LITTLE ROCK — Another one for the Trout reel
Mike Trout added another clip to his expanding highlight reel Wednesday night.
The former Arkansas Travelers center fielder robbed Baltimore Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy of a home run in the first inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ 13-1 victory at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Trout hauled in Hardy’s ball over the center-field fence and later watched a replay of his catch in the outfield.
“Reminder: This man will not be able to legally drink a beer until early August,” Yahoo! Sports blogger Kevin Kaduk said of Trout, who will turn 21 on Aug. 7.
Trout’s catch was compared to Torii Hunter’s home-run saving grab against Barry Bonds in the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee. Hunter (Pine Bluff) was in right field Wednesday night next to Trout.
Hunter later tweeted that the catch “was one of the best catches I’ve seen with my eyes” and that Trout is “going to be fun to watch for years to come.”
When asked by the MLB Network, though, Hunter had a different tune.
“Man, why you got to put me on the spot like that?” Hunter said.
Highlights from Twitter on Trout’s catch Wednesday night:
Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times: “Never thought I’d see a better catch by an #Angels OF than Jim Edmonds in KC [Kansas City] in 1996, but Mike Trout’s Baltimore heist Wed is right there.”
Southwest Airlines: “Mike Trout sure can fly!”
Major League Baseball: “No fish puns necessary. Mike Trout makes arguably the play of the year.”
Bill Plunkett, Orange County (Calif.) Register: “If you missed Trout catch, get to a TV to see a replay tonight. If you don’t own a TV - leave your cave and go buy one so you can see it.”
Trout entered Thursday leading the American League in batting average (.344) and stolen bases (21). Since Trout was called up on April 28 from Class AAA Salt Lake, the Angels are a major-league best 34-19.
Pressure’s on
With Rafael Nadal exiting Wimbledon after losing to Lukas Rosol in the second round Thursday, Dan Wolken of The Daily turned his thoughts to Andy Murray. The 25-year-old Scot, who now lives in London, has never won Wimbledon in six attempts.
“So Nadal’s out,” Wolken tweeted. “Which means the heartbreak will be 10 times worse when Murray finds a way to screw this up.” King reminder
The Los Angeles Kings announced Thursday that goaltender Jonathan Quick agreed to a 10-yearcontract extension worth $58 million.
The Kings’ Twitter account didn’t waste any time letting the other 29 NHL franchises know about Quick’s deal.
“To clarify, that’s 10 years after next year - so 11 years in total of our goaltender being better than yours,” the Kings tweeted.
They said it
From The Fake ESPN Twitter account: “After being asked to play football at UCLA, Diddy and Snoop’s [Snoop Dogg] kids get together to figure out what rhymes with ‘Sun Bowl.’ ”
From the satirical sports website sportspickle.com: “Vanilla Ice’s son forced to walk on at UCLA.”
Quote of the day
“We’re working just as hard, but they’re getting four times what we are.” Former Arkansas Razorbacks golfer Stacy Lewis on the gap between the money made by PGA and LPGA players
Sports, Pages 22 on 06/29/2012