After 12 All-Star selections, here's why this year means more for Trout

PHILADELPHIA -- The proper way to order a cheesesteak, according to South Jersey native Mike Trout, is beef and cheese only. (Hold the onions, hold the Whiz.) The longtime Angel’s favorite type of pasta, naturally, is angel hair. Among his hottest takes is that LeBron James should sign with the Sixers. And no, contrary to popular opinion, his Trout-branded golf course is not too difficult.

For the better part of an hour on Monday, Trout fielded these inquiries and more during All-Star Media Day -- a cacophony of cameras and microphones and haphazardly shouted questions. For nine consecutive All-Star Games, this was Trout’s circus to own. For nine consecutive All-Star Games, there was rarely much of a question regarding his presence.

Then injuries began taking hold of Trout more regularly, keeping him out of the Midsummer Classic after 2019 and off the roster completely for the 2024 and ’25 events. It seemed reasonable to wonder whether Trout, entering his mid-30s, might ever make an All-Star team again -- at least until he produced a .936 OPS over his first 42 games of this season, proving that even time itself must wait a bit longer before it can claim him.

Now, a few weeks shy of his 35th birthday, Trout is not only back at the All-Star Game for the first time in three years, but he’s taking part in the festivities a mere 45 miles from his hometown. As a result, his perspective on all this has shifted.

“Changes it a lot,” Trout said. “For me, it’s trying to enjoy all this stuff that comes with it. Enjoy it with my family, my boys, my wife. It was a tough few years, looking back. This game is a grind.”

For the first decade of his career, Trout managed that grind as well as anyone, putting up an astonishing 74.0 Wins Above Replacement over that stretch. (Next-closest was Robinson Canó, at 46.7.) Trout made the All-Star Game every year from 2012-19, leading off the 2015 edition with a homer against Zack Greinke, and he likely would have represented the Angels in 2020 had the COVID-19 pandemic not interfered. Along the way, Trout won a Rookie of the Year award and three MVPs.

“He was far and away the best player in the game there for a while,” longtime opponent Justin Verlander said.

But in 2021, Trout badly strained his calf, setting off a series of medical episodes that included a rare spinal injury the following season. Though Trout still made the American League All-Star team each of those years, he could not participate. From 2021-25, he went on the IL six times, appearing in just 49 percent of Los Angeles’ games.

It was over, until it wasn’t. Early this season, Trout began looking a whole lot like Trout again, at least until a hamstring strain briefly set him back.

“It’s just a testament to him that even now,” Verlander said, “when he ever gets on the field and starts acting anything like what we know he can be, the whole baseball world is like, ‘Watch that.’”

“Not everyone can do what he does physically,” added former Angels teammate Brandon Marsh.

That Trout managed to make it back to the All-Star stage at Citizens Bank Park, of all places, is a matter of coincidence. He’s relishing it, of course. Throughout his career, Trout has been the subject of countless rumors regarding his desire to play in Philadelphia -- whispers that never totally quieted even after he signed a 12-year, $426.5 million extension with the Angels before the 2019 season. He still has four years and $148.5 million left on that deal.

Asked directly on Monday if he’d like to play for the Phillies before he retires, Trout grinned.

“I didn’t think I was going to hear this question today,” he deadpanned. “I enjoy coming to Philly. I’m an Angel, obviously. I’ve got a no-trade clause, so it’s ultimately my decision. But like I said, I love Philly.”

That wasn’t exactly a “no.” It also wasn’t exactly a question Trout can definitively answer today.

For now, Trout is mostly concerned with enjoying an All-Star Game that’s again his to own. Just like old times, AL manager John Schneider slotted Trout as his starting center fielder for Tuesday’s main event, batting leadoff. His family will be there to watch. So will much of South Jersey, cheesesteaks in hand, whatever their onion and Whiz preferences might be.

“Never would have envisioned this,” Trout said. “But now I’m here, I’m trying to soak it all in. It’s been great so far.”