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Clips

(July 16, 2014)

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Today’s Clips Contents

MIKE TROUT ALL-STAR GAME NOTES & QUOTES (Page 3)

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (Page 4)

Mike Trout, Yasiel Puig are baseball's most exciting players

Mike Trout is All-Star MVP after leading AL to 5-3 victory

Huston Street thinks he'd look good in Angels uniform

It doesn't hurt to have home-field advantage in a World Series

FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (Page 9)

Miller: Could it be L.A. vs. O.C. again?

Troutstanding: Angels outfielder is All-Star MVP

Angel Stadium demolition study won't be released

When Rally Monkeys fly: Angels are baseball's hottest team going into All-Star break FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 15)

Be like Mike: MVP cements Trout's status among elite

AL-Americans: Jeter, Trout spark victory

MLB Notebook: Jeter and Trout spark AL victory

Trout humbled to share All-Star stage with Jeter

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 22)

Jeter, Trout lead AL over NL 5-3 in All-Star game

FROM YAHOO SPORTS (Page 25)

Mike Trout wins MVP, AL tops NL and everyone leaves wondering about Adam Wainwright's intentions vs. Derek Jeter

FROM FOX SPORTS WEST (Page 26)

All-Star Game MVP Trout adds new chapter to growing legacy

FROM THE LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS (Page 27)

Los Angeles Angels Midseason Report Card: Strong play, but still chasing the A’s

FROM ESPN.COM (Page 29)

Wonderfully scripted All-Star moment

Mike Trout’s All-Star Coronation

FROM SI.COM (Page 42)

Price, Trout, Jeter among 10 biggest questions for second half

FROM SPORTS XCHANGE (Page 45)

Team Report - LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Team Report - SEATTLE MARINERS

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MIKE TROUT ALL-STAR GAME NOTES & QUOTES

MIKE TROUT CLAIMS TED WILLIAMS MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD PRESENTED BY CHEVROLET

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Mike Trout, who received the second-highest number of votes in fan balloting for the 85th Midsummer Classic, was the winner of the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet.

Trout, at just 22-years-old, was an All-Star for the third time in his career.

He is just the fourth A.L. outfielder in MLB history to receive three All-Star nods before his 23rd birthday, joining Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline, as well as Ken Griffey, Jr.

Trout becomes the 22nd outfielder to win the award, and the fifth in the last eight years, joining Ichiro Suzuki (2007); J.D. Drew (2008); Carl Crawford (2009); and Melky Cabrera (2012).

He is just the fourth Angel to win the award, joining Leon Wagner (1962), Fred Lynn (1983) and Garret Anderson (2003).

Trout, at 22 years, 342 days old, is the second-youngest player to win MVP, behind Ken Griffey, Jr. (1992).

Trout went 2-for-3 in the game with a double, triple, two RBI and a run scored.

His triple was the 47th triple in the history of the Midsummer Classic. It marked the third consecutive All-Star Game to feature a triple after Ryan Braun, Rafael Furcal and Pablo Sandoval all tripled in Kansas City in 2012, and Prince Fielder tripled at Citi Field last year.

Trout ranks fifth in the A.L. with five triples on the season, and since the start of the 2012 season (his first full season in the Majors), Trout ranks second in the Majors with 22 triples behind only Michael Bourn (23).

Trout is now 4-for-7 (.571) with two doubles, a triple and two RBI in his Midsummer Classic career.

Trout is the sixth Angels player (eighth occurrence) to record a multi-hit game in the Midsummer Classic, joining Garret Anderson (three hits, 2003); Rod Carew (two hits in 1983, two hits in 1980); Don Baylor (two hits in 1979); Albie Pearson (two hits in 1963); and Leon Wagner (two hits in 1963, three hits in 1962).

Mike Trout Presser Quotes

THE MODERATOR: A couple of questions for Mike.

Q. Mike, just wonder if you can talk about lining up before the game, standing next to Derek as everybody came out. Did anybody say anything special, touching, how was that moment for you?

MIKE TROUT: No, nothing too crazy, but just being a part of it, last year with Mariano, just very

blessed to be a part of it. And, you know, for him going out that way, it is pretty special.

Q. Mike, a lot has been put upon you in terms of the broader picture and beyond holding a steady job in the Big Leagues at 22. But the whole passing the torch and things like that with Derek. Does it ever feel like a burden to you?

MIKE TROUT: No, it's -- growing up, watching him on TV, the way he plays, growing up I was

setting goals to myself that when I get, if I ever get the chance to get to the Big Leagues, that's how I

want to play. And the way he carries himself on and off the field, how he respects the game. Always

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hustling, it doesn't matter what the score is. If they are down 10 runs, he is always running the ball out.

That's how I want to play.

Q. Mike, was Derek joking with you a little bit when you came out of the game? Something about saying you are 22, that's all you got, something like that?

MIKE TROUT: He said he wanted me to play nine innings (laughter). He said I am 22 years old

coming out of the game, it is the sixth inning, I should be playing nine. He is messing around with me.

It's all fun. It's special for me. Chills, goosebumps, you name it. Everything was running through my

body.

Q. Did Derek address the team or you guys before the game? What did he say?

MIKE TROUT: Yeah, he just wanted to thank us. You know, we should be thanking him. What

he brings to the game and, you know, just tells us it goes by quick and for us to enjoy every moment of

this, with being together with the best in the league. And just enjoying every minute of it.

Q. Mike, what was it like choosing between the Stingray and the truck and how did you decide on that?

MIKE TROUT: When they came out and told me I got a choice, I was pretty pumped. I got my

dad a truck a couple of weeks ago, so I probably would have chose the truck if I hadn't done that. But I

have to go with the sports car and with the 'Vette. It's pretty funny, it's a 'Vette, because our bench

coach, Dino Ebel, he loves 'Vettes and we keep talking day in and day out of getting a Corvette, me

getting a Corvette, and now that I have one I am going to rub it in his face, for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you very much.

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Mike Trout, Yasiel Puig are baseball's most exciting players By Jim Peltz At the All-Star break, you can debate which players should be the major award winners. You can also debate which players are the most fun to watch. Who do you consider the most exciting players in the game? Our list starts with:

Mike Trout, Angels: It’s hard to believe he’s still only 22. He’s electric whether as a hitter, baserunner or fielder.

Yasiel Puig, Dodgers: He always seems to do something worth talking about, even when he check-swings on a lobbed pitch to start off his round in the Home Run Derby. And then gets blanked. Looks like a linebacker, cannon arm and a great bat flipper.

Dee Gordon, Dodgers: He’s the major league leader in stolen bases and triples, two of the most exciting plays in the game.

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Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: Can do it all: hits for average and power and has 15 stolen bases.

Jose Altuve, Astros: Little (5 feet 6) second baseman puts up big numbers. He is second in the NL in batting average (.335) and steals (41).

Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics: The two-time Home Run Derby champion turned in the most spectacular play of the season’s first half, launching an ICBM — that’s a missle, youngsters — from left field to nail the Angels’ Howie Kendrick at home plate.

Mike Trout is All-Star MVP after leading AL to 5-3 victory By Paul Sullivan The all-Jeter-all-the-time All-Star game started the way it was supposed to Tuesday night when Derek Jeter dived to his left for a shot off Andrew McCutchen's bat and rifled a throw to first base.

The fact McCutchen legged out an infield hit made no difference.

The uniform of the retiring New York Yankees shortstop was dirty and the Target Field lovefest officially had begun.

The American League wound up with a 5-3 victory in front of 41,048 in one of the more entertaining All-Star games recently.

Angels star Mike Trout was selected the most valuable player after hitting a double and a triple and driving in two runs.

Trout said Jeter spoke to his AL teammates before the game, just to say thanks.

"We should be thanking him," Trout said. "What he brings to the game. And he just tells us it goes by quick and for us to enjoy every moment of this, with being together with the best in the league."

Jeter finished two for two with and scored a run before being removed after taking the field in the fourth inning. Chicago White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez replaced Jeter and gave him a big hug, igniting another crescendo of applause, the doffing of the cap, more dugout love and a curtain call as a recording of Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York" blared over the public-address system.

"I wasn't expecting it, but the manager came up to me and told me I was going to go into the game in the fourth inning," Ramirez said. "It's such a great honor to have that moment, such an American baseball legend. I was nervous when I was told to go out there and take the place of a baseball legend. I had to take off my hat and show my respect. It was a great moment."

It was a fitting farewell to the face of baseball, a Hall of Fame member in waiting who will be difficult to replace after 20 seasons.

"I'll miss all of it," Jeter said. "I'm pretty sure I will. I've been doing this since I've been, what, 5 years old and playing baseball. And when I finish I won't be doing it, so I'm sure I'll miss the competition, but the time has come. This is the end of the road for me."

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After a taped introduction from late Yankees announcer Bob Sheppard, Jeter received a long and loud standing ovation, from players and fans alike, before his first at-bat leading off the first. He promptly doubled to right on Adam Wainwright's first pitch, a 90-mph fastball. Trout followed with a triple and Miguel Cabrera lined a two-run home run to give the AL a 3-0 lead.

But Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester was rocked in the top of the second inning, giving up consecutive run-scoring doubles to Chase Utley and Jonathan Lucroy. After Jeter's farewell, the National League tied the score in the fourth on Lucroy's second run-scoring double.

With two on and one out in the fifth, the AL went back in front on Trout's run-scoring double and Jose Altuve's sacrifice fly.

Huston Street thinks he'd look good in Angels uniform By Bill Shaikin In the hours before the All-Star game, Huston Street dressed in the uniform of the San Diego Padres. The Angels are trying to put a halo on him, soon, and Street would be thrilled to join them.

"I would love it," he said.

Street cited the chance to "play with guys like Albert Pujols and Mike Trout" as well as to play for Manager Mike Scioscia. Street broke into the major leagues with the Oakland Athletics from 2005-08, when the Angels won the American League West three times in four years.

"I was probably too young to realize how good he was at the time," Street said of Scioscia. "That's one of the best managers, maybe, of all time. If I went there, I'd have a real chance to win."

The Angels would love to add a closer, and they would prefer Street to Jonathan Papelbon of the Philadelphia Phillies or Joakim Soria of the Texas Rangers. Street, 30, has a 1.09 earned-run average, with 24 saves in 25 opportunities.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are among the other teams interested in Street. The Angels and Pirates traded demoted closers — Jason Grilli to Anaheim, Ernesto Frieri to Pittsburgh — but remain in search of closing help.

Street said he is happy in San Diego. However, his contract does not include a no-trade clause. The Padres — or any team that might trade for him — can keep him next season for $7 million.

"I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "I wish I did."

He does know this: the Padres are not going to win this year.

"I want to win this year," Street said. "When you've got the Dodgers and Giants in your division — barring a 20-game winning streak — it would obviously be tough to win this year."

Derby drag

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Why must it take three hours to complete the Home Run Derby? On Tuesday, one day after another sluggish derby, Commissioner Bud Selig offered a blunt explanation.

"Television wants a three-hour program," he said.

ESPN airs the derby, part of a television rights package that pays Major League Baseball an average of $700 million per year. The derby is ESPN's highest-rated program every summer, except in World Cup years.

An ESPN spokesman declined to comment on whether the network insists upon a three-hour broadcast and whether it would consider a shorter one.

Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies, the captain of the National League derby squad, said he did not believe the derby dragged.

"It doesn't bother me how long it is," Tulowitzki said. "I would stay out all night and take batting practice all night if they let me. Hopefully, they make it longer."

Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who watched the contest but did not participate, would not mind a crisper derby.

"After you see the first round, it's, 'All right, we've seen everybody,'" McCutchen said. "It's kind of like, 'Oh, a home run?'"

Short hops

Trout doubled, tripled and drove in two runs. The only other player to do that in an All-Star game: Hall of Famer Earl Averill, in 1934. In the first seven All-Star at-bats of his career, Trout has four hits, three for extra bases. . . . The Dodgers' Yasiel Puig can only improve upon his first All-Star experience. After failing to hit a homer in the Home Run Derby, he struck out in all three at-bats in the All-Star game and misplayed a ball off the wall. . . . The All-Star game will be held in Cincinnati next season. Selig said he hoped to award "two or three" more games before he retires in January and said the Dodgers "are on the strong list of candidates." Dodger Stadium last played host to the All-Star game in 1980. . . . Major league players honored their late union chief, Michael Weiner, by announcing a $50,000 labor studies scholarship fund in his memory. . . . Selig appointed former Dodgers outfielder Billy Bean as the MLB "ambassador for inclusion." Bean, 50, came out as gay in 1999, four years after he last played in the majors. Selig directed Bean to provide "guidance and training . . . to support the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community throughout Major League Baseball."

It doesn't hurt to have home-field advantage in a World Series By Zach Helfand When Mike Scioscia of the Angels was the American League manager in the 2003 All-Star game, he said he apologized to players before the game. In the past, he told them, he would have been sure to get each of them in the game. Now, maybe not.

That year was the first time Major League Baseball used the All-Star game to decide home-field advantage in the World Series. The players understood Scioscia's reasoning: the game counts.

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Tuesday's All-Star game at Target Field in Minneapolis will be the 12th time the game has counted for something.

How much that something really matters is debatable.

Intuitively, home-field advantage in Game 7 of the World Series should be important. So how many games has that been worth historically?

None.

The home team is 18-18 in World Series Game 7s. That's right: home-field advantage in Game 7 has, quite literally, no advantage at all. And since 2003, when the All-Star game began to decide the home team, the World Series has gone to seven games only once.

Right now, the Dodgers own the best record in the National League and the Angels have the second-best record in the majors, so there's a pretty good chance that at least one team will reach the playoffs. So presumably they should care who wins the All-Star game because it could potentially help them later, right?

Well, maybe not so much. Albert Pujols, who has played in three World Series, thinks the All-Star game might not count as much as advertised.

"I think when you're in the World Series, I don't think anybody thinks about home-field advantage," Pujols said. "You pretty much give everything you have for those last seven games."

There are a few holes in that theory though. For starters, the home team has won the last 10 Game 7s, starting with the 1982 World Series.

And home-field advantage plays a role in more than only Game 7. Over the last 20 years, the home team is 64-44 in World Series games, meaning it is 19% more likely to win than the road team.

Not surprisingly then, the home team has won 16 of the last 20 World Series, indicating that an early Series lead can build momentum. The 20-year sample size is small, but the trend sticks even back when the home team was determined arbitrarily — more arbitrarily, that is, than awarding it to the league that wins the All-Star game.

The concept of connecting home-field advantage to the outcome of the All-Star game was born after the 2002 All-Star game, which was ruled a tie after 11 innings when both teams ran out of pitchers. The next year, with the new rules in place, Scioscia decided the game was important enough to manage competitively.

"There's an inherent advantage to having that extra … game be at your park," Scioscia said. "So I think it's a tangible advantage."

The extent of the advantage varies by team. A designated hitter is used when World Series games are played in AL parks, but not when the National League team is at home.

The Angels are built for AL rules. They are fueled primarily by their potent batting lineup.

The Dodgers, who are deep with strong hitters, are better equipped than many other NL teams to win in an AL park. The addition of a DH could actually help the Dodgers, and the team is also 4 1/2 games

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better on the road than at home this season, including 11/2 games better on the road in 15 games against AL teams.

Still, Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke said that an AL team would always have the advantage in its home park.

I would say American League teams are probably more built, even the All-Star team, are built better for American League rules," Greinke said. "And National League teams are probably built better for National League rules."

He allowed that the Dodgers are "able to handle it better than some other teams."

Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon couldn't contain a big smile just thinking about the game, which had nothing to do with what was on the line.

"I think it'll be the same for me," said Gordon, a first-time All-Star. "Because it's the All-Star game."

The question of whether any World Series advantage should be determined by a midseason exhibition game flares up pretty much every season at this time. But by now, a strong precedent has been set.

Changing the rule, Scioscia said, is "probably a conversation for a different time."

FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Miller: Could it be L.A. vs. O.C. again? By Jeff Miller We owe them one – at least one – after what the Kings did to the Ducks this spring, L.A.’s hockey team leaving the one from O.C. so battered in Game 7 that there wasn’t enough ice on the Honda Center rink to slow the swelling. The opportunity for payback could come sooner than expected, this fall in fact, on an even larger stage. How about the Angels and Dodgers meeting in a Series that shrinks the World to roughly the size of a baseball? Sounds too perfect to happen? Well, what were the odds of two Dodgers throwing no-hitters within a 24-day span? Never before has an All-Star break arrived with the possibility so alive, so real that it can be discussed this seriously. Seriously, that is, for this space, where much too often the objective is to find ways to make jokes about bodily functions. The Angels entered the break as baseball’s strongest team, having gone 26-9 since June 6 and threatening to turn the wild-card race into something decidedly mild and not really a race at all. They’re 12 games better than they were at this point last year, and just imagine where they’d be if the Angels hadn’t needed half the season to figure out they had a closer, it just wasn’t Ernesto Frieri.

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The Dodgers have put together the fourth-best record in the majors behind baseball’s top rotation, this being a difficult game to lose when the opposition can’t score. If you don’t understand the importance of pitching, you haven’t noticed that the San Francisco Giants have won two of the past four World Series with a lineup less unparalleled and more unremarkable. So, this is a great day to write about baseball, particularly since the Lakers continue to refuse to make news. At some point, presumably before halftime of the opener, the team will hire a head coach, right? Until then, it’s all about baseball around here. ESPN’s website Tuesday released a story that went on and on about Mike Trout’s greatness, concluding that he is definitely the future of baseball and, quite possibly, a superhero. We aren’t going to accuse ESPN of hyperventilating or anything. But we will point out that last week the network couldn’t have dedicated more coverage to LeBron James even had he, as opposed to signing with Cleveland, done something really unexpected, like given birth. Yasiel Puig also has been getting a lot of attention at the All-Star Game, much more than you’d expect for a hitter who, since the end of May, has one home run. That’s half as many as the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner, who, as a pitcher, is supposed to hit like a sportswriter. Only less athletically. At this moment, the Angels have a 99 percent chance of making the postseason and the Dodgers a 90 percent chance, according to Baseball Prospectus, which is made of a bunch of people who certainly know their stuff, even if we have no clue what they’re talking about. Tuesday, for example, someone at Baseball Prospectus wrote about Fernando Rodney and referenced his FIP or Fielding Independent Pitching, everyone aware that baseball needs more ways to be explained numerically. To quote Baseball Prospectus: This statistic converts a pitcher’s three true outcomes into an earned run average-like number. The formula is (13*HR+3*BB-2*K)/IP, plus a constant (usually around 3.2) to put it on the same scale as earned run average. Got it? Good. Now explain it in terms that won’t make our temples scream. Hard to believe, but Baseball Prospectus can take a game that sometimes drags on like a trigonometry lesson and make it feel even more like homework. We’re not exactly sure how Tommy Lasorda would have reacted after a defeat to a question about Burt Hooton’s FIP, but we’re guessing his choice of language could have blushed the paint off the walls. Our point this is: Both the Angels and Dodgers are looking like legitimate World Series contenders, and it doesn’t take the Pythagorean theorem to figure that out. All it takes is a glance at the standings and an understanding that these teams have surged to their respective spots. The Angels and Dodgers have played well, no doubt, but neither team has been without issues. This would suggest better things are possible, which in turn suggests the best thing is possible. Angels

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versus Dodgers in the 2014 World Series could happen. It’s a long way off and a lot of things have to happen first. But just consider all the things that have happened already. This could be the year, and why not? Having witnessed what L.A. against O.C. can feel like in the postseason, why not contemplate the most delicious of possibilities? Besides, the alternative is to sit around quietly, in an awkward silence, and the Lakers already are doing plenty of that for all of us.

Troutstanding: Angels outfielder is All-Star MVP By Bill Plunkett

MINNEAPOLIS – Transitions of power rarely go so smoothly.

Baseball convened in Minnesota this week to fete and fawn over Derek Jeter and the impending end to his 20-year reign as the sport’s shining example. And they might have crowned his successor at the same time.

Jeter went 2 for 2 in his final All-Star Game. But it was Angels outfielder Mike Trout who took home the Most Valuable Player trophy after driving in his boyhood idol with a first-inning triple and breaking a tie with an RBI double in the fifth as the American League beat the National League , 5-3, Tuesday night at Target Field.

Even Jeter wanted to see more of Trout. When AL manager John Farrell pulled Trout after five innings, Jeter met him on the top step of the dugout and needled him – “You’re done? Twenty-two years old and you’re done?”

“He wanted me to play nine innings,” Trout said later. “He was messing around with me. It’s all fun. It’s special for me. Chills, goose bumps – you name it. Everything was running through my body.”

At 22, Trout is the second-youngest player to win the All-Star Game’s MVP. Ken Griffey Jr. was 106 days younger when he was named MVP at the 1992 event. Trout is the fourth Angels player to be chosen the All-Star Game MVP, joining Leon Wagner (1962), Fred Lynn (1983) and Garret Anderson (2003).

“He’s exciting to watch. I have enjoyed competing against him, getting to know him a little bit this particular All-Star Game and two years ago,” Jeter said of the ongoing theme in Minnesota – that Trout was poised to replace the 40-year-old Jeter as “the face of baseball.”

“I think – let Mike be Mike. I don’t think people have to necessarily appoint someone to a particular position. You know, if he continues to do the things that he’s done, he has his head on right, he plays the game the right way, he plays hard. The challenge for him is going to be like the challenge for most people – to be consistent year in, year out.

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“But Mike’s going to be in a lot of All-Star games. He already has the respect from players around the league. He’s got a bright future ahead of him. I don’t know how much better he can get. But if he consistently does what he’s doing, then he will be here for a long time.”

The respect for Jeter was evident Tuesday night. A recording of deceased Yankee Stadium announcer Bob Sheppard was used to introduce Jeter before his at-bats, and his first plate appearance drew a standing ovation. Players from both dugouts stepped out onto the field to applaud. Even National League starter Adam Wainwright stepped back off the mound to applaud and allow Jeter to soak up the moment.

Then he allowed a double to Jeter – perhaps intentionally.

“I was going to give him a couple pipe shots. He deserved it,” Wainwright said after leaving the game. “I didn’t know he was going to hit a double or I might have changed my mind.”

Jeter doubled, Trout tripled and Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run home run to give the AL a 3-0 lead on Wainwright and the NL stars.

Then Wainwright really took a pounding. In his own description, he was “taken to the slaughterhouse” on social media when his “pipe shots” comment made the rounds. After the game, he back-pedaled like an NFL cornerback, saying he “misspoke” in using that phrase.

“I’m an idiot and I made a mistake,” a repentant Wainwright said. “What I meant to say was – I was intentionally trying to throw a strike and get him out. Which is what I do most of the time. I messed up but I didn't try to give up a hit. I didn't mess up that way. I messed up in the way I spoke.”

Jeter brushed off the controversy as easily as the hundreds of others that have washed over him in New York but never caught him up.

“If he grooved it, thank you,” Jeter joked. “You still have to hit it. I appreciate it if that’s what he did. Thank you.”

The NL matched the AL’s three-run head start with Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon scoring the tying run on one of Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s two RBI doubles. But Trout drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth and the AL was on top to stay.

Trout left the game after the fifth inning. In his first three All-Star Games, Trout is 4 for 7 with two doubles, a triple and two RBI. Jeter finished his 14th All-Star Game with his third multihit game and a .481 average (13 for 27) in the annual exhibition. That average ranks fifth all-time for players with at least 10 All-Star at-bats.

The win was the American League’s 14th in the past 18 All-Star Games (with one notable tie) and gives the AL representative home-field advantage in the World Series.

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Angel Stadium demolition study won't be released By Art Marroquin

ANAHEIM – A report estimating how much it would cost to demolish Angel Stadium and build a new ballpark will be kept secret during the team’s stadium lease negotiations with Anaheim.

Mayor Tom Tait had wanted the city-commissioned analysis to be made public Tuesday, but could not muster any support from his four City Council colleagues. Public-records laws allow government agencies, like the city of Anaheim, to opt to keep property appraisals under wraps until a deal is completed.

“If you own a unique house on a unique piece of property, one of the ways to appraise it is to determine how much it would cost to replace it,” Tait said. “It lets the public know how much that asset is worth.”

Waronzof Associates was paid $37,380 to complete the study, which also evaluates how other Major League Baseball teams have fared by using public dollars for stadium construction.

An Angels spokeswoman declined to comment late Tuesday because the team has not yet reviewed the report.

The Angels and the city have a stadium grounds’ lease that runs until 2029, but the baseball team can opt out from 2016 to 2019. Both parties have spent the past 10 months working toward a new lease based on a series of bargaining points, including one that would allow team owner Arte Moreno’s development firm, Pacific Coast Investors, to lease the parking lots for $1 annually over 66 years.

Councilwomen Gail Eastman and Lucille Kring said they believed that publicizing the report could potentially harm the city’s bargaining position with the Angels.

“If we have something that we’re not sure whether it would hurt or further facilitate negotiations, my instinct says we should wait until it’s appropriate and we have something to vote on.”

Tait called for the report shortly after city officials in May publicized an appraisal that determined the property surrounding Angel Stadium to be worth $225 million to $325 million.

The land around the ballpark is valued at $225 million if Arte Moreno’s team stays in town and the land is leased long term to a developer for housing and offices, according to the earlier appraisal. That value jumps to $325 million if the Angels leave Anaheim, the stadium is torn down and the entire city-owned 154.6-acre property is sold to a developer – a scenario that city leaders have said they want to avoid.

“We released the appraisal, even though there was some argument that would weaken our negotiation point,” Councilwoman Kris Murray said. “It’s unfortunate that we’re even looking at what it would mean to demolish our stadium. We need a deal.”

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When Rally Monkeys fly: Angels are baseball's hottest team going into All-Star break By Marcia C. Smith

Is it too soon to be hopeful, to wish – maybe even dream – about the Angels making it in the 2014 World Series?

“Anybody who’s a true Angels fan is happy right now and not worried about jinxing anything,” said an ebullient Corey Wylde, 57, of Fullerton, who has been true to the Halos since witnessing the club’s home opener in 1961.

We’re at the All-Star break for major league baseball, a gut-checkpoint for players and fans, and the Angels are expectedly (or surprisingly, depending on whom you ask) sitting pretty.

The high-payroll, high-profile squad that has broken hearts and the bank the past four seasons has morphed into baseball’s hottest team. The hitting is strong, the pitching is strong. Manager Mike Scioscia even looks a little smarter this year than in the past couple.

At 57-37 – a whopping 20 games over .500 – they’re within one solid tobacco spit of catching the stinking dog Oakland A’s (59-36) in the AL West.

If the season ended today, the Angels would own the AL’s top wildcard spot.

If it all sounds familiar, it should.

In 2002, a gritty, rag-tag collection of Angels reached the World Series as a Wild Card. And they too had to overcome a Bay Area opponent – the San Francisco Giants and their human pimple of a superstar, Barry Bonds. That Angels team got hot in June and stayed that way until they cooled off under some October champagne.

But today’s Angels, on paper at least, are anti-rag tag; a glamour team with a payroll of $158 million, the sixth most bloated in baseball. And until about six weeks ago, that money seemed less-than-well spent.

Eye-rolling/head-scratching contracts of $246 million to three-time NL MVP slugger Albert Pujols in 2012, and $125 million to Josh Hamilton in 2013, did little more than whet fans’ appetites.

The emergence of Mike Trout (2012 AL Rookie of the Year; hero to Internet statheads; probably the best player in baseball) took away some of the sting. But only some.

It was so bad that going into this season that Angels fans were already prepping for the worst.

“There weren’t any expectations early this season after what happen the last three,” said Donna Rodriguez, 36, of Huntington Beach.

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Maybe playing without the pressure of a Steinway of expectations on their shoulders is what has allowed the Angels to just play baseball?

Scioscia frequently talks about playing loose and having fun, which is what Trout – the smiling, hand-slapping, Little Leaguer-in-The-Show – does.

It’s spreading. These Angels are playing contract-free baseball; as if Pujols, Hamilton and even Trout trying aren’t trying to live up to all the digits on their paychecks. The stars have become the Boys of Summer, hustling with the same hunger of the role players and clutch contributors, Kole Calhoun, Collin Cowgill and Grant Green.

The loose Angels are steamrolling opponents, going 26-9 since June 6, a major league best. They’ve won 19 of their past 23 games.

They’re coming off their first-ever four-game sweep of Texas with Sunday’s 10-7 victory on sauna-like 99-degree afternoon.

These Angels are looking as good on the field as they’ve looked General Manager Jerry Dipoto’s blueprints.

That’s after 94 games. The season is 162, plus some extras that are now expected. Now that they’ve found their mojo, can they keep it?

We can only dream.

FROM ANGELS.COM

Be like Mike: MVP cements Trout's status among elite By Anthony Castrovince

MINNEAPOLIS -- No advanced statistical arguments needed to be made.

Nobody had to drop a reference to WAR or discuss the intricacies of baserunning or defense or disparage the modern-day value of the Triple Crown.

All you had to do was watch the 85th All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Target Field, and the high points of the American League's 5-3 victory over the Senior Circuit were argument enough. Because while this night was clearly a celebration of Derek Jeter in his All-Star adieu, it doubled as a showcase for the 22-year-old kid who has quickly established himself as the game's top all-around talent.

Yes, finally, Mike Trout has an MVP Award.

It's the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet, not the AL MVP Award presented by the Baseball Writers' Association of America -- the award so many thought Trout deserved in 2012 and '13, when Miguel Cabrera dominated the vote. The All-Star honor is, however, an important

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milepost in the career of "The Millville Meteor," because it attaches tangible hardware to his status as a star among stars.

"Chills, goosebumps, you name it," Trout said after a 2-for-3 night in which he notched a double, triple, two RBIs and a run scored. "Everything was running through my body."

Maybe some assumed this MVP Award, in the event of an AL victory, was Jeter's to lose, provided he didn't strike out six times or interrupt Idina Menzel's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" or punch out T.C. Bear.

And really, a Jeter MVP would have been as much statistical as sentimental.

It was, after all, Jeter's leadoff double -- a classic inside-out swing on Adam Wainwright's 1-0 pitch -- in the bottom of the first that got the AL going, and he added a single in the third before departing with the fifth-highest career All-Star average (.481) among players with at least 10 at-bats.

But Trout, in his third Midsummer Classic, was the one who drove Jeter in after that double with a triple off the right-field wall. The ball rocketed off the wall and away from Yasiel Puig, who was overly aggressive in his pursuit, and Trout slid into third and let out a primal howl of approval.

In a sport that loves a good narrative, that triple provided an obvious one -- the so-called new face of the game driving in the departing face of the game. And Trout cemented his MVP allure when he put the AL up for good, 4-3, with an RBI double off Pat Neshek to score Derek Norris in the fifth.

So Trout was a sensible choice for the award. And at 22 years, 342 days old, he became the second-youngest player to win it, behind Ken Griffey Jr. in 1992.

"I think anybody who's a fan of the game will certainly pick this game to play close attention to," AL manager John Farrell said. "When you see two guys, I don't want to say at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their career, but two extremely talented guys -- one a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one who has a darn good start on a career that is hopefully long and productive in Trout's case."

This would be seemingly a good time to drop in the phrase "passing of the torch."

It's a phrase -- you might have noticed -- being used quite often in reference to Trout and Jeter right now.

But the truth is that as much respect as Jeter has commanded, as much success as he has enjoyed, as many memorable moments as he has provided, he never separated himself in all facets of the game quite the way Trout has done in his first three full seasons. Jeter won the All-Star Game MVP Award in 2000, but he's never won an AL MVP Award, and, here in 2014, Trout is putting up yet another strong statistical argument for that achievement.

So, no, Trout does not need to be the new Jeter, as Jeter himself would tell you.

"Let Mike be Mike," Jeter said. "I don't think people have to necessarily appoint someone to a particular position. You know, if he continues to do the things that he's done, he has his head on right, he plays the game the right way, he plays hard, the challenge for him is going to be like the challenge for most people, to be consistent, year in, year out.

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"But Mike's going to be in a lot of All-Star Games," Jeter continued. "He already has the respect from players around the league, but he's got a bright future ahead of him. I don't know how much better he can get, but if he consistently does what he's doing, then he will be here for a long time."

When Trout came out of the game after five innings, Jeter kidded with him in the dugout.

"He said he wanted me to play nine," Trout said with a laugh. "He said I'm 22 years old and coming out of the game, it's the sixth inning, I should be playing nine."

But for an AL team that captured home-field advantage in the World Series for the second straight year, five innings of Trout in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" was plenty.

The MVP had made his statement.

AL-Americans: Jeter, Trout spark victory By Rhett Bollinger

MINNEAPOLIS -- The 2014 All-Star Game at Target Field was always going to be about Derek Jeter.

Jeter has been the face of baseball for nearly two decades, winning five World Series titles and being named an All-Star 14 times in a career that is set to end with his retirement after the season.

So it was only fitting that the Yankees' legend went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored to help lead the American League to a 5-3 win over the National League on Tuesday on a beautiful Minnesota night that saw a first-pitch temperature of 72 degrees.

"I'm not retiring at the end of the year, because I don't think I can play -- it's just the time is right," Jeter said. "So today, I was fortunate. I enjoy playing these All-Star Games and competing against the best, and today, I was fortunate to get a couple of hits. But I still feel as though I can play."

Angels star and All-Star Game MVP Mike Trout added an RBI triple in the first inning and a go-ahead double in the fifth, while Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the first to pace the offense for the AL, which won home-field advantage in the World Series for the second straight year.

Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer picked up the victory for the Junior Circuit, and Twins closer Glen Perkins picked up the save for the AL in front of the home crowd. Perkins, a Minnesota native, received a huge ovation as he trotted to the mound and pitched to his batterymate, Kurt Suzuki.

Perkins made quick work of the NL, throwing a perfect ninth on just nine pitches, much to the delight of the hometown crowd, which chanted his name throughout the inning.

"I think [it met] my expectations and more," Perkins said. "But coming in there and hearing the reception, hearing how loud the fans were, it makes me want to get to the playoffs, because I think it felt like a playoff atmosphere out there tonight."

And it was an electric atmosphere in what was Jeter's final All-Star Game and with Trout's MVP performance. It was almost as if the 40-year-old was passing the torch to Trout, whom many believe is

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the best all-around player in baseball at just 22 years old and could soon replace Jeter as baseball's signature star.

"Growing up, I was setting goals to myself that when I get, if I ever get the chance to get to the big leagues, that's how I want to play," Trout said of Jeter. "Just the way he carries himself on and off the field and how he respects the game."

Jeter's first at-bat to lead off the game was a memorable one, as 41,048 fans in attendance gave him a 63-second ovation before he stepped into the batter's box, with Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright waiting behind the mound to let Jeter receive the fans' applause.

Just two pitches later, Jeter received even more cheers after he doubled to right field on a 1-0 cutter from Wainwright to help spark a three-run first inning for the AL. It was the first time Wainwright had faced Jeter.

"I'm just glad I got to face him whether that was the outcome or not," Wainwright said. "It's something I can always say to my kids that I faced one of the greatest of all time. He got a hit. He beat me. I'm proud to have faced him, though."

After Jeter's double, Trout tripled to right field to score Jeter, before Cabrera deposited an 0-1 fastball from Wainwright into the left-field seats to get the AL out to an early 3-0 lead with one out.

The NL rallied with two runs in the second against Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester. Phillies second baseman Chase Utley doubled home the first run before coming around to score on an RBI double from Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

Jeter was again the center of attention in the third, leading off with a single to right field off Reds right-hander Alfredo Simon. Jeter advanced to second on a wild pitch, but he was stranded there.

"I'm proud he got a base hit," Simon said. "I'm really happy for him. I just feel happy. My family has seen me pitch in the All-Star Game."

It led to an unforgettable moment in the top of the fourth when Jeter ran out to field his position, only to be replaced by White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez. Jeter walked off the field with Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" blaring throughout the stadium, and he hugged his AL teammates upon entering the dugout.

Jeter then came out to a curtain call, receiving an even bigger ovation from the crowd. He finished his All-Star career with a .481 average by going 13-for-27, with his 13 hits ranking as the fifth most in the history of the Midsummer Classic.

"I thought it was great," Jeter said. "I didn't know what was going to happen. My back was turned, and I heard [former teammate Robinson] Cano yelling. Usually when he yells, I ignore him. And then I saw Ramirez come out. So it was a wonderful moment that I am always going to remember."

The NL tied the game in the fourth on a two-out rally, with Utley getting plunked by a pitch from White Sox ace Chris Sale. Utley was pinch-run for by Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon, who showed off his impressive speed by scoring on a double off the right-field wall from Lucroy.

The AL took the lead for good with a two-run fifth inning against Cardinals reliever and Minnesota native Pat Neshek. A's catcher Derek Norris and Ramirez both singled with one out before Trout plated

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Norris with a double down the left-field line. Astros second baseman Jose Altuve added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to left off Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard, with the run charged to Neshek.

The two clubs traded zeros over the last four innings, with a group of impressive relievers dominating the final innings. A total of 21 pitchers were used on the night, with only four of those pitchers giving up at least one run. It also marked the first time in All-Star Game history no pitcher went more than one inning.

MLB Notebook: Jeter and Trout spark AL victory By Roger Schlueter

On July 11, 1978, in San Diego, Giants left-hander Vida Blue -- honored with the starting assignment for the National League in the 49th All-Star Game -- immediately faced the unenviable task of trying to keep leadoff hitter Rod Carew off the bases.

As many pitchers did around this time, Blue failed, surrendering a triple to the lefty-swinging hitter, who just a year before had made a run at hitting .400. With Carew at third, George Brett -- who, in 1980, would replicate Carew's chase for a .400 season -- doubled against Blue and later scored to give the American League a 2-0 advantage in the first inning.

The dynamic duo would be at it again in the third, with Carew opening the inning with a triple and Brett again driving him in, this time on a sacrifice fly. Brett would later single, and although the AL lost for the seventh straight time, those two at the top of the Junior Circuit's starting lineup had done something no other teammates hitting first and second in an All-Star Game had ever done: each had at least two hits, each had at least one extra-base hit, and each scored at least one run.

Derek Jeter and Mike Trout, with their performances in Minnesota on Tuesday night, joined those two AL icons.

Captain goes out in style In the 85th All-Star Game, the AL fell a single shy of hitting for the cycle while jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, and it eventually came away with a 5-3 victory.

Jeter -- an All-Star for the 14th time -- led off for the AL and went 2-for-2 with a first-inning double and a single in the third. With the effort, Jeter finished his All-Star career with 13 hits in 27 at-bats (he's totaled 29 plate appearances) for a .481 career average.

There are 51 players who have collected at least 25 plate appearances in the Midsummer Classic. Among that group, Jeter's .481 mark is second to Charlie Gehringer's .500 (10-for-20 in 29 plate appearances).

NO. 2 RANKS NO. 2

Derek Jeter ranks second in batting average among players with at least 25 All-Star plate appearances.

Player Avg. PA

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Derek Jeter ranks second in batting average among players with at least 25 All-Star plate appearances.

Player Avg. PA

Charlie Gehringer .500 (10-for-20) 29

Derek Jeter .481 (13-for-27) 29

Ken Griffey, Jr. .440 (11-for-25) 28

Billy Herman .433 (13-for-30) 31

Steve Garvey .393 (11-for-28) 30

• Jeter concluded his All-Star career tied for fifth all-time in hits, with those 13. The top four are Willie Mays (23), Stan Musial (20), Ted Williams (14) and Nellie Fox (14). At 13, Jeter is tied with Billy Herman, Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Dave Winfield and Cal Ripken, Jr.

• Jeter became the 18th player with at least three multihit games in All-Star play (Mays leads with six). The others to have at least three as AL representatives: Gehringer, Fox, Robinson, Ken Griffey Jr. (each of these four with four), Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Carew, Brett and Ivan Rodriguez (all with three).

• Jeter became the 26th leadoff hitter to have an All-Star Game with at least two hits and a run scored, and he was one of 15 to also have an extra-base hit as part of the line. Among this group of 15, Jeter was the first since J.D. Drew in 2008 to do this, the first shortstop since Jose Reyes in '07, and the first AL shortstop since Dick McAuliffe in 1965.

• At 40 years and 19 days old, Jeter became the oldest player in All-Star history with a multihit game. He surpassed Yastrzemski, who was 39 years and 329 days old in 1979, when he had two singles. The previous oldest player with at least two hits and one going for extra bases had been Babe Ruth, who was 38 years and 150 days old in 1933, when he homered and singled.

Trout is game's big fish Trout, at 22 years and 342 days old, tripled, doubled, drove in two runs, scored one and won the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet.

Some tidbits regarding his line:

• Trout is one of 20 players in All-Star Game history with at least two extra-base hits and two RBIs (the NL's Jonathan Lucroy also did this Tuesday -- more on him in a bit); Trout is the third youngest of the collection. Griffey Jr. was 22 years and 236 days old when he went 3-for-3 with a double, homer and two RBIs in a 13-6 victory in 1992. In the AL's 7-5 win in 1941, Williams -- 22 years and 312 days old at the time -- had doubled and had one RBI before his three-run walk-off homer in the ninth capped his day. The oldest player with at least two extra-base hits was Lou Gehrig, who was 34 years and 18 days old in 1937 when he doubled, homered and drove in four.

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• Trout was the 10th AL player to post two extra-base hits and two RBIs, and the first to do it since Garret Anderson in 2003. The others: Earl Averill (1934), Gehrig ('37), Williams ('41 and '46), Al Rosen ('54), Griffey Jr. ('92), Kirby Puckett ('93) and Paul Konerko (2002).

Tigers roar for AL In addition to Cabrera hitting the game's only home run, his Tigers teammate Max Scherzer came away with the win.

Scherzer was the fourth Tigers pitcher to record an All-Star victory, and the first since Jim Bunning in 1957 (Bunning started and hurled three perfect innings). Before Bunning, reliever Tommy Bridges picked up the victory in '39, and reliever Virgil Trucks got a win in '49.

Cabrera was the 13th Tigers player to homer in the All-Star Game, and the third to do it as the AL's cleanup hitter. His two predecessors in this latter lens: Al Kaline in 1960 and Rocky Colavito in '62. Before Cabrera, no Tigers player had homered in an All-Star Game since Lou Whitaker in '86. The only other Tigers first baseman to go yard in the Midsummer Classic was Rudy York in '42.

Here and there • The all-time record now stands at 43 wins for the NL, 40 for the AL. There were ties in the second game played in 1961 and in 2002. Since Fred Lynn's grand slam in 1983 helped his league snap an 11-game losing streak to the Senior Circuit, the AL has won 22 of 32, and since 1997, has gone 14-3-1.

• As mentioned, Lucroy became one of 20 players in All-Star history to have at least two extra-base hits and two RBIs. The other NL players to accomplish the feat were Arky Vaughan (1941), Ernie Banks ('60), Willie McCovey ('69), Bobby Bonds ('73), Gary Carter ('81), Mike Schmidt ('81), Mike Piazza ('96), Andruw Jones (2003) and Albert Pujols ('04).

• Eleven AL pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and one walk. The line marked the fifth time in All-Star Game history a league collected at least 13 K's, with the one walk marking the second-lowest total of free passes among the five. In 1967, five AL pitchers -- Dean Chance, Jim McGlothlin, Gary Peters, Al Downing and Catfish Hunter -- combined for 13 strikeouts and no walks in a 15-inning, 2-1 loss.

Trout humbled to share All-Star stage with Jeter By Chris Haft

MINNEAPOLIS -- Mike Trout typically earns recognition for what he tangibly accomplishes. On Monday, he commanded attention for what he potentially represents.

Reporters streamed to Trout as if he held the key to life. In a way, what he possessed -- or was thought to possess by interrogators -- was just as important, at least to baseball fans.

Trout was asked whether he thought he could succeed Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter as "the face of the game." Indeed, in the midst of his third consecutive superb season at age 22 and having established a strong base of popularity, Trout would seem to be a leading candidate to inherit this unofficial yet very real distinction from Jeter, who will retire after this season.

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Trout wisely skirted this question as deftly as he could. Answering "yes" might seem boastful. Responding "no" might sound dismissive.

"I'm just going to keep playing the way I've been playing," said Trout, the Angels megastar who takes a .310 batting average, 22 home runs and 73 RBIs into Tuesday's All-Star Game at Target Field.

Perhaps symbolically, Trout will bat second for the American League -- immediately following Jeter, the leadoff man.

"Just to be part of the same lineup and same clubhouse as him is going to be special for me," Trout said. "It's going to be something to remember, to be a part of it and experience it firsthand."

That's because Trout, like most big leaguers, maintains unqualified admiration for Jeter. Like Jeter, Trout played shortstop and wore No. 2 at Millville (N.J.) Senior High School and didn't switch to outfield until his senior year.

Trout was primarily a Phillies fan, "but I liked the way Jeter played," he said. "The way he carries himself on the field, he's a true professional."

This will be Trout's third All-Star Game in as many full seasons. He continues to cherish the midsummer experience.

"All-Star Games are for taking in the moment," he said.

Given the focus on Jeter, this one will be no exception.

As a fellow shortstop, Erick Aybar, the Angels' other All-Star representative, is particularly appreciative of Jeter's place in the game. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Aybar had no shortage of baseball role models. But Jeter stood out as a player to emulate.

"He's a great guy on the field and a great guy off the field," Aybar said. "When you see a guy like him, you want to be like him."

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jeter, Trout lead AL over NL 5-3 in All-Star game By Ronald Blum MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Derek Jeter soaked in the adulation from fans and players during one more night on baseball's national stage, set the tone for the American League with a pregame speech and then delivered two final All-Star hits.

Mike Trout, perhaps the top candidate to succeed the 40-year-old Yankees captain as the face of the game, seemed ready to assume the role with a tiebreaking triple and later a go-ahead double that earned the 22-year-old MVP honors.

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On a summer evening filled with reminders of generational change, the AL kept up nearly two decades of dominance by beating the National League 5-3 Tuesday for its 13th win in 17 years.

''I think let Mike be Mike. I don't think people have to necessarily appoint someone to a particular position,'' Jeter said. ''He's got a bright future ahead of him. I don't know how much better he can get, but if he consistently does what he's doing, then he will be here for a long time.''

Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer to help give the AL champion home-field advantage for the World Series.

No matter what else happened, from the start it seemed destined to be another special event for Jeter.

He made a diving stop on Andrew McCutchen's grounder to shortstop leading off the game and nearly threw him out at first, then received a 63-second standing ovation when he walked to the plate before his opposite-field double to right leading off the bottom half. He was given another rousing cheer before his single to right starting the third and 2 1-2 minutes more applause after AL manager John Farrell sent Alexei Ramirez to shortstop to replace him at the start of the fourth.

As Frank Sinatra's recording of ''New York, New York'' boomed over the Target Field speakers and his parents watched from the stands, Jeter repeatedly waved to the crowd, exchanged handshakes and hugs with just about every person in the AL dugout and then came back onto the field for a curtain call.

''It was a special moment and it was unscripted,'' Jeter said. ''I was unaware of it.''

NL manager Mike Matheny of the Cardinals didn't want it to stop.

''The guys on our side have the utmost respect for him and would like to have been standing out there for a little while longer,'' he said. ''I think Derek was the one that was uncomfortable with it.''

While not as flashy as Mariano Rivera's All-Star farewell at Citi Field last year, when all the other players left the great reliever alone on the field for an eighth-inning solo bow, Jeter tried not to make a fuss and to deflect the attention.

Even during his clubhouse speech.

''He just wanted to thank us,'' Trout said. ''You know, we should be thanking him.''

A 14-time All-Star who was MVP of the 2000 game in Atlanta, Jeter announced in February this will be his final season. His hits left him with a .481 All-Star average (13 for 27), just behind Charlie Gehringer's .500 record (10 for 20) for players with 20 or more at-bats.

While the Yankees are .500 at the break and in danger of missing the postseason in consecutive years for the first time in two decades, Jeter and the Angels' Trout gave a boost to whichever AL team reaches the World Series.

The AL improved to 9-3 since the All-Star game started deciding which league gets Series home-field advantage; 23 of the last 28 titles were won by teams scheduled to host four of a possible seven games.

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Detroit's Max Scherzer, in line to be the most-prized free agent pitcher after the season, pitched a scoreless fifth for the win, and Glen Perkins got the save in his home ballpark.

Target Field, a $545 million, limestone-encased jewel that opened in 2010, produced an All-Star cycle just eight batters in, with hitters showing off flashy neon-bright spikes and fielders wearing All-Star caps with special designs for the first time.

With the late sunset - the sky didn't darken until the fifth inning, well after 9 o'clock - there was bright sunshine when Jeter was cheered before his first at-bat. He was introduced by a recording of late Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard's deep monotone. St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright left his glove on the mound and backed up toward second, clapping along with the crowd of 41,048.

''I tried to tell him to pick it up - let's go,'' Jeter said. ''But he took a moment and let the fans give me an ovation which I will always remember.''

When Jeter finally stepped into the batter's box, he took a ball and lined a 90 mph cutter down the right-field line for a double.

''I was going to give him a couple pipe shots just to - he deserved it,'' Wainwright said. ''I thought he was going to hit something hard to the right side for a single or an out. I probably should have pitched him a little bit better.''

After those in-game remarks created a stir on the Internet, Wainwright amended himself: ''It was mis-said. I hope people realize I'm not intentionally giving up hits out there.''

Trout, who finished second to Cabrera in AL MVP voting in each of the last two seasons, became the second-youngest All-Star MVP, about 3 1-2 months older than Ken Griffey Jr. was in 1992.

Playing in his third All-Star game, Trout followed Jeter in the first by tripling off the right-field wall. Cabrera's homer - just the fourth in the last six All-Star games - made it 3-0, but the NL tied it on consecutive RBI doubles by Chase Utley and Jonathan Lucroy off Jon Lester in the second and Lucroy's run-scoring double against Chris Sale in the fourth.

Trout put the AL ahead for good with an RBI double in the fifth - a bouncer over third base against Pat Neshek, the St. Louis reliever who grew up in the Minneapolis suburbs and started his career with the Twins. Jose Altuve followed with a sacrifice fly off Tyler Clippard.

Raised in New Jersey, Trout saw a lot of Jeter and said all week he felt honored to play alongside him.

''Growing up I was setting goals to myself that when I get - if I ever get the chance to get - to the big leagues, that's how I want to play,'' Trout said. ''And the way he carries himself on and off the field, how he respects the game - always hustling, it doesn't matter what the score is. If they are down 10 runs, he is always running the ball out. That's how I want to play.''

NOTES: The NL holds a 43-40 advantage, with ties in 1961 and 2002. ... Neshek's brother works on the grounds crew at Target Field.

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FROM YAHOO SPORTS

Mike Trout wins MVP, AL tops NL and everyone leaves wondering about Adam Wainwright's intentions vs. Derek Jeter By Jeff Passan MINNEAPOLIS – Baseball's 2014 All-Star Game featured a national coming-out party for Mike Trout, a strikeout parade for Yasiel Puig and a 90-mph fastball that left Derek Jeter's final game shrouded in controversy.

National League starter Adam Wainwright admitted he grooved Jeter the first two pitches of night, the latter of which Jeter stroked for a double that highlighted a 2-for-2 evening. Trout drove him in with a triple, the first of two extra-base hits on his way to winning the game's MVP award for leading the American League to a 5-3 victory on Tuesday night that gives the AL champion home-field advantage in the World Series.

Wainwright's comments to a group of reporters following his appearance in the game only reinforced the dubious awarding of home-field based on a game in which the starting pitcher was more than content to feed Jeter, the New York Yankees shortstop and a surefire Hall of Famer retiring at season's end, two easy pitches to hit.

"I was gonna give him a couple pipe shots. He deserved it," said Wainwright, the St. Louis Cardinals starter. "I didn't know he was gonna hit a double or I might have changed my mind."

Wainwright apologized for the comments, namely to Jeter, in a later interview with Fox.

"You know what, sometimes my humor gets taken the wrong way," Wainwright said. "I feel terrible about this. If anyone’s taken any credit away from what Derek Jeter has done tonight, or off me or anything, I mean, it was mis-said. I made a mistake about that."

Jeter, in classic fashion, laced the ball down the right-field line, just as he did with a third-inning single. In the top of the fourth inning, he left the game to a massive applause, replete with a curtain call and two doffs of his cap, the same number he deigned to give before his first at-bat.

"If [Wainwright] grooved it, thank you," Jeter said after the game. "Still gotta hit it."

All night, the crowd of 41,048 at Target Field bathed Jeter with appreciation on what could be his final national stage. That he batted in front of Trout, to whom he passes his mantel as the face of baseball, was more than appropriate.

Trout, the 22-year-old outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels whom Jeter joked in the dugout was too young to exit before the game was over, added a game-winning double to his triple and finished with a pair of RBIs and a run scored on a first-inning Miguel Cabrera home run.

The AL took a 3-0 lead in the first frame, only to cough it up in the fourth before retaking it an inning later on Trout's double and tacking on another with a Jose Altuve sacrifice fly. Max Scherzer earned the win with a zero in the fifth inning, and Scott Kazmir, Koji Uehara, Greg Holland, Sean Doolittle, Fernando Rodney and Glen Perkins, a born-and-bred Minnesotan, threw four more scoreless innings to lock down

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the NL. Cardinals pitchers combined to allow all five AL runs, with reliever Pat Neshek taking the loss after giving up the final two runs.

That wasn't the worst performance of the night. Puig, the Los Angeles Dodgers star participating in his first All-Star week, followed his zero-homer performance in the Home Run Derby on Monday night with an even more dubious achievement: three strikeouts in three at-bats over five innings and 18 pitches. He swung through a 90-mph changeup from AL starter Felix Hernandez in the first, stared at a 79-mph slider from Yu Darvish in the third and swung over an 84-mph slider from Scherzer in the third.

Granted, they are perhaps three of the 10 best pitchers on earth, so the shame isn't altogether overwhelming. Puig will have plenty more All-Star Games, along with Trout and the litany of other young stars in the game. It was one of the better in recent years, from the 56-mph eephus curveball Darvish unleashed to the shot from Cabrera to the brilliance of Trout to Derek Jeter doing what Derek Jeter does.

Even if he wasn't the MVP – and even if Wainwright did feed him a cookie, like Chan Ho Park to Cal Ripken Jr. in his final All-Star Game – the night was his to take, and take it he did.

FROM FOX SPORTS WEST

All-Star Game MVP Trout adds new chapter to growing legacy By Michael Martinez Tuesday night's All-Star Game on FOX in Minneapolis may have been one long curtain call for Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, but Mike Trout also had his shining moments. Come to think of it, so did a few Dodgers -- Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinkeand Dee Gordon. But definitely not Yasiel Puig. While Jeter was celebrated in his 14th and final All-Star appearance, Trout, theAngels' center fielder and arguably the best player in the game, had a memorable night in the American League's 5-3 win over the National League at Target Field. An MVP kind of evening for the Halos star. Trout followed Jeter's first-inning double with an RBI triple off the wall in right field, made a nice running catch of a sinking fly ball by Troy Tulowitzki in the third and hit a high chopper over third base for a run-scoring double in the fifth that gave the AL a 4-3 lead. Not a bad night for a 22-year-old kid playing in his third All-Star Game. Trout seems to revel in these games. He was 2 for 3 with one run and two RBI, and in three All-Star appearances, he is a collective 4 for 7, a .571 average. You think he likes the spotlight?

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Meanwhile, Angels shortstop Erick Aybar appeared as a defensive replacement in the top of the eight, replacing Aexi Ramirez, but did not get a chance to hit. Dodgers starters Kershaw and Greinke each threw one scoreless inning, and second baseman Dee Gordon had a spectacular All-Star debut. He entered the game as a pinch-runner for Chase Utley in the fourth and sprinted home on a double byMilwaukee's Jonathan Lucroy. In the bottom of the sixth, Gordon made a diving stop of a grounder by Michael Brantley in short left field and threw out Brantley at first. But Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, who didn't hit a ball out of the park in Tuesday's home run derby, had a rough night. He struck out three times, once each by Seattle's Felix Hernandez, Texas' Yu Darvish and Detroit's Max Scherzer.

FROM THE LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

Los Angeles Angels Midseason Report Card: Strong play, but still chasing the A’s By JP Hoornstra The frustrating aspect of the Angels’ season is something out of their control: Despite posting the second-best record of any team prior to the All-Star break, the Angels (56-37) are in second place in their own division. That’s because the Oakland A’s (58-36) are beating everyone. Still, the club is in a good place (whether that’s Los Angeles or Anaheim). The Angels can finish 34-35 and still win 90 games. Even a drop-off to .500 baseball would be a surprise at this point. They’re 18-4 since veteran DH Raul Ibanez was released, and have scored more runs than any team in baseball. Fans are returning after a two-year lull (average attendance: 38,000) and are likely to see the Angels’ four-year playoff drought end in October. The second half should be an exercise in fine-tuning the roster, staying healthy, and watching Mike Trout continue to chase baseball history.

OFFENSE: A+

Start with Trout’s 22 home runs, the marked improvements from Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, and the steady contributions from all-star Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, Kole Calhoun and rookie C.J. Cron. That only scratches the surface of the Angels’ depth. Grant Green (batting .324) and Efren Navarro (.317) have spent most of the season in the minor leagues because the 25-man roster is so stacked. Measured by speed, power, or the ability to make contact, the Angels’ offense is their greatest position of strength. Will GM Jerry Dipoto use this depth to upgrade his pitching staff, or simply to pound teams into submission into October?

STARTING PITCHING: B-

The top of the Angels’ rotation looks like a changing of the guard. Garrett Richards (11-2, 2.55 earned-run average) has supplanted Jered Weaver (10-6, 3.45) as the staff ace and would be in the Cy Young Award conversation if the season ended today. The rest of the rotation is full of question marks. What happened to C.J. Wilson? Is Matt Shoemaker’s 7-2 record a fluke? Do you trust Tyler Skaggs or Hector

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Santiago to start a playoff game? This rotation is better than last year’s (their 3.81 ERA is third in the American League) but still isn’t on par with possible playoff foes Oakland and Detroit.

RELIEF PITCHING: D+

The Angels have already used 28 pitchers this season, one shy of a franchise record. The bullpen is a major work in progress but the progress is at least visible. Jason Grilli, acquired in a trade for Ernesto Frieri, has pitched well in eight games as an Angel. Sean Burnett never got healthy but Joe Thatcher has stepped in as the situational lefty. Joe Smith, Kevin Jepsen and rookie Mike Morin have earned the right to close games. The most pressing personnel needs have already been addressed -- unless Dipoto wants someone with more than 49 career saves to handle the ninth inning. As it stands, Grilli is the most experienced closer on the roster.

DEFENSE: B-

The Angels rarely win games with their defense but it doesn’t cost them often, either. Using mostly the same personnel as last year, a handful of changes have made a positive difference. Pujols is healthier. Hamilton has looked more comfortable in left field than right. Trout is among the game’s most exciting center fielders so -- brilliant idea -- he moved back to center. Second baseman Howie Kendrick and shortstop Erick Aybar are a reliable double-play combination. The Angels’ shifts work more often than not, which helps mask some shortcomings. Give catcher Hank Conger extra credit for his pitch-framing ability.

MANAGER/COACHES: A-

Remember when it looked inevitable that either Mike Scioscia or Dipoto would be fired? Hard to believe that was less than a year ago. Scioscia has been dealt an interesting hand. Managing the bullpen hasn’t been easy, while even a blindfolded monkey could scribble a decent lineup card every night. Credit the skipper for his progressive attitude toward shifting and for relenting in the decision to release Ibanez. That’s one reason the Angels lead the majors in average (.306), runs (105) and slugging (.472) since June 25. Another: That’s the date hitting coach Don Baylor returned from femur surgery.

INTANGIBLES: A-

Winning breeds chemistry. So does an influx of players who will do whatever it takes to stay in the major leagues (just think of all those pitchers). Clearly defined roles and batting order positions help, too. The Angels have all of these. Not coincidentally, the clubhouse seems a bit happier than it’s been the past two years. Baylor’s broken leg could have been a terrible omen on opening day; instead it became a rallying point.

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FROM ESPN.COM

Wonderfully scripted All-Star moment By Jayson Stark MINNEAPOLIS -- They stood next to each other in the on-deck circle at 7:28 p.m., on a Tuesday evening that neither of them will ever forget.

Derek Jeter and Mike Trout. This was their night. This was their moment. This would be an evening when baseball's past, present and future were about to collide -- and plop directly into their laps. But at 7:28 p.m., Central Daylight Time, neither of them could possibly have known the spectacle that was about to unfold at Target Field. So they stood there, watching Adam Wainwright throw his final warmup pitches, and began plotting out their own script for the first inning of the 85th All-Star Game. "He told me he was going to get a hit," Trout told ESPN.com, more than three hours later. "Well, he didn't exactly tell me he was going to get a hit. He just said that if it was there, first pitch, he was going to be swinging."

Instead, shockingly, it would take Derek Jeter two pitches, not one, to slice a leadoff double into the right-field corner -- off an Adam Wainwright fastball that either was or wasn't grooved, pipe-shot or hand-delivered down the middle of the plate, depending on which conspiracy theory you buy into most. But whatever. As Jeter pulled into second base and soaked in the cheers, Trout could only gaze and shake his head over his idol's never-ending ability to keep turning his life into a major motion picture.

And as this unreal scene unfolded before him, just one thought could possibly have popped into Trout's head. Yep. That one:

"I had to drive him in," he said.

Which Trout then did -- c'mon, of course he did -- by splattering an RBI triple off the right-field fence. To kick off a three-run first inning. And to jump-start the American League toward a 5-3 victory that would forever be remembered as the Jeter & Trout Show. Or was that the Trout & Jeter Show?

It was Jeter who would go 2-for-2, in three memorable innings, making him the oldest player ever to get two hits or more in any All-Star Game ever played.

It was Trout who would win an All-Star MVP award, by tripling in the first, doubling in the fifth and joining two luminaries named Ted Williams and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only men ever to get two extra-base hits in an All-Star Game before their 23rd birthday. But by doing what they did, on the same stage, on the same night, they also sent us a message.

These are the gifts sports gives us -- when past meets present meets future, almost all in the same instant.

We get Jeter's can-you-believe-this All-Star farewell, mildly tainted as it may have been by Wainwright's groove-gate scandal, to remind us of why we spent this night celebrating one of the greatest shortstops who ever lived.

And we get to behold the burgeoning greatness of The Next Big Thing, with a Trout-ian performance that just whet our appetite for whatever it is this guy has planned for us for about the next 20 years.

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And it happens exactly where nights like this are supposed to happen. In an All-Star Game that exists, when you get right down to it, not to decide home field in the last week of October, but to stage these sorts of shows. And to preview where this sport is going at the same time it's giving you goosebumps as you savor where it has been.

There was no holding back those goosebumps Tuesday night, by the way, whatever you thought of Wainwright's role in helping Jeter fill up the box score. Not when you had a man walking toward home plate to lead off the bottom of the first inning -- and found himself unable to step into the box and get this game moving, no matter how hard he tried.

That just wasn't possible -- seeing as how the starting pitcher (Wainwright) was standing behind the mound, without his glove, applauding. And the catcher (Jonathan Lucroy) was refusing to get down in his crouch. And every defender standing behind them was too busy taking in the moment to actually play baseball. "Adam had his glove on the mound," Jeter said. "I tried to tell him to pick it up, let's go. But he took a moment and let the fans give me an ovation, which I will always remember."

By the end of this night, Wainwright would somehow become a villain in some people's eyes, for not pretending this duel was happening on Oct. 15, not July 15. But he understood exactly what was happening as Jeter strode toward home plate -- and he was going to do his part to let it resonate for as long as possible.

"I just wanted him to enjoy it," Wainwright said. "I thought that was his moment, and I wanted to stay as far away from it as possible. I thought all the attention should be on him, and ... I didn't even want to get near that mound. I put my glove up and backed as far back as I could, almost to second base. I was saying, 'Dude, I'm not going anywhere until this ovation starts to die down.'"

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just what he should have done. Now exactly what happened after that, between these two men, is something we may never fully know. But even if Wainwright was in fact making sure Jeter got a pitch he could put a Jeter-esque swing on in that first inning, one competitor who was not offended was Jeter himself. "If he grooved it, thank you," Jeter said. "You still have to hit it. I appreciate it if that's what he did. Thank you."

It was only the third extra-base hit of Jeter's otherwise-illustrious All-Star career -- and his first since a 2001 home run off Jon Lieber. And you may have noticed that in this, his final season, he hasn't been what you'd call an extra-base-hit machine. He'd doubled precisely once, in fact, in his previous 102 plate appearances coming into this game. But he wasn't giving back this one. And he seemed just as happy with his third-inning bloop single into the Bermuda Triangle in short right field, off the Reds' Alfredo Simon, who told earwitnesses later he was definitely trying to get the guy out. It was Jeter's 13th hit in 27 All-Star at-bats through the years. And that, if you're calculating along at home, works out to a .481 batting average over 14 All-Star games -- the second-highest average in the history of this event, trailing only Charlie Gehringer (10-for-20, .500) among players who got at least 15 All-Star at-bats.

Asked, given all that, if he was sure he didn't have a few seasons left in him, Jeter laughed. "I told you guys before," he said. "I'm not retiring at the end of the year because I don't think I can play. It's just, the time is right."

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In a couple of months, he'll go trotting off the field forever. But on this night, we got a sneak preview, via his opening farewell in the top of the fourth inning.

One second, he was out there, taking warmup flips from first baseman Miguel Cabrera. The next, he heard the crowd buzzing and turned to find Alexei Ramirez trotting out to short to ease him out of the All-Star amphitheater for the final time. And what made that scene extra moving, Jeter said, was that he had no idea it was coming.

"It was a wonderful moment that I am always going to remember," Jeter said. "I appreciate John doing that for me. But it was a special moment, and it was unscripted. And like I said, I was unaware of it."

Every player on both teams froze in place and applauded. Sinatra sang "New York, New York" on the PA. The thunder rocked down from the seats for well more than a minute.Giancarlo Stanton, the next hitter, refused to go anywhere near the batter's box. And as Jeter jogged off, waving his cap, the emotion swept through one player on that field in particular:

A 22-year-old Jeter fan named Mike Trout.

It was a moment that gave him "chills," Trout said. And "goosebumps." And a torrent of thoughts and feelings he was still trying to digest hours later.

"Just the emotions, everything going through your head," he said. "Seeing him running off, just thinking about, 'You're not going to see him play anymore.'"

This was the guy Mike Trout grew up watching, telling himself that "if I ever get the chance to get to the big leagues, that's how I want to play." And then there he was, on this field, as That Guy was trotting, almost literally, into the sunset. On a night when Trout was on the road to becoming the second-youngest All-Star MVP of all time (barely trailing the then-22-year-old Junior Griffey, 1992 edition). Who writes these scripts?

But two decades from now, Trout said, it won't be his first-inning RBI triple that he will remember about this night. And it won't be the double he chopped past Aramis Ramirez's glove in the fifth, to drive in what turned out to be the winning run. And it may not even be his prize for winning the All-Star MVP award -- that new Corvette he'll be tooling in around the streets of Millville, New Jersey, when the offseason rolls around.

Nope, the memory, Trout said, "is just being part of something special, Jeter's last All-Star Game. It means a lot to me, watching him growing up and now being a part of it."

Jeter tried his best to lobby against the way-too-convenient plot line that this was the night when he passed the Face of Baseball torch to the Next Jeter, saying: "Let Mike be Mike. I don't think people have to necessarily appoint someone to a particular position."

But The Captain will have to lobby harder than that. And especially on this night. When a baseball game in Minnesota summed up, in three entertaining hours, not just what Derek Jeter has meant to this sport for all these years, but where Mike Trout is about to propel it.

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Mike Trout’s All-Star Coronation By Jayson Stark INNEAPOLIS -- On Tuesday night, under the sparkling Minnesota sky, they will play baseball on the same diamond, very likely for the last time. It will be Derek Jeter's final All-Star Game. It will be Mike Trout's third. They will wear the same uniform, dress in the same clubhouse, find themselves on the same lineup card. But don't let those similarities confuse you. This is the night, this is the time, this is the place where their paths diverge.

It's a night to reflect on the starlit road Jeter has traveled. But as Jeter waves goodbye, he has a torch to pass. You could make a case for that torch landing in the grasp of many players who will join him on that field Tuesday night: Andrew McCutchen ... Giancarlo Stanton ... Yasiel Puig ... Clayton Kershaw. But who is better positioned to grab that torch and not let go than Mike Trout?

The more we see of him, the more we get to know him, the more it feels as if he rolled into baseball out of the pages of a W.P. Kinsella novel. Larger than life. Too gifted and humble to be real.

So why can't this be Trout's night, too? A night to put his stamp on a special All-Star Game. A night with the potential to make us reflect on where he's going -- for about the next two decades -- and on where he might be taking this whole sport along with him.

"Derek Jeter is going to have an All-Star moment, but it's going to be more of a career-reflection moment," said Bill Sutton, one of America's brightest sports-marketing minds, and the director of the Sports and Entertainment Management MBA program at the University of South Florida. "But if Mike Trout does something that becomes an All-Star moment, it's not a career-reflection moment. It's a whole different kind of thing. ... It's about the future of the game."

And inside baseball's inner sanctum, there's nothing they root for harder than for Mike Trout to BE the future of their game. Heck, even the commissioner, good old Bud Selig, found himself telling a story recently of how he asked a longtime scout friend about the legend of Trout.

"I said, 'Compare him to somebody,'" Selig recalled. "He thought for a second -- and he was dead serious -- and he said, 'Mickey Mantle-type ability.' And that's breathtaking. Really breathtaking."

"Mickey Mantle-type ability," the commissioner repeated, after swirling those words around in his brain for a few seconds. "Breathtaking."

But if that's really what Trout is going to become -- That Guy, the next Mantle, the next face of the sport, that next transcendent, breathtaking star -- a lot has to happen, on and off the field.

So let's take advantage of this unique night, this potentially pivotal moment in time, and consider what has to happen -- and how well-positioned Trout is to make those things happen. Ready? Here we go:

Walking with the stars Before we really delve into where this guy is going, we need to reflect on where he has already gone. At age 22, here is the kind of company Trout is already keeping: • He's moved into first place, in the history of baseball, in wins above replacement through his age-22 season. He's currently at 25.8, just ahead of Ty Cobb (25.5). Right behind them on that list you'll find another nobody named Ted Williams (23.6).

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• OK, next let's just focus on Trout's bat alone. He now ranks second all time in OPS+ (which factors in both ballparks and eras) through his age-22 season (at 169). Ahead of him is only that Ted Williams guy (at 182). The six names right behind those two in modern history: Cobb, Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Matthews, Rogers Hornsby, Mantle and Mel Ott. Whoever they are.

• But even if you measure him with more traditional numbers, Trout has already zoomed past 500 hits, 300 runs, 200 walks and 80 home runs. And only six other men could say that before their age-23 season: Williams, Mantle, Foxx, Ott, Al Kaline and Kenneth Griffey Jr. But here's where Trout separates himself from those six: No one else on that list had stolen more than 60 bases by this point. Trout has already swiped 96 bases.

Now we don't fire those numerological lightning bolts at you just to show off. We've unfurled them because they tell us something important:

Players who make this sort of impact this young don't fade away and don't turn into Bob Hamelin or Joe Charboneau. They just keep right on rocking.

Of the top 10 eligible names on that OPS+ list, nine (all but Sherry Magee) are in the Hall of Fame. Of the top 20 eligible names on the WAR list, 16 are in the Hall. And every eligible player in that 500/300/200/80 club is a Hall of Famer.

So no wonder the people who get to watch this act every day already believe that's where Trout is heading -- even though a lot of guys his age are still hanging out in the Carolina League.

"Obviously, he's only three years [into his career]," Angels third baseman David Freese said of Trout. "But I think it's fair to say he's well on his way to being one of the greatest ever." "In 20-25 years, I think we'll be saying, 'That was probably one of the best athletes we've seen in the modern era,'" said Angels interim hitting coach Dave Hansen. "We'll say, 'He was amazing. He could hit. He could run like you wouldn't believe. And how 'bout his baseball instincts? He covered so much ground in center field.' That's what we're going to be saying. And just his numbers. Look at his numbers. I mean, they compare with all the greats." So is that really where Trout is going? To a place where you can find only "all the greats"? Well, face it: It's easy for them to say and easy for us to say. But we took it one step further.

The ultimate projection The fabled ZIPS career-projection model comes with no money-back guarantees, with no promises of perfection. So if it turns out not to be quite right in Trout's case, don't send your lawyers looking for us in the year 2034. OK? But just this month, we asked ESPN.com's resident ZIPS expert, Dan Szymborski, to project Trout's career for us. Here's what his hard drive calculated:

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• Trout's most likely career slash line (after 20 years): .286/.394/.514/.908. Based on that slash line alone, it would put Trout in roughly Gary Sheffield territory (.292/.393/.514/.907). But ... • Now let's fill out the rest of the stat sheet -- with 2,862 hits, 519 stolen bases, 468 home runs, 547 doubles, 165 triples, 1,280 extra-base hits, 1,893 runs scored, 1,596 RBIs and a career WAR of 130.4. You'll find only one man in history who had that career: Mr. Barry Bonds, ladies and gentlemen. And that's all.

WHAT A CAREER!

Below are Mike Trout's 20-year projections. On the left is the most likely career scenario, while he has a 10 percent chance of achieving the numbers on the right. All-time rankings are in parentheses.

STAT CAREER 10%

Source: Dan Szymborski

OPS+ 153 (T-28) 181 (4)

WAR 130.4 (8) 170.0 (1)

SB 519 (31) 632 (15)

HR 428 (47) 625 (7)

H 2,862 (44) 3,550 (5)

R 1,893 (12) 2,250 (2)

You should know that only seven position players who ever lived have been worth 130 WAR or more. There's a good chance you've heard of them: Babe Ruth, Bonds, Willie Mays, Cobb, Hank Aaron, Tris Speaker and Honus Wagner.

Or there's this: The only men in history who put up that extra-base-hit total, regardless of any other numbers on their stat line, were Bonds, Aaron, Ruth and Mays. And only Bonds had 500 steals to go with it.

Or this: Here's the elite group with 500 steals and 500 doubles: Cobb, Wagner, Bonds, Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor. Period. So if ZIPS is right, Trout will be walking with legends -- and only legends -- some day. But now here's something that's really scary:

ZIPS also projects there's a 10 percent chance Trout could have this career:

.319/.430/.577/1.077/625 HR/3,550 H/632 SB/2,250 R/1,434 XBH/170 WAR.

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Yikes! And what are we looking at if he does that? Well, it would probably make him the greatest player in the history of Planet Earth. That's all.

But even if you want to be slightly more magnanimous to his forebears, the only possible comparables would be Ruth, Bonds or possibly, if you want to push the bar far enough, Mays. But that would be it.

So there you have it. The projectionists have spoken. Now it's up to us to decide what to make of the projections.

If you're familiar with Trout's work, you won't be surprised to learn that when we attempted to run these numbers past him, he wasn't interested.

"I'm not one of those guys who says, 'I want to try and be like this guy or be like that, with those kinds of numbers,'" he said.

When we later asked what kind of career he'd like to have if he were his own personal script writer, he replied, not particularly shockingly: "I don't think it would be numbers. It would be championships. Get to the playoffs. That's all. It doesn't matter what I hit."

And then he dropped the name of the player whose career he would most like to re-enact. Guess whose?

"It would have to be Jeter's," he said, because of all those rings on Jeter's fingers. "That's the only personal goals I have, is just to win championships."

OK, so obviously, this guy is determined to leave the projections -- and the job of deciding what they mean -- to us. And that's cool, because no one really knows for sure how accurate any projection will turn out to be, anyway.

"I just think it's hard to project even 15 years ahead," said another of Trout's teammates,C.J. Wilson. "So you have to temper your expectations. ... And I feel like if you project too much, it's almost like you're ruining the experience of watching somebody play." Well, we'd sure hate to mess up the fun by doing something like that. So instead, let's focus on that experience. And when we do, you'll understand why this man is likely to age so well. Heck, even the pitchers who face him have grudgingly acknowledged that.

He's already figured them out Now we turn the floor over to four veteran pitchers who have had the (ahem) pleasure of facing this Mike Trout dude, and have enough scars to show for it that they don't talk about him the way pitchers talk about normal 22-year-old hitters. Those four pitchers would be: Aaron Harang (against whom Trout has gone 7-for-17, with a .412/.476/.529 slash line); Mike Adams (3-for-6, .833 SLG); Trout's former teammate, Ervin Santana (2-for-4, with a HR); and Ryan Dempster (6-for-13, .462/.533/1.308, with three doubles, two HRs and a triple). Here's the picture they painted: • HE HITS HIS PITCH, NOT YOURS: "He knows his own zone," said Santana, whose time as Trout's teammate gave him so much insight into how to get the guy out, that he made it through exactly two pitches of their first encounter before Trout homered off him. "He just realizes what he can do, and he swings in that area only. If you throw it [somewhere else], he takes it. He's just not going to swing." And how unusual is that? "I've never seen that," Santana said. "How good he is. The talent that he has. And he's not done learning yet."

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• WHEN HE GETS HIS PITCH, IT'S UH-OH TIME: "He doesn't miss his pitch when he gets it," said Dempster, who is currently working as an analyst for the MLB Network after a 16-year big league career. "Anybody can wait for their pitch. But how many guys say, 'OK, I'm going to swing at a breaking ball,' and when they get the breaking ball, they pop it up to short? He doesn't do that. He's hitting it hard somewhere." Dempster ought to know. Every hit he ever allowed to this guy was an extra-base hit. Which led to a story about facing Trout in Texas two years ago. Dempster got him to swing at and miss a fastball down and away, and ingeniously tried to go back to the same pitch in the same location two pitches later. Oops! "I threw the same fastball that he swung and missed, in the exact same spot," Dempster said. "And he hit it out. And I went, 'Whoa.' You don't see that. That's quick adjustments."

“I said, 'Compare him to somebody.' He thought for a second -- and he was dead serious -- and he said,'Mickey Mantle-type ability.' And that's breathtaking. Really breathtaking.

”-- Commissioner Bud Selig, talking to a scout about Mike Trout

• WEAK CONTACT ISN'T HIS THING: Nothing frustrates any pitcher more than making that perfect pitch -- and getting zilch to show for it. But Trout seems to have an innate ability to foil those perfect pitches, said Harang, who has faced Trout 21 times -- more than all but five other pitchers. "He'll waste a pitcher's good pitches," Harang said, "to get to the point where the pitcher makes a mistake, so he'll hit the pitch that he wants. Like I could throw him a good slider, and he'll foul it off. I'll throw him a fastball in on his hands, and he'll find a way to foul it off instead of putting it in play weakly. And that's like a lost art. Joey Votto does that, where he'll take a good pitch, one that he's not quite committed to swing at but knows it's a strike, and he'll just foul it off, so he can come back and wait for you to make that mistake he can drive. For his age, that's something you just don't see."

• HE'S A LOW-BALL HITTING MACHINE: "He doesn't necessarily have a weak spot," said Adams, another fellow whose AL West duels with Trout (back in Texas) didn't go so hot. "He's hard to figure out. He's a low-ball hitter, too. And that plays in his favor so much, because pitchers are told to keep the ball down. And that's where he does his most damage. He's also a five-tool guy. He can beat out an infield hit. He can drive the ball. ... Hopefully, you just make a good pitch and he gets himself out. Him and Miguel Cabrera -- they're the two guys you just hope get themselves out." Since Trout's first full season in 2012, he's hitting .362 with a 1.044 OPS on pitches that can be defined as "down." That ranks No. 1 in the sport. The average hitter has batted .233 with a .656 OPS on those same pitches.

Dempster told another tale, about throwing what he thought was a perfectly located, 1-and-2, down-and-away fastball to Trout, and watching him turn it into a laser-beam triple off the right-center-field fence.

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FIRST 426 GAMES IN MLB

Sunday's game was the 426th of Mike Trout's young career. See how his numbers compare to three center-field greats.

PLAYER AVG OBP SLG HR XBH SB

Ken Griffey Jr. .300 .369 .482 59 160 49

Mickey Mantle .296 .386 .505 70 170 21

Willie Mays .305 .384 .578 103 204 34

Mike Trout .313 .403 .557 84 202 96

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

"If you were going to draw a box that you should throw it to, that's where you want to throw it," Dempster said. "But hey, great hitters, that's what they do. They take that pitch, down and away, and what do they do? They line it to right field. Derek Jeter made a career out of that. But Trout, he's driving that pitch. And that's so unique. And not just driving it, like obscenely driving it. It's not just gap power. It's a bomb the other way."

So why don't pitchers just start pitching him up, you ask? Ho-ho-ho. Easy to say. Hard to do.

"Because he doesn't swing at those pitches," Santana said. "So you'd be wasting a pitch. You're trying to make him swing when he's not going to swing."

Now we're not trying to claim this guy is slump-proof. Trout did, in fact, have a three-week period from April 29 to May 19 this year in which he hit .164 with 24 strikeouts and only 11 hits in 86 plate appearances. But then the light bulb flashed right back on, and he hit .387/.477/.766 over the next month and a half. Hey, of course he did.

"His 'really bad' slump lasts three weeks and not three months," said Dempster. "His 'little' slumps last two at-bats, not two days. ... He makes those adjustments, just like that [while snapping his fingers]."

So what we have is one of those rare members of the species who refuses to let the rest of the sport find any significant weakness to exploit. And how is that possible?

"I don't know," laughed Santana. "He's coming from another planet." But the truth is, Mike Trout isn't an alien. He's just ...

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ESPN Stats & InformationVulnerable to pitches up and in, Mike Trout has learned to lay off the high ones and get the pitches he wants. Twenty of his 22 home runs in 2014 have come on pitches in the lower half of the strike zone.

Making adjustments faster than anyone else So the pitchers have spoken. But we aren't through chasing perspective on what makes this man so impervious to the hitter-unfriendly forces that are sweeping the baseball universe. Next, we'll turn to three men with a different viewpoint: (A) an advance scout; (B) an American League executive who is involved in data and video-based scouting for his club; and (C) Eddie Bane, the Red Sox exec who was formerly the Angels' scouting director who drafted and signed Trout in 2009.

The focus of their discussion was the most important question of all: Why can't the rest of the sport figure out Trout the way opponents seem to figure out pretty much everyone else with a bat in his hands?

Well, the answer, said the AL exec, is: The sport has actually figured him out. Kind of ... just not successfully. "In some ways, I think the league hasadjusted," the exec said. "If you look at how he's pitched now, there's actually a pretty consistent pattern. Everyone tries to come up and in on him. ... But his skill set is so refined for his age that teams haven't had success [doing] that."

It's been established that Trout does have a hole -- up in general, and up and in, in particular. But it's not "a glaring hole," the exec said. And his "weakness" is just "a relative weakness" compared to how good he is everywhere else.

"He covers up and away and middle away so well, and he covers down and in extremely well," the exec went on. "So you just don't have a large margin for error. The scouting reports say to pound him in, and guys do pound him in ... But you need to really get it in, like in a 4-by-4 [inch] spot ... or he'll kill you. "A lot of guys you pitch 'in' are swinging at balls so far in off the plate, that it's a reasonable strategy. But he doesn't do that. He has such a mature approach. It's so rare that he swings at balls off the plate. ... You'll see him take balls two inches off the plate, and have no interest in swinging at them."

Not surprisingly, the advance scout was singing the same operetta, even though we didn't give him any indication of how other teams saw Trout.

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"He's the best low-ball hitter in the major leagues," the scout said. "He hits that pitch down, and down and away, as well as anybody I've ever seen. Most hitters have holes. He doesn't have much of a hole. Up and in would be about it. But you've got to get it in there, because up and middle usually goes out of the park."

Now remember, advance scouts stay employed by finding weaknesses to exploit ineverybody. But what this scout sees is a player who is close to weakness-free -- with no indication that's going to change anytime soon. "His knowledge of pitching is going to grow," the scout said. "He already knows the strike zone really well. So controlling the strike zone isn't going to be a problem. He doesn't chase much now. But as he figures it out and gets a better body of knowledge of how pitchers are trying to get him out, his mastery of the strike zone is only going to grow. He's something, man. You've pretty much got to make a perfect pitch on him, or he'll get you."

Asked if he saw anything at all that could undo Trout's path to greatness, aside from injury, the scout replied: "Really nothing." And Bane, the man who drafted him, is fully on board with that assessment.

“

I think it's fair to say [Trout] is well on his way to being one of the greatest ever. ”-- Angels third baseman David Freese

"I really can't think of anything that could stand in his way," Bane said. "The power is off the charts. He scores a ton of runs. He drives in a ton of runs. Every time he steals a base, he's safe. ... So show me one reason he's not going to go up [in performance].

"He's not going to get bored," Bane went on, "because he loves baseball. He looks like an SEC safety, so that body's not going anywhere. He's the fastest guy on the field -- and the strongest. He's got a great eye, and incredibly fast hands. So he should be better than all the other guys, until you look out and see five or six other guys on the field like that. So tell me why his numbers are going to go down. I can't think of any reason." Well, here's one: Trout isn't going to get faster. So while he might be a fellow who's sprinkling 20 to 30 infield hits a year among the 489-foot homers right now, that's not going to happen forever.

But the projections tell us his power should stay fairly steady. In fact, all three of these men think he'll actually hit more home runs as his knowledge of pitchers grows. Plus, he is already foiling the few shifts he sees with his ability to crush balls to the opposite field. So he's one of those rare hitters who figures to defy modern defensive strategy.

So is he going to keep up this Superman act for years to come? Obviously, you never know -- with anyone. But think about the phenoms Trout was once compared with: Bryce Harper,Manny Machado, Brett Lawrie, Xander Bogaerts. Only one of these men has been impervious to the dips and struggles almost all young hitters in history have gone through. And that, of course, would be Trout. But wait. There's ... One more thing We can break down the swing. We can break down the approach. We can analyze the skill set. But if Trout is really going to succeed Jeter as the next Face of Baseball, it's going to require more than mere baseball talent. It takes character, presence, charisma and the inner strength to handle the crush of a spotlight that never burns out.

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So ask yourself this: Is there anyone in baseball, once Jeter fades into the rearview mirror, who fits that profile better than Trout?

"You never hear anything about this guy that's not apple pie," said Bill Sutton. "He's Jack Armstrong, and that's extremely rare. He's very quiet. He's very humble. He signs a big extension, and he's still about the team, all about winning. He's very Jeter-like. 'I' never comes up. It's always 'we' and 'us.'"

And whatever it is Trout is projecting, America is buying it. We know, because the public already has spoken on this topic, via polling that was done earlier this year by Repucom, a company that measures celebrity appeal both inside and outside of sports by measuring the "DBI" score of stars in all walks of life.

On one hand, in separate polls of 1,000 Americans, age 13 to 75, who didn't necessarily define themselves as sports fans, a much higher percentage of those surveyed indicated they were "aware" of Jeter (75.4 percent) than Trout (25.62). And that's understandable. But ...

Trout actually outrated Jeter in every other category in the survey among those who were aware of both players:

AWARENESS APPEAL ASPIRATION TRUST ENDORSEMENT

Mike Trout

25.62 71.60 70.96 65.19 68.69

Derek Jeter

75.40 68.89 66.56 59.72 63.27

Source: Repuscore

So what does that response tell us? It tells us, said Sutton, that Trout's "heroic appeal is contrary to the times in which he plays. He is humble at a time when our stars are not humble. He is wholesome, in a traditional way, as our athletes are tattooed and nontraditional. He is a consummate team player with both grace and power. He is capable of almost Herculean achievements, and he plays in a glamour market. ... There are no negatives with this guy."

And as rare as that is, here's what's even more rare: It became clear, over the two months we worked on this story, that it isn't just the general public that perceives Trout this way. It's also the rest of baseball.

Guess which player got more All-Star votes in this year's player balloting than anyone else? It was Trout, of course. In fact, he got more than twice as many votes (731) as Jeter (344), for what that's worth.

But go beyond that -- and listen to how people inside the game talk about him:

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• From Freese: "He's got the drive to be one of the best ever. ... He's one of those guys, one of very few guys, who's got that gear that the great ones have. Which is really admirable, to have it that young. And he's not going to change. I don't think I've ever seen him turn down an autograph, which is impressive. ... He loves everything that baseball brings."

• From Hansen: "This kid is on the road to greatness, I think. He's that special. But if there's a little kid around, if there's somebody that wants to meet him, he engages that. He takes the time. And that's the kind of person that I'm looking at, more than the baseball player. He's a well-raised young man. Mike Trout loves -- I mean loves -- the competition. But if there's a moment where he can show some humility and some compassion for a young kid, he's going to do it. I've seen it already. That's pretty special, I think."

• From Dempster: "How do you not love this guy, man? I mean, not just numbers-wise, but how he plays. He hits that [489-foot home run in Kansas City] almost over the waterfall in center field, and before it's over the fence, he's almost at second base. In case it miraculously hit a seagull or something, he was not going to be standing there on second. He was going to be on third. I love that about him. You never see him not run hard. He never styles a home run. He never bat-flips it. He always just has so much respect for the game. ... He's just got 'it.' Whatever 'it' is, he's got it."

• From Harang: "A guy with his kind of talent, I mean, it's disgusting. [Laughs]. But it's special, too. You don't get these types of players very often. ... He's fun to watch. He's actually not fun to watch when he's on the other side of the diamond. But all the rest of the games, he's really fun to watch."

• From Bane: "In terms of makeup, he's up there at the top of guys I've drafted and signed. ... When I picture him, I picture him sliding into third, with a look on his face you just don't see very much, that look of sheer pleasure. The last time I saw that look was on the face of Little League kids who were saying, 'Wait till after the game, when we can go get snow cones.'"

But now, as this magical Tuesday evening presents us with yet one more reason to reflect on where Mike Trout is going, it won't be for snow cones. No sir. For this man, unless something unforeseen derails him, there is something way more flavorful ahead.

"Your first instinct," said Wilson, "is to compare guys to him. So you think, 'OK, let me think of the list of comparables.' And it's like every dude [you could compare him to] is in the Hall of Fame. So you want to avoid rushing to that judgment. Because it's so fun just to watch him play, you just want to pick up the popcorn and watch the show.

"Just let him be himself. You don't have to compare him. He'll be good enough himself that everyone is going to want to be the next Mike Trout. [Laughs.] I know I wish I was the next Mike Trout."

So maybe this is the star-spangled night where it hits us. That we're watching the best player on the field -- even though the rest of the men on that field are the best players alive. That we're watching a special talent with a personality to match. That it almost feels as if we're watching some sort of superhero, gliding through life -- and North America's emerald outfields -- on a potentially historic journey.

Now we just need to figure out which superhero he's about to become.

"Right now?" Dempster asked, laughing. "It seems like he'd be Captain America."

July 16, 2014 Page 42 of 53

FROM SI.COM

Price, Trout, Jeter among 10 biggest questions for second half By Tom Verducci MINNEAPOLIS — The last pennant race of the Bud Selig Era begins Friday. Whether it proves to be the epitome of the outgoing commissioner’s wish that as many cities as possible have “hope and faith” of playing in October or the epitome of rampant mediocrity, there is at least the possibility of several wild pennant races in which no team is good enough to run away. The entirety of Major League Baseball hit the All-Star break playing nothing worse than .400 baseball, joining the 1943, 1958 and 1992 seasons as the only years such democracy existed.

Better still for Selig, the last All-Star Game over which he presided was a spectacular evening for baseball. It began with Minneapolis playing the role of the perfect party host, with the limestone-bedecked Target Field deserving of the national stage. This was baseball at its best: a beautiful downtown venue bringing a community together with pride in hosting the game. The event was at once cosmopolitan and accessible.

Tuesday's game was most everything a baseball fan could want. The American League hit for the cycle after 10 trips to the plate. Derek Jeter, an All-Star for the 14th and final time, rapped two hits as if it were 1998 again. Mike Trout, the heir apparent to Jeter’s role as what Astros second baseman Jose Altuve so eloquently called “the captain of baseball,” smashed a triple and a double and never stopped smiling the whole night. Clayton Kershaw, Zach Greinke, Craig Kimbreland Aroldis Chapman were efficient on the mound for the National League and Yu Darvish, Max Scherzer and hometown favorite Glen Perkins did likewise for the AL. Savant hitter Miguel Cabrera walloped a home run on a pitch out of the strike zone. And, Dewey-defeats-Truman style, this time Trout beat Cabrera for the MVP Award.

In one spectacular connection of historic dots in the waning moment of golden upper Midwest daylight, Trout smacked a long first-inning fly ball off Adam Wainwright that sent Yasiel Puig hurtling into the wall and Jeter dashing around the bases to score. Great players did great things on the biggest midsummer stage.

The Jeter-Trout succession of top ambassadorship was unmistakable but for one glaring omission on Trout’s resume: He needs to be playing in October. On Monday Trout told me about the 2013 season, “We were out of it last year with about 10 days to go. And I was miserable playing nine or 10 games that didn’t have meaning.”

This year, Trout and his Angels are looking at a more meaningful September than Jeter and his Yankees. But will such a trend hold up? Has the baton already been passed? Stay tuned for what has the potential to be a second half full of the kind of possibilities Selig always wanted. Among the most fascinating riddles to be answered are these top-10 questions of the second half:

1. Where will David Price be pitching?

The Rays, despite the requisite optimism, are done. They are 9 1/2 games out in the AL East and eight back in the wild-card race, but they are also sitting on the most valuable trading asset on the market. That asset, of course, will only go down in value with each start Price makes between now and the time he reaches free agency after next season. In the meantime, Price is on a stupendous hot streak of throwing strikes and pitching deep into games. He has thrown more pitches, faced more batters and

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piled up more strikeouts than anybody in baseball. He can change the postseason landscape the way Cliff Lee did in 2010 (the Yankees backed out of trade talks with the Mariners, which opened the door for the Rangers to get him, which led to the Rangers beating the Yankees in the ALCS to reach their first World Series).

The Dodgers are the team best-equipped to satisfy the price tag of at least two near-ready elite prospects (think of what the A's gave up to get Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Cubs earlier this month — two recent first-round picks, a major league starter and a player to be named — and add a premium).

2. Who are the key general managers to watch this month?

Jack Zduriencik of Seattle and Ruben Amaro Jr. of Philadelphia – one being the key buyer and one being the key seller. Zduriencik has an opportunity to revive baseball in Seattle, where the Mariners, even with attendance up, rank 23rd in tickets sold, to validate the investments in Felix Hernandez andRobinson Cano, and to buy himself more time on the job. Does he cash in young pitchers such as Taijuan Walker or James Paxton to take advantage of this window in which Seattle has a 2 1/2-game lead for the second wild-card spot?

“Jack’s a guy everybody will be calling,” said one baseball source, “because he has chips and a need and, let’s face it, he can be aggressive.”

Amaro has watched the window close on a fabulous era in Phillies baseball, and needs to be nimble now, rather than in the offseason, to add offense to a thin system. He has more chips than anybody, including Lee (if Amaro wants to eat money), A.J. Burnett, Marlon Byrd, Jonathan Papelbon, Jimmy Rollins and – though very long shots – Cole Hamels and Chase Utley.

3. Can the Angels catch the Athletics?

Los Angeles, which is 1 1/2 games behind Oakland in the AL West but comfortably in front in the wild-card race, has returned to full health, re-made its bullpen (Jason Grilli, Joe Thatcher and the suddenly unhittable Joe Smith at the back end) and boasts Garrett Richards, the most egregious All-Star snub of all, who is among the handful of starters with the filthiest stuff in the game. So I asked manager Mike Scioscia: If I put money in your pocket to spend on the trade market, where would you spend it?

“I’d go get a physical therapist to make sure the guys we have right here are healthy,” he said. “Right now, I like this group. I like our team.”

The Angels still will see if they can pry Ian Kennedy and/or Huston Street from thePadres to fortify their staff, but the team with the best offense in baseball is the hottest team in baseball even without a major move.

4. Speaking of the Angels, what can Mike Trout do in a pennant race and in October?

The best player in baseball has never played in the postseason. His teams have never finished fewer than five games from first place. He’s not exactly Ernie Banks — Trout turns only 23 next month — but he is already the best player his age in MLB history. Only Ted Williams posted a better adjusted OPS through his age-22 season than Trout, and Trout’s defense and baserunning are right there with his hitting at an elite level. His first regular season MVP award is his to lose.

5. Can Jose Abreu break Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49 home runs?

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Abreu has 29 home runs, and with all-fields power — 15 of his 29 dingers have been to the middle of the field — he has a good shot at the record. Here’s another reason he can do it: The Cuban native did not grow up in a hitting culture where you concede strikes to the pitcher to “drive up pitch counts.” Nobody in the league swings at a higher percentage of pitches in the strike zone than Abreu (83%). Of the 13 most aggressive batters in the AL, four are from Cuba: Abreu, Leonys Martin, Alexi Ramirez and Yoenis Cespedes.

6. Are the Rangers playing for the first pick in the 2015 draft?

The bottom fell out quickly on Texas, mostly due to a staggering number of injuries, and the Rangers have the worst record in baseball to prove it after a 3-22 freefall to the break. The Rangers have used 50 players, including 30 pitchers. It’s not all bad luck, though. The team has had terrible results moving pitchers back and forth between relief and starting roles (Neftali Feliz, Alexi Ogando, Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers, etc.).

The Rangers were sitting on a stockpile of young pitching when they went to the 2010 World Series. The 25-and-under arms in their system included Feliz, Ogando, Ross, Scheppers, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Tommy Hunter, Martin Perez,Neil Ramirez, Tanner Roark and Pedro Strop. All have been hurt or traded.

Texas prefers to think of this season as a one-year aberration. But keep this in mind: Starting this year, the team has invested $394.75 million to watch Prince Fielder,Shin-Soo Choo and Elvis Andrus — all hurt or going through down years this season — age through their 30s.

7. Are the Blue Jays and Brewers pretenders?

Toronto and Milwaukee were the surprise teams of the first half only to fall apart in recent weeks, and they now face pressure to improve their rosters before the deadline. The Blue Jays held a six-game lead in the AL East on June 6 but tumbled in an 11-23 slide after. Injuries haven’t helped, but the Jays have few players accustomed to winning, and their bullpen isn’t playoff-quality (13th in ERA, 13th in WHIP, 14th in walks).

Milwaukee is the perfect example of what can happen if you just keep your Opening Day rotation healthy: you become a contender. But a 3-11 tailspin into the break showed cracks opening in that rotation as well as the bullpen.

8. Can the National League give us a wild pennant race?

Eight teams are separated by no more than three games. Fangraphs projects none of them will win more than 90 games, with the Brewers, Reds and Pirates squeezed out of the last playoff spot by two or three games. The Dodgers, with their elite starting pitching, remain the best choice to pull away and ring up 95 wins. Said one NL manager, “It’s going to come down to which team does something really big, something really out of the box, at the trading deadline.”

9. Will a favorite emerge as the successor to Selig?

Six months before Selig retires, we still don’t have an obvious choice to replace him. It’s likely that we still won’t have a choice until the owners’ meeting in November. The unlikeliest scenario of all is that baseball brings in an unknown outsider from the business world. Chief operating officer Rob Manfred appears to be the top choice among owners who want a smooth transition from Selig, but not from a smaller faction that sees an opportunity to cut in a new direction.

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10. Will Jeter get one more October?

The Yankees reached the All-Star break as a .500 team with the fifth-worst offense in the AL and 80 percent of their rotation down with injuries (CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda). They’ll need to play .603 baseball (41-27) just to get to 88 wins.

New York is in danger of going back-to-back years without making the playoffs for the first time since 1992-93 – when wild cards didn’t exist, let alone two of them in each league, and two years before Jeter made his debut. That means Jeter is in danger of going out in a meaningless game, as Mariano Rivera did last year. Jeter has played 2,685 games in his career -- only one of them with his team eliminated from contention.

FROM SPORTS XCHANGE

Team Report - LOS ANGELES ANGELS After pitching a shutout during the Los Angeles' Angels 11-3 surge in May, left-hander C.J. Wilson issued the following response when asked about his team's early success.

"If we can play the next 50 games like we've played the last 15 games," Wilson said, "then that will be really, really good baseball."

Slightly more than 50 games later, the Angels are challenging the Oakland Athletics for supremacy in the American League West -- and, barring a total collapse, will do so for the rest of the season.

With first baseman Albert Pujols healthy and with outfielder Josh Hamilton focused, the Angels offense has emerged as one of the major leagues' best. Los Angeles enters the All-Star break leading the majors with 478 runs scored. The Angels also have amassed 883 hits, 300 extra-base hits and 101 home runs, totals ranking among the American League's best. Pujols, who suffered from plantar fasciitis last year, has driven in 29 runs in his last 29 games to enter the break with 63 RBIs, 20 home runs and a .274 average. Hamilton, who spent two months on the disabled list, is hitting .291. Shortstop Erick Aybar made the American League's All-Star team for the first time after batting .284 and leading the league's shortstops with 49 RBIs and a .985 fielding percentage.

Outfielder Mike Trout is, well, Mike Trout: 22 homers, 24 doubles, five triples, 69 RBIs, 105 hits, 64 runs, a .308 batting average, a .397 on-base percentage and a .601 slugging percentage.

"With as much depth as we have, we don't need any one player to carry it," Wilson said about the offense. "We just need everybody to get on base and pass the torch."

But the Angels offer more than potent hitting. Going into Sunday's road game against the Texas Rangers, the Angels pitchers have permitted opponents to bat just .236, the American League's fourth-lowest such average. The rotation's 3.75 earned-run average ranks third in the league, while the bullpen that has seen constant turnover has compiled a 1.68 earned-run average in the past 16 games while limiting opposing hitters to a .188 average.

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The biggest factor, however, has been the contributions from unexpected sources. Outfielder Collin Cowgill (.277), first baseman C.J. Cron (nine homers), infielder-outfielder Grant Green (.324), right-handed starter Matt Shoemaker (7-2) and right-handed reliever Michael Morin (2.08 earned-run average) have played pivotal roles while such regulars as Hamilton, third baseman David Freese, outfielder Kole Cahoun and left-handed starter Tyler Skaggs spent time on the disabled list.

Right-hander Garrett Richards (11-2) has emerged as one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. Richards, in his second full major league season, became just the fourth pitcher in team history to enter the All-Star break with at least 11 wins and 120 strikeouts and an ERA under 2.60. The others?Jered Weaver, Frank Tanana and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.

The Angels' balance has enabled them to rally for 29 of their 57 wins this season; those 29 come-from-behind wins lead the majors. That balance also reflects a new-found self-confidence and camaraderie.

"We had a tendency last year to let some teams just jump us out of the gate," Wilson said. "We'd be, like, 'Oh, my God. It's 3-0. What do we do?'"

Calhoun exemplified the Angels' esprit d'corps when he talked about being platooned with Cowgill.

"If I'm in the lineup, I'm going to do it that day," Calhoun told the Los Angeles Times. "If Collin is in the lineup, he's going to do it. We're not going to start some rivalry or talk about who should be playing. We're a team, and that's how it has to be."

Richards, rejected for the American League's All-Star pitching staff five times in a week, offered perhaps the best example of subordinating individual desire for collective success.

"How can I be mad about a personal achievement," Richards told the Los Angeles Times, "when we're playing such good baseball now?"

NOTES, QUOTES

RECORD: 57-37

STREAK: Won five

FIRST-HALF MVP: OF Mike Trout's sustained excellence in hitting, fielding and running make him a generation-defining talent. However, RHP Garrett Richards -- who had a career record of 11-13 entering this season -- emerged as the staff's ace in his second full major league season, and he edges his All-Star teammate for midseason MVP. Richards is 11-2 with a 2.55 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 123 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting just .196 against him. Making Richards' contribution more valuable are RHP Jered Weaver's rapidly declining velocity, LHP C.J. Wilson's midseason funk, LHP Tyler Skaggs' inconsistency and LHP Hector Santiago's ineffectiveness. Also, Richards is the only member of the rotation who has not experienced physical problems this season.

FIRST-HALF GRADE: A -- After two disappointing seasons, the Angels are fulfilling the expectations observers expressed when the club signed 1B Albert Pujols and OF Josh Hamilton. The biggest key is major contributions from unexpected sources (RHP Garrett Richards, 1B C.J. Cron, OF Collin Cowgill, RHP Matt Shoemaker, RHP Michael Morin, INF/OF Grant Green), which speaks to the team's depth. As a result, the Angels enjoy the kind of overall balance and esprit d'corps they lacked in the recent past.

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Manager Mike Scioscia reinforced that camaraderie by making full use of his roster and by successfully juggling the relievers in an ever-changing bullpen.

PIVOTAL POST-BREAK PLAYER: RHP Jason Grilli, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 27 for RHP Ernesto Frieri in an exchange of closers, compiled 33 saves as a National League All-Star last year. Before 2013, Grilli primarily performed in middle relief and as a setup reliever. The 37-year-old's versatility and experience add a crucial element to the Angels' bullpen, especially if RHP Joe Smith, the closer, becomes injured or ineffective for an indefinite span. After going 0-2 with a 4.87 ERA and 11 saves for Pittsburgh this season, Grilli allowed one earned run in seven innings over his first eight appearances for Los Angeles.

BUY OR SELL: GM Jerry Dipoto told ESPN that he wants "one more piece for that bullpen" after trading RHP Ernesto Frieri to the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Jason Grilli in an exchange of closers, and acquiring LHP Joe Thatcher from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Angels spent the season running a shuttle between Los Angeles and their minor league affiliates for bullpen help. Various outlets linked the Angels to two right-handed closers, the San Diego Padres' Huston Street and the Texas Rangers' Joakim Soria. Both have a $7 million club option for next year. Another acquisition might be unnecessary if Grilli and Thatcher perform well.

INJURY STATUS: OF Josh Hamilton, 3B David Freese, LHP C.J. Wilson, OF Kole Cahoun and LHP Tyler Skaggs spent time on the disabled list in the first half, but the Angels' farm system provided immediate help. 1B C.J. Cron, RHP Matt Shoemaker, INF/OF Grant Green and RHP Michael Morin emerged as bona fide major-leaguers. Green rejoined the team from Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday after OF Collin Cowgill went on the disabled list because of fractures in his nose and right thumb.

TOP PROSPECT: RHP Cam Bedrosian, son of former major league closer Steve Bedrosian, twice made the round trip from Double-A Arkansas this year to bolster the Angels' beleaguered bullpen. Bedrosian, 22, has a 1-0 record with 12 saves and a 1.37 ERA at Arkansas. Texas League opponents are hitting .074 against him. Bedrosian, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011, throws a fastball in the mid-90s, and he discarded a poor curveball for a slider. "I had no idea he was going to come in this quickly and be this dominant out of the 'pen," Bobby Scales, the Angels' director of player development, told the Los Angeles Times in June.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "This team is about winning. You can't be greedy. When someone is bickering about the lineup, about not playing, I think that's kind of selfish. Everyone is pulling for each other. It's not, 'I should be doing this; he should be doing that.'" OF Kole Calhoun, to the Los Angeles Tiimes.

ROSTER REPORT

MEDICAL WATCH:

--OF Collin Cowgill (fractures in nose and right thumb) went on the 15-day disabled list July 13. He is expected to undergo nasal surgery, and he is out until at least mid-August.

--LHP C.J. Wilson (sprained right ankle) went on the 15-day disabled list July 10.

--LHP Sean Burnett (torn left ulnar collateral ligament) went on the 15-day disabled list May 29, and he was transferred to the 60-day disabled list June 3. He underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery June 5.

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--RHP Ryan Brasier (right elbow strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 21, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on April 16.

--LHP Brian Moran (left elbow inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 21, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on April 13. He underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery in mid-April.

ROTATION:

RHP Jered Weaver

RHP Garrett Richards

RHP Matt Shoemaker

LHP Tyler Skaggs

BULLPEN:

RHP Joe Smith (closer)

RHP Jason Grilli

RHP Kevin Jepsen

RHP Mike Morin

RHP Fernando Salas

LHP Hector Santiago

LHP Joe Thatcher

RHP Cory Rasmus

CATCHERS:

Chris Iannetta

Hank Conger

INFIELDERS:

1B Albert Pujols

2B Howie Kendrick

SS Erick Aybar

3B David Freese

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DH C.J. Cron

INF John McDonald

INF Efren Navarro

OUTFIELDERS:

LF Josh Hamilton

CF Mike Trout

RF Kole Calhoun

OF/INF Grant Green

Team Report - SEATTLE MARINERS SEATTLE -- The first 95 games of the Lloyd McClendon era might not have reminded Seattle's new manager of the recent Detroit Tigers teams that employed him as a bench coach, but neither did they remind Pacific Northwest fans of some recent Mariners campaigns.

McClendon's Mariners topped 50 games by the All-Star break, which is something none of Seattle's previous 10 teams could do. The manager found a way to keep the team relevant well into July and put off the NFL talk in the football-mad town for a few more weeks.

It is quite a successful run for the Mariners, who might have to pull off an even less likely feat in order to sustain it.

The Mariners undoubtedly need more contributions if they are going to stick around in the American League wild-card race -- if not get back into the hunt in the AL West. Second baseman Robinson Cano, ace Felix Hernandez and the bullpen have been about as good as anyone could expect, yet even their combined success wasn't enough to push Seattle into the running for the division title.

Seattle sits eight games behind the AL West-leading Oakland A's.

The key to the second half of the season is going to come down to the bottom of the batting order and the back of the rotation, two areas where the Mariners have significant deficiencies. After Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Chris Young, Seattle has plenty of question marks in terms of starting pitching. The Mariners are also looking for much bigger things from players such as shortstop Brad Miller, left fielder Dustin Ackley, first baseman Justin Smoak and designated hitterCorey Hart over the final 67 games of the season.

In some ways, McClendon kept the team in the postseason race through smoke and mirrors. Young and veteran outfielder Endy Chavez are among the players who performed far better than anyone could have expected, and the offense was more efficient than the sum of its parts -- particularly on the road.

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"I've said it time and time again: On offense, we're going to be challenged some days, and it won't look good," said McClendon, whose team went through one eight-game stretch in July when it failed to score as many as four runs in a single game. "But I'll take the whole picture, and we'll be OK. I think all in all, we're going to be OK."

The good news for the Mariners is that most of the American League has deficiencies; even Oakland was hit by the injury bug as of late.

What might be even more pressing for the Mariners over the second half of the season is for the top of the rotation to keep up its torrid pace. Hernandez is off to one of his best starts. Iwakuma could get even better as he shakes off the rust of missing spring training, while Young already won more games than anyone could have expected when the Mariners signed him out of spring training in late March.

"What a godsend for this rotation," McClendon said if Young in June. "He's just been tremendous."

Chris Young and the young Mariners exceeded expectations so far, but McClendon has his work cut out for him if Seattle is going to keep it up.

"I think this organization has come quite far," McClendon said. "I think we've accomplished a lot, but in the end, we haven't accomplished anything. But I certainly think we're headed in the right direction."

NOTES, QUOTES

RECORD: 51-44

STREAK: Lost one

FIRST-HALF MVP: RHP Felix Hernandez is having one of his best seasons, and a rejuvenated offense rewarded him with victories -- something that didn't always happen in the past. Hernandez (11-2, 2.12 ERA) possesses Cy Young-type numbers is showing the kind of consistency that could put him into the conversation as being one of the top two or three pitchers in baseball. 2B Robinson Cano was a huge addition, and he gave a needed boost to the offense, but Hernandez is the most valuable Mariner.

FIRST-HALF GRADE: B-minus -- Still being relevant at the All-Star break is a big step for a Seattle organization that is usually in Siberia by this point. Manager Lloyd McClendon is making the most out of a limited lineup and is finding a way to keep the Mariners competitive despite a makeshift rotation. McClendon probably doesn't have to start making any postseason travel plans, especially after a rough final week leading up to the break, but he is giving the fan base some hope -- and that is a big step in the right direction.

PIVOTAL POST-BREAK PLAYER: RHP Taijuan Walker, the Mariners' top prospect, was a luxury late last season, but injuries to some of his fellow phenoms put Seattle in more of a desperate situation in terms of Walker's contribution this season. The back of the rotation fell on hard times over the past month, and Walker is just the kind of starter who could wear the hero's cape. However, he still is pretty rusty after missing all of spring training with shoulder issues, and he recently was sent back to Triple-A to get in a couple of starts during the break. The Mariners still have high hopes for Walker's long-term future, but they might need him sooner rather than later.

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BUY OR SELL: GM Jack Zduriencik has been in building mode since the day he arrived in Seattle in the fall of 2008, but he doesn't have the luxury of time anymore. The team hasn't publicly acknowledged Zduriencik's status beyond this season, so he is not as concerned about the future as he once was. The Mariners could use another bat, particularly a right-handed power hitter. Another starting pitcher also could come into play if Seattle is tired of waiting on LHP Roenis Elias and RHP Taijuan Walker to find some consistency. However, with a young team and with injuries hampering some of the organization's top prospects, Seattle might not have enough ammunition to make a big move.

INJURY STATUS: Injuries affected both the Mariners' lineup and the rotation throughout the first half of the season, but Seattle was able to weather the storm in large part because the core of the team remained intact. Now the team would like RHP Taijuan Walker to shake off the rust, LHP James Paxton to return from a nagging arm injury and OF Michael Saunders to put his on-again-off-again health issues to bed. Paxton, out since early April, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Thursday.

TOP PROSPECT: 3B D.J. Peterson, the Mariners' first-round pick in the 2013 draft, rose up the ranks rather quickly -- he currently is in Double-A -- but he might have to make a position change if he wants to play in Seattle anytime soon. All-Star Kyle Seager is as cemented into his position as any Seattle position player, and Peterson won't unseat him anytime soon. First base might be the best fit for the right-handed 22-year-old with power potential. Peterson probably is still at least a year away from making his major league debut.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think people (in Seattle) are starting to believe in us a little bit. The walks downtown are a little bit more pleasant now." -- Manager Lloyd McClendon.

ROSTER REPORT

MEDICAL WATCH:

--RF Michael Saunders (strained left oblique) went on the 15-day disabled list July 11. He might not return as soon as he is eligible.

--LHP James Paxton (strained lat muscle) went on the 15-day disabled list April 9, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 9. He met with the team doctor April 23 and was cleared to start playing catch. He threw bullpen sessions May 9, May 11 and May 14. He pitched in a simulated game May 17. He began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma on May 24. He didn't throw May 26 due to left shoulder soreness, and he was shut down for five to seven days as of May 28. Paxton threw bullpen sessions June 27, June 30 and July 4. He pitched simulated games July 8 and July 12. He is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with short-season Class A Everett on July 17.

--RHP Blake Beavan (right shoulder stiffness) went on the 15-day disabled list April 16, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 30. He began a rehab assignment with Class A High Desert on July 14.

ROTATION:

RHP Felix Hernandez

LHP Roenis Elias

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RHP Chris Young

RHP Hisashi Iwakuma

BULLPEN:

RHP Fernando Rodney (closer)

RHP Danny Farquhar

LHP Charlie Furbush

RHP Tom Wilhelmsen

RHP Brandon Maurer

RHP Yoervis Medina

LHP Joe Beimel

RHP Dominic Leone

LHP Lucas Luetge

CATCHERS:

Mike Zunino

Jesus Sucre

INFIELDERS:

1B Logan Morrison

2B Robinson Cano

SS Brad Miller

3B Kyle Seager

INF Justin Smoak

INF/OF Willie Bloomquist

OUTFIELDERS:

LF Dustin Ackley

CF James Jones

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RF Endy Chavez

DH Corey Hart