU 9.5.