Many people make a lot of sense to play with a special person (parents, grandparents, siblings, lifelong friends).
Fans who sat at Coors Field on Saturday’s 485-foot home plate may never have dreamed he would do this with a future Hall of Famer.
But thanks to his quick thinking, a fan of Alberto’s name reportedly boldly won favor to Mike Trout as the Angels beat Colorado Rockies 3-0.
What a cool request! Trout has agreed to have Alberto compete with his wife and two children, three signed bats and two signed baseballs in exchange for his crushed ball.
Long after the game, when Trout signed balls and bats in the canoe, Alberto asked politely as he threw his right arm, “Do you mind playing the ball on the court?” The three-time MVP said without hesitation: “Yes, do you want to do it?” Alberto grabbed his glove.
Posts on the MLB.com X account show that Alberto threw the ball back and forth at Trout, whose bare hands grabbed the ball with his exposed hands as he put his hat backwards. Once, Trout said something to Alberto’s young son, who looked in awe.
No wonder. Shortly before the trout hit No. 400, Alberto told the trout that he turned to his son and said, “He has a lot of power.” No joke, enough to bring the ball into the field frame in the left center. Alberto grabbed the explosion with his naked hands.
This is the Trout’s third home run, at least 485 feet, since Statcast started tracking long balls in 2015. The 34-year-old outfielder became the 59th Major League Baseball player to reach 400 home runs in his 15th season, while the 20th place was a team.
The 400th ball obviously has more monetary value than the signed ball and the bat, but is far from the value of a career 500 home run, or, for example, the Dodgers’ Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hit the first game of the 2024 World Series – sold for $156,000 in auction.
Home runs make sense for trout, which is under pressure as it approaches milestones. This is just his second long ball since August 7.
He also realized that the ball was captured and returned to players who made sense to Alberto, who might have done what his father did – playing with his children.
“Once they grew up and realized, it would be awesome memory for dad to tell the kids to experience this,” Trout told reporters. “I know what it feels like when I’m playing with dad.”
