Here is my report on the rocketing popularity of Mike Trout based on a weekday visit to the Angels stadium team store while the club was on the road...

Figure this... the kid hasn't even played 100 major league games and his jersey is outselling everyone's at the team store - based on the nods given by stadium employees when I asked for an unofficial estimate on whose jersey was selling the most in the past two weeks.

If you are 42 years old or more, understand that Mike Trout is closer in age to a newborn infant than he is to you. The good news is that players tend to improve their performance until around Age 27 and over time it has been shown that the earlier a player makes it to the big league level and stays there, the higher his career ceiling of achievements is.

UPDATE: In watching the rebroadcast of Wednesday's game in Toronto, I noticed that, with a 1-2 count, Mark Trumbo hit his run-scoring triple in the top of the ninth inning on the FIRST PITCH following a visit to the mound by Jeff Mathis. Just in case Lyle Spencer spews any of his CERA garbage Jeffo's way. Trumbo, by the way, is a still-room-to-improve 26 years old. Just sayin'.