We all know the central baseball tragedy of the Los Angeles Angels.
They have employed the consensus best player in baseball for more than a decade, only to be continuously foiled in the goal of reaching even the postseason, much less the World Series. They have tallied only one postseason appearance — and zero postseason wins — in that span.
The longest-running holder of the title of “best player in baseball,” bearer of the grim burden, was Mike Trout. Now almost 32 years old and playing second fiddle to two-way teammate Shohei Ohtani, Trout broke the hamate bone in his left hand Monday and will miss at least a large chunk of the regular season that remains.