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From Bill Shaikin: It was Hall of Fame induction weekend a couple of weeks ago, and The Times’ Hall of Fame baseball writer reached out with a provocative question.
“Is Mike Trout still an automatic Hall of Famer?” Ross Newhan asked me.
Five years ago, you would have nodded so fast you might have resembled a bobblehead doll. On Thursday, when the Angels announced Trout would finish the season on the injured list because of a second meniscus tear in his left knee, you at least had to wonder.
Trout played 29 games this season. He has not played even 120 games since 2019. Over the last four seasons, he has missed more games than he has played. His number of games played in the second half: zero, 40, one, zero.
He has six years left on his contract, raising the prospect of his decorated career ending with a decade of injury-shortened seasons.
If the Hall of Fame is all about putting up the numbers, what might Trout’s numbers look like when his career is done?
Mike Trout is out for the season after tearing meniscus again
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Jake Cave hit a tying two-run home run with two out in the ninth inning and the Colorado Rockies scored on an error in the 10th to beat the Angels 5-4 on Thursday night.
Cave homered off Hunter Strickland, the right-hander who is being used to finish off games after closer Carlos Estevez was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
Michael Toglia added a two-run home run for the Rockies, who have won consecutive games after a five-game losing streak. Colorado won a series for the third time in four tries since the All-Star break.
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DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Freddie Freeman’s 3-year-old son, Maximus, is battling a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome, Freeman and his wife announced Thursday on Instagram.
The Instagram post, which was written by Chelsea Freeman, said there “is going to be a journey to recover,” but that the family has “faith that he will be completely healed.”
Freeman has missed the Dodgers’ last five games while on the family emergency list. He left the team before a series in Houston last Friday to be with his family in Southern California.
On that Friday, the post said, Maximus was taken to the hospital after his condition “rapidly declined.” The boy had been in the hospital earlier last week, according to an Instagram post from Chelsea.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: Sean McVay is going to have to wait awhile.
The offensive line that cost the Rams tens of millions of dollars to reconfigure is mired in injuries as McVay prepares his team for Sunday’s joint practice with the Chargers.
On Thursday, McVay said left guard Jonah Jackson would be “week to week” after suffering a shoulder injury Tuesday. Left tackle Alaric Jackson remained sidelined because of an ankle injury, and Thursday right tackle Rob Havenstein left practice because of an unspecified foot injury.
The Rams do not play their opener until Sept. 8 at Detroit, so the linemen have plenty of time to recover.
CHARGERS
From Sam Farmer: The Chargers, who have a long history of losing key players to injury, are suddenly dealing with uncertainty at their most important position.
Quarterback Justin Herbert will wear a boot for approximately two weeks because of a plantar fascia injury in his right foot, the team announced Wednesday.
The diagnosis came after practice Tuesday. A team spokesman said there will be a “graduated return-to-play protocol,” and there’s an expectation Herbert will be ready for the start of the regular season.
Federal judge overturns $4.7-billion verdict in ‘NFL Sunday Ticket’ lawsuit
LAKERS
From Chuck Schilken: The second of three statues honoring late Lakers great Kobe Bryant outside Crypto.com Arena will be unveiled Friday in a private ceremony, a person with knowledge of the event but not authorized to discuss it publicly has confirmed to The Times.
The statue will pay tribute to Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, both of whom were among the nine people who died in a Jan. 26, 2020, helicopter crash in Calabasas.
It is not known when the statue will be able to be viewed by the public.
The date of the unveiling — 8/2/24 — is significant because it involves the No. 8 and No. 24 jersey numbers Bryant wore with the Lakers as well as the No. 2 jersey number Gianna wore as a player for Bryant’s Mamba Academy.
ANGEL CITY
From Marissa Kraus: Angel City star forward Christen Press returned to the pitch for the first time in two years during a penalty kick shootout win over San Diego FC in Thursday’s NWSL x Liga MXF Summer Cup match at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium.
Press has been sidelined since she tore her anterior cruciate ligament in June 2022, a span of 781 days. The injury and complications required four surgeries for Angel City’s first signee.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1952 — Five American boxers win gold medals at the Olympics, marking the first time the U.S. wins the unofficial team title. The five medalists are flyweight Nate Brooks; light welterweight Charley Adkins; middleweight Floyd Patterson; light heavyweight Norvell Lee and heavyweight Eddie Sanders.
1967 — The New Orleans Saints play their first preseason game and lose to the Los Angeles Rams, 77-16.
1979 — New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson is killed in a plane crash practicing takeoffs and landings near his Ohio home.
1982 — Oakland outfielder Rickey Henderson steals his 100th MLB base of the season in 6-5 win vs. Seattle, first to steal 100 twice in modern era.
1986 — Jackie Joyner sets the world record in the heptathlon at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Houston with 7,158 points.
1992 — Vitaly Scherbo of the Unified Team wins gold medals in the vault, rings, pommel horse and parallel bars to give him a total of six gold, the most won by a gymnast in a single Olympic Games.
1996 — The star-studded United States men’s basketball team, Dream Team III, beat Yugoslavia 95-69 to win the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics.
1996 — Down to her final long jump attempt and fighting an injured hamstring, Jackie Joyner-Kersee leaps out of sixth place and ends her Olympic career with a bronze medal. Joyner Kersee jumps 22 feet, 11 3-4 inches for her sixth Olympic medal.
2012 — Carmelo Anthony and the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team rewrite the record books in a 156-73 romp over Nigeria. Anthony scores 37 points, including 10 of 12 3-pointers, to break the U.S. single-game scoring record in less than three quarters. When Andre Iguodala hits a 3-pointer with 4:37 left, the Americans surpass the previous Olympic record of 138 points set by Brazil against Egypt in 1988.
2012 — Gabby Douglas becomes the third straight American to win gymnastics’ biggest prize when she wins the all-around Olympic title.
2012 — Michael Phelps wins his first individual gold medal of the London Games in the 200-meter individual medley. The U.S. star becomes the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three straight Olympics, capturing his 20th career medal — and 16th gold.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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