This story appears in the July 16, 2018, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine—and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
Give me something on Mike Trout. Anything. Just one thing. . . . Please.”
Even legends have their vulnerabilities. Achilles had his heel, Superman his Kryptonite and Mickey Mantle had Dick Radatz, the reliever known as the Monster, who whiffed the Mick 12 times in 16 at bats. Scott Servais, the Mariners’ manager, had been watching Trout play for eight years, back to when the Angels’ centerfielder was a teenager, and still he knew of no Trout antidote, no Monster to tame him.