Mike Trout has become one of the more impressive players in baseball history, and an early key to his success was not playing baseball all the time as a kid.
Trout was a three-sport athlete growing up, playing football in the fall and basketball in the winter before turning his attention to baseball in the spring. Everything he did was with an eye toward baseball, an effort that he thinks has paid dividends in his professional career.
The topic of specialization has become a polarizing one in youth sports circles. While some parents take the approach of making their kids play the same sport year-round, others opt against specialization and instead have their kids play a variety of sports.
Trout told Rob Bradford on Baseball Isn’t Boring that being a three-sport athlete, something scouts admired, was key for him.
"It was really important for me,” the future Hall of Famer said. “Baseball was obviously my favorite sport to play. I kind of played basketball to stay in shape for baseball, and then I played football to get stronger for baseball, but I think the aspects and the overall competitiveness in the other sports helped me in baseball. It’s just different.
“It was big for me to play three sports. If there’s any advice out there, I would say to play multiple sports. It helps you mentally focus, and physically, as well.”