Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez probably had a similar sentiment to a lot of Braves fans, in anticipation of the rare trip to Turner Field by the Los Angeles Angels and the first trip ever for their star center fielder Mike Trout.
“I’ve got kind of mixed emotions on Trout,” Gonzalez said. “I want to see him play, but I don’t want to see him play, you know what I mean? This is the first time I get to see him live.”
Trout, who’s only 22, was the Sabermetricians’ choice for American League MVP each of the last two years, though the Baseball Writers of America chose Miguel Cabrera ahead of him each time. He’s earned the respect of one Braves pitcher who’s watched a lot of Angels’ players over the years: Artesia, Calif. native Kris Medlen.
“Best in the game,” Medlen said of Trout. “And I don’t anticipate him slowing down at all. Whatever you throw that guy - he can hit down and in to left center field, up and away to right, just wherever you throw it. He’s got that Miguel Cabrera – not style swing - but Miguel Cabrera take-you-deep-anywhere-I-want. He covers everything, offspeed, it doesn’t matter.”
Medlen said he went to more Angels games than Dodgers growing up, and said he caught his first foul ball at Angel Stadium off the bat of Chili Davis. His favorite Angels player was shortstop Gary DiSarcina.
Freddie Freeman grew up in Orange, Calif., six miles from Angel Stadium. His favorite players were Garret Anderson and Darin Erstad.
“If you can mold Garret Anderson and Darin Erstad into one person…,” Freeman said. “That’s who I always loved because Darin Erstad in center field was incredible and Garret Anderson always hitting the left-handed slider to left field - it was fun to watch and pretty to watch. Then when Erstad moved to first, he was pretty spectacular over here himself. He was a guy who, even if he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, his uniform was dirty. He was always giving everything he’s got.”
Freeman got a chance to play against his favorite childhood team in Anaheim as a rookie in 2011, so some of the novelty of playing against the Angels has worn off. But he still gets a kick out of seeing them across the field and wondering exactly what it’ll mean for family and friends back home.
“Everybody in California is going to be watching, so it’s going to be something a little bit extra to beat these guys,” Freeman said. “I think my oldest brother is just all Braves now, but my middle brother still goes to Angel games – he went to one like a week and a half ago - so I don’t know what he’s doing. I think he’s going to root for me and then root for them.”
