(Source: The Press of Atlantic City, July 9, 2011)
When Debbie Trout's phone rang at 2 a.m. Friday, she worried as any mother would.
Her son, Mike, was calling. His tone was different than normal.
Was he OK? Did something happen to his girlfriend who was visiting him in Arkansas?
"I got the call," Mike Trout told his mother.
"What call?" she asked.
"I got the call, Mom," Trout repeated. "I got the call to the majors!"
Initially, Debbie didn't know how to react to the news that her 19-year-old son received a promotion to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
So she yelled.
"I couldn't stop screaming," Debbie said. "I think they thought there was a murderer in the house."
Excitement filled the Millville house as they realized Mike would make his major league debut Friday against the Seattle Mariners at 10:05 p.m.
The 2009 Millville High School graduate batted ninth and started in center field.
His family thought this day would come, but not so soon. Trout was the Angels' first-round draft pick (25th overall) in 2009. He signed a contract with a reported $1.21 million bonus and since then has been one of the most highly touted players in baseball's minor leagues.
Debbie and her husband, Jeff, along with Mike's older brother, Tyler, and Mike's girlfriend, Jessica Cox, all arranged to attend his first game.
Trout received a call from Angels general manager Tom Reagins around 1 a.m. Trout was supposed to play Monday in Phoenix in his second Futures Game, which features 50 of the best prospects in the minor leagues. But he was sent to Anaheim, Calif., instead.
"I almost was in tears hearing that I'd get an opportunity like this to come and play for the big club," Trout said on an Angels pre-game radio show.
The timing of Trout's call-up is a little surprising considering his age. He spent this whole season with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers and jumped over the next minor-league level to join the Angels. He's now the youngest player in the majors -- and the youngest player to debut for the Angels since 1971. He's also just the fourth teenage position player to be called up since 2000.
"There's always going to be pressure," Trout told the Associated Press before Friday's game after picking up his No. 27 jersey. "Once you get on the field, it's just a game. Tonight is going to be a thrill, and I can't wait."
The Angels promoted Trout based on need. They lost a number of outfielders this season due to injury, with the latest being center fielder Peter Bourjos, who strained his hamstring Thursday night.
Jeff Trout was watching that game on television. He saw the injury to Bourjos and wondered if the circumstance would allow Mike to move up to triple-A.
So when Mike called later that night, Jeff thought his son would say he was headed to Triple-A Salt Lake City. Debbie's reaction made him realize it was something bigger.
"(Mike's) not a real emotional guy," said Jeff, who spent four years in the Minnesota Twins farm system. "But he was just so excited. I don't think he slept much either. He had to clean out his locker and catch an early flight. He's going to be running on adrenaline the rest of the night."
The Trout family just returned from seeing their son on a 14-day road trip around the Texas League. They only arrived home Wednesday and haven't had time to unpack.
Now, they're hitting the road again.
"We talked to his agent (Thursday) and he said he probably won't get called up until September," Debbie said. "We were sort of sad thinking this might be his last Futures Game. But this is just unbelievable."
There have been a handful of position players over the last few decades who have played in the majors as a teenager -- Trout doesn't turn 20 until Aug. 7. Some of those players such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez have become baseball greats.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia hinted that Trout's stay may not be beyond the weekend. He said that Bourjos will get his starting job back when he's healthy.
But Scioscia also acknowledged that Trout could make the decision to send him back to the minors difficult.
"I don't know if we anticipate this being all that long, but this is a good opportunity (for Trout) to see what that monster of the big leagues is all about," Scioscia said. "I think it will be a great experience for Mike. He wants to contribute. He wants to win. He's driven. He's ready on the defensive side, and whatever he can contribute on the offensive side, we'll take it."
From the moment Trout was drafted, analysts and baseball fans have followed his statistics and progress. Now, with the Angels he will make the league minimum of $414,000, which will be pro-rated based on his time there.
He didn't disappoint once he became a professional. One organization picked him as the 2010 Minor League Player of the Year and he was named the Midwest League MVP. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder was named the top prospect in baseball in January by MajorLeagueBaseball.com after spending the offseason playing for Team USA.
In the Texas League this year -- which is known as a hitter's league -- Trout shared the league lead with 69 runs, ranked second with 28 stolen bases and was fifth with a .324 batting average. He had 12 doubles, 11 triples, nine homers and 27 RBIs with the Arkansas Travelers.
Matt Szczur, a Chicago Cubs prospect from the Erma section of Lower Township, is playing in the Futures Game. He was disappointed he wouldn't get to see Trout, who Szczur played against in his final two years at Lower Cape May Regional High School.
"I was anxious to catch up with Trout," Szczur said by phone in Peoria, Ill., where he plays in single-A. "That would have been a pretty good time to hang out with him. I'm sure he's going to do well in the majors."
Mike's family knew it was only a matter of time.
After Jeff got off the phone with Mike on Friday morning, he immediately began texting and calling friends and relatives. Most of the people -- such as Mike's Millville High School baseball coach Roy Hallenbeck -- didn't get the messages until they woke up Friday morning.
"I turned on my phone and see something to the effect of 'Mikey made the big leagues' with a lot of exclamation points," Hallenbeck said. "I had to give the phone to my wife and ask her if what I saw was right."
Hallenbeck and two other Millville assistant baseball coaches played golf Friday, riding around in carts and reminiscing about their star player.
They could laugh about it now, but Trout's freshman year didn't start well.
"He was a practice or two away from being sent down to JV or the freshman team," Hallenbeck, 40, said. "He kept throwing the ball all over the place. He put so much pressure on himself. ... It's funny to think he went from almost not making the Millville varsity baseball team to being a Major Leaguer."
On Friday night, many of Trout's biggest fans throughout Millville planned to watch or listen to his debut. Ken Williams Jr., an assistant coach at Millville, wants to enjoy the game from his own home. Knowing Trout since he was about 4 years old, this moment is special to him.
"Everyone wants us to say we did this for him, but Mike worked his tail off," Williams, 39, said. "He had God-given talent. We plugged his name in the lineup and let him do his thing."
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