Mike Trout Player of the Year & Rookie of the Year

Angels outfielder Mike Trout has been named Baseball America's 2012 Rookie of the Year and more impressively its Player of the Year as well. These awards are not confined to the American and National Leagues. This is for all of baseball and Trout dominated.

Jerry Crasnick's article on Trout brings up Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper as the closest to deserving the Rookie award but in singing Harper's praises, Trout only shines brighter, as when Crasnick quotes Angels GM Jerry DiPoto:

You saw it when he made the All-Star Game and went into Kansas City and people were coming to see him—rather than vice versa. That's kind of remarkable for a 20-year-old guy.

Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera is ignored, in fact Baseball America devoted a runner-up type of article to San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (oh my god I reflexively typed "Olney" there and had to backspace in a hurry) as the closest competitor to Trout's Player of the Year award.

The man who drafted Trout, former Scouting Director Eddie Bane had this observation about his "find"

"I would personally look and see, 'Oh God, Mike is facing Felix Hernandez tonight. I wonder what he's going to do?' " Bane said. "And then he'd hit a home run or you'd see a quote from Felix saying, 'Geez, that guy does things I haven't seen before.' He isn't feeding off the bottom of the pool. He's hitting the big guys.

...and then of course, there are the numbers ... those gaudy Trout numbers...

He became the first player in major league history to surpass 30 homers, 45 stolen bases and 125 runs in a season, and the youngest player to steal 40 bases since a kid named Ty Cobb swiped 53 for the 1907 Tigers. Trout finished three runs short of Joe DiMaggio's American League rookie record of 132 in 1936, and fell one steal short of joining Barry Bonds and Eric Davis as the third player in history to pull off a 30-50. At one point, Trout bagged 30 steals in a row without being caught.

Read the WHOLE ARTICLE for a great reminder of what we all just witnessed. When mentioning Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio become routine, you have to ask yourself... What will Trout do before age 22?