Trout marks birthday with 1,000th hit, HR

ANAHEIM -- Mike Trout celebrated his 26th birthday by logging his 1,000th career hit and homering in the Angels' 6-2 loss to the Orioles on Monday night at Angel Stadium.
Trout lined a leadoff double off Baltimore right-hander Dylan Bundy in the fourth inning to collect his milestone hit, prompting the 34,142 fans in attendance to give him a standing ovation. Trout then reached third base on Albert Pujols' groundout and scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly from Kole Calhoun.
"It felt pretty good," Trout said. "I just wanted to get it over with. A lot of people talking about it. But I got a pitch to hit and hit a double."
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Trout added his 23rd home run of the season in the sixth inning to tie the score at 2-2. It was the fourth time in Trout's six-year career that he has homered on his birthday, also going deep in 2012, '13 and '15. The superstar center fielder became the 10th American League player to reach the plateau before his age-26 season. He is only the fourth player in Major League history to record 1,000 hits, 500 runs and 500 walks in his age-25 season or younger, joining Hall of Famers Mel Ott, Jimmie Fox and Mickey Mantle.

"You obviously want to hear your name with the greats and the Hall of Famers when you do something," Trout said. "It makes you feel good. It makes you feel special to be a part of such good company. For me, it's just going out there and playing. I'm not trying to chase any numbers. We're trying to get to the playoffs, and that's the main goal."

Already a two-time AL MVP winner and a six-time All-Star, Trout is in the midst of the best season of his largely unprecedented career. He is batting .346 with a 1.180 OPS, 23 home runs and 52 RBIs in 68 games this season.
"Every time Mike does something, you just shake your head," manager Mike Scioscia said. "For us to experience a player of his magnitude, doing so many things at such a young age, it's exciting. Hopefully we'll get a chance to see it for a long time."

The milestone added to a festive day for Trout. In the top of the third, a group of fans in the right-center-field bleachers sang "Happy Birthday" to him as he patrolled center field and waved handmade signs with more well wishes. Earlier in the day, Trout was also doused with baby powder, raw eggs and a bevy of liquids by his teammates, who continued an odd Angels birthday tradition.
"I'd rather not do it," Trout said. "But coming in, Kole was the first one to say, 'What time do you want to do it?' I just tried to get it over with. It was fun, though."