November 7, 2012
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Q & A with Mike Trout Trout is a MLB Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year canidate, who batted .326 with 30 homeruns, 83 RBIs Jeff Trout, who played baseball at Delaware from 1980 to 1983, was inducted into the Blue Hens Hall of Fame on Friday. Among those at the ceremony was Trout’s son Mike, who plays center field in the major leagues for the Los Angeles Angels. Sports editor Matt Bittle was able to obtain an interview with the center fielder, who made the All-Star Team as a rookie in 2012. Matt Bittle: Do you ever still have a hard time believing you’re in the major leagues? Do you ever have like a ‘pinch yourself’ moment? Mike Trout: Sometimes. During the year and stuff, you’re just going with the flow of things, game after game after game, you kind of get caught up in that. Looking back in the offseason now, I pinch myself a little bit. I’m playing the game I love, and I’m fairly confident in my ability and I want to stay up there. MB: Was there one player you were really excited to meet or play against? MT: Probably Derek Jeter. He was my role model growing up, and I was very fortunate enough to play against him and be a teammate with him in the All-Star Game. Pretty neat. MB: Were you a Yankees fan
as a kid? MT: No, I was a Phillies fan. MB: Obviously, your team had a pretty good year, but you guys missed the playoffs. How do you feel about that? MT: Yeah, you know, one goal coming in during spring training is to make the playoffs. Came up short, we had a slow start, but next year we’re going to come out strong and try to achieve that goal. MB: You’re one the main contenders for the AL [American League] MVP, obviously, along with Miguel Cabrera. What would it mean to win that award, especially as a rookie? MT: It’d mean a lot. Coming into the season, you want to be the best player in the league and at the end of people debate between two players and you’re one of them, so it’s pretty cool. MB: How much did the fact that your dad played professional baseball for a few years, did that impact your career choice? MT: A lot. Education came first in my family, but the opportunity I got to come out of high school, selected first round, he really guided me through what to expect. Not even on the field but off the field, being away from home, just being out there by myself, so he helped me a lot.
MB: Would you say that it’s kind of a childhood dream come true? MT: Oh yeah. I had one goal coming into camp. Everybody’s dream as a kid is to become professional and just to have an opportunity. It’s awesome. MB: Shifting to Delaware, which is kind of why we’re here, did you ever think about playing baseball at Delaware? MT: They showed some interest, a lot of interest, my senior year, but when the draft came up, Angels selected me first round, great opportunity I couldn’t pass up. MB: What do you think this means to your father to be inducted? MT: Means a lot to him. He had a great career, four years here, unbelievable numbers he put up. Means a lot to him and it means a lot to us. MB: What are your personal goals for next season and your team goals? MT: Personal goal is obviously to be the best player in the league, and as a team standpoint, it’s to come in spring training and make the playoffs. One reason why you play the game so you get a shot at a ring, and that’s the main goal right now.
HOF: Of 10 inductees, nine were former players, Blue Hen Hall of Fame now has 137 total members dating back to 1950s Continued from page 28 Renee DuFlon was inducted for her success as a volleyball player from 1976 to 1979. She held the school record for career kills for 17 years. DuFlon said she was grateful to the university for both the opportunities given to her and the recognition as someone deserving of induction into the Blue Hens Hall of Fame. Robert Hooper was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his success as a dual-sport athlete. A football player from 1952 to 1955, he led the 1955 team to an 8-1 record. As a baseball player from 1953 to 1956, he helped the team reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Hooper said he was thankful to the university for helping him flourish, thanks to its academics and athletically. “The University of Delaware has over the years enjoyed one of the greatest marriages of athletics and academics in the country,” Hooper said. Megan Fortunato, a field hockey player from 1997 to 2000 and a member of the lacrosse team from 1998 to 2001, was a three-time all-conference player in both sports. She thanked the university coaches for allowing her to compete in two sports at Delaware and said she learned a number of lessons at the university. Tiara Malcom, a basketball player from 2001 to 2005 who won the CAA Player of the Year award in
2005, called the induction an honor and said it was a testimony to the many people who helped her over the years. “Receiving this recognition is a culmination of all the awards and accolades I received while a studentathlete at the university I love so much,” Malcom said. Alex Smith was inducted for his success as a lacrosse player from 2004 to 2007. Smith set the NCAA record for faceoffs won in a career and led the Hens to their first lacrosse Final Four in 2007. Klatzin called Jeff Trout, a second baseman for the baseball team from 1980 to 1983 who set the single-season Delaware record for batting average, one of the greatest hitters in school history. For his part, Trout said Delaware was a special program that helped him develop. “From the start it was immediately understood that academics and character came first and baseball was second,” Trout said. “The position I have held in my community, and the remarkable success of my family, I owe to the values that I was taught while a member of this storied program.” Julie Van Deusen, a diver from 2002 to 2004, won the CAA Diver of the Year award twice and was also the first diver from Delaware to make the NCAA Championships. Van Deusen called the induction a great honor. Harker said the night’s ceremony was dedicated to not just the inductees, but to athletics itself. He also said the honorees
THE REVIEW/Sara Pferer
Former second baseman Jeff Trout speaks at the Blue Hens Hall of Fame ceremony Friday. were worthy of recognition as representatives of the university. “These are also the people who continue to inspire us years, even decades later,” he said.
THE REVIEW/Sara Pferer
Senior linebacker Paul Worrilow sacks Towson quarterback Grant Enders.
Football: Hens playing for pride, will regroup, prepare for Richmond Continued from page 28 “I was rolling right,” Hurley said. “He [Mike Milburn] was coming left. He crossed the middle linebacker, he went over the middle linebacker so I knew the middle linebacker didn’t have any awareness where he was, so I just threw it back across my body and hoped for the best.” Junior wide receiver Milburn jumped and stretched his arms all the way out and pulled the ball into his chest at the 23-yard line. Hurley and his teammates sprinted to the line and spiked the ball with just seconds left. Junior kicker Sean Baner was going to attempt a 40-yard field goal into the howling wind to keep the Hens’ season alive. He had missed a similar kick earlier in the game, but his teammates said they had faith. “Once we get in field goal range, it’s a great feeling,” Laing said. “Because Sean Baner, I think he is one of the greatest field goal kickers in America. He missed the first one, but we knew he wasn’t going to miss two.” Baner knocked the kick clear through the poles with plenty of leg to spare and the game went into overtime, which eventually ended up in the Tigers’ favor. Keeler said it was part of the team’s youth and inexperience that played a factor in another loss. Senior linebacker Paul Worrilow said the game really came down to one or two plays where Towson scored touchdowns and the Hens made mistakes. “We didn’t make enough plays,” Worrilow said. “I think that is what it came down to, just the critical times when you are in a
position to win a ballgame to make those plays and get off the field.” Keeler said there were many key third and fourth downs that the Hens could not stop the Tigers. He said Delaware was given the opportunity and could not make a play. Towson had 22 first downs, and the Tigers were four-for-four on fourth-down conversions. The loss left a blank stare on the faces of Worrilow, Hurley and Laing after the game. The now unranked Hens still have two games left to play knowing Delaware can’t make it into the playoffs. “Our biggest challenge will be next week,” Keeler said. “Boy, it’s tough, now realizing you have no hope of making the playoffs and now finish this thing off, but we have to. That’s what we will do.” Worrilow said pride will take over in the next two games because the Hens aren’t competing for the CAA title, and he promised Delaware will come out just as fired up for the rest of the season. Hurley said he took full responsibility for the miscues in overtime and other bad throws. Hurley might have had his best game, going 25 for 34 with two touchdowns and 309 yards. He threw one interception that came on the last play of the game after the ball was tipped. He said every loss is disappointing, but the Hens didn’t get a moral victory and will be ready for next week. “That is how you win ballgames,” Hurley said. “If you don’t go out and prepare, you don’t watch film, you’re not emotionally invested—you are not going to win. Football is an emotional game. If you can’t come out here and get up for the game, you have no place in playing college football.”