Mike and Mickey...and Hank and Barry and Willie

Spring Training opened yesterday, and rather than doing an extensive analysis of the Pirates, I thought that I would delay such ramblings and instead talk about a subject that has been niggling in the back of my mind for awhile.  It concerns Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout, already a two time Most Valuable Player.

At some point during this off season, someone, probably on the MLB Network, probably after he was named the AL MVP  for the second time in his career, said that he is "this generation's Mickey Mantle." 

High praise for Mr. Trout, so I decided to do one of my famous spread sheets to compare the two of them at comparable stages in their careers, and this is what it looks like.

	Mike Trout	Mickey Mantle
Seasons	6	6
Games	811	808
BA	0.306	0.308
HR	168	173
HR/162 games	34	35
RBI	497	575
RBI/162 games	99	115
Hits	917	907
Hits/162 games	183	181
Runs	600	642
Runs/162 games	120	129

Through six seasons, Trout and Mantle are practically the same player.  The Mick outpaces Trout in both Runs Scored and Runs Batted In, which may be a function of the other players on their respective teams.  Otherwise, those "Trout Is Mantle" comparisons are not far off.

Then, I decided to throw in a couple of other players into the mix to see how Trout compares to them.  You might recognize them:

So, here is the expanded chart:

	Mike Trout	Hank Aaron	Barry Bonds	Mickey Mantle	Willie Mays
Seasons	6	6	6	6	6
Games	811	886	871	808	762
BA	0.306	0.323	0.269	0.308	0.311
HR	168	179	142	173	128
HR/162 games	34	33	26	35	27
RBI	497	617	563	575	509
RBI/162 games	99	113	84	115	108
Hits	917	1,137	837	907	903
Hits/162 games	183	209	156	181	192
Runs	600	612	563	642	531
Runs/162 games	120	112	105	129	113

I will only draw a couple of conclusions from these comparisons.

1. Trout certainly holds his own when compared to these four great players.  No doubt that in Trout, we are seeing a guy who can become one of the all time great players by the time his career is done.
2. Please don't bother pointing out that Bonds' numbers were rolled up in his Pre-Balco Era.  We all get it.
3. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this little chart are the stats of Hank Aaron.  When discussions of "who was the greatest ball player ever?" take place, I don't think that Aaron's name gets mentioned nearly often enough.

Okay, time to put the calculator away and start getting into Bucco Spring Training.  Time to worry about just which Ivan Nova shows up for the Pirates in 2017.