ANAHEIM, Calif. — While Derek Jeter seems intent on becoming a publishing mogul, Mike Trout is in prime position to replace the retired shortstop as the face of October baseball.
Trout will play his first postseason game when the Angels open the ALDS at Angel Stadium on Thursday against the Royals.
The outfielder has heard his name mentioned with Jeter before.
“I definitely did,” said Trout, who just finished a third straight off-the-charts season. “Just to be in the same sentence with Jeter means a lot to me. He was a role model growing up and just the way he carried himself on and off the field in such a respectful way.”
The Millville, N.J. native also paid attention to Jeter’s final few games.
“I was pumped,” Trout said. “It’s Jeter, you know? You wouldn’t expect anything less. I thought it was pretty cool. After that walk-off hit [at Yankee Stadium in the home finale], he did the right thing by playing the two games at Fenway, showing respect for the fans. He got a base hit his last at-bat and it’s always special.”
Now, Trout gets a chance to add some playoff heroics to his list of achievements instead of hunting in New Jersey, which is how he spent the last few postseasons.
“You’ve just got to take it as another game,” Trout said. “My goal Thursday is to go out there and have some fun and play baseball. You can’t try to hit a 400-, 500-foot home run. You keep your swing and keep what got you there.”
CARDINALS: Michael Wacha, who starred in the postseason as a rookie last fall, will be in the St. Louis bullpen for the start of the NL Division Series.
Manager Mike Matheny said he’ll go with Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, John Lackey and Shelby Miller the first four games against the Dodgers. The best-of-five series starts Friday in Los Angeles.
— With AP