Angels superstar Mike Trout reveals reason for wanting to fight Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays mascots: "They had something for me"

Ever since he made his big league debut in July of 2011, Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout has gone on to establish himself as one of the most formidable hitters in the sport.

Trout's remarkable hitting ability has earned him eleven All-Star selections, three AL MVP awards and nine Silver Slugger awards, alongside plenty of respect from any pitcher that comes up against him.

It appears it's not only opposing pitchers that have to be fearful of Trout, but also some MLB mascots. Speaking to insider Chris Rose on Monday, Mike Trout hilariously explained why Houston Astros' mascot, Orbit, and the Tampa Bay Rays' mascot, Raymond, would be two of his favorite mascots to square up against.

"I'm going to go [with] Orbit, or the Tampa Bay Rays' [mascot]. It seemed like everytime we were in the Trop' (Tropicana Field), everytime I'd come out to stretch or get on the line for a game, they had something for me," Mike Trout said [16:16].

Despite his humorous run-ins with opposing mascots over the years, Mike Trout added that his son, Beckham, is extremely fond of them.

"My kid's not going to like this, because he loves the mascots. I've been collecting them [stuffed mascot toys] around the stadiums. We got probably 17 so far," Trout added [22:00].

Mike Trout and the Angels are likely to miss out on the postseason yet again in 2025

Though his trophy cabinet is chock-full of individual honors he has earned over the course of his extremely successful major league career so far, success with his team has been extremely hard to come by for Mike Trout.

The Angels did get to the postseason relatively early on in Trout's career, making it to the ALDS in 2014, where they were ultimately eliminated by the Kansas City Royals. However, the franchise has failed to replicate that kind of regular-season success ever since.

Texas Rangers v Los Angeles Angels - Source: Getty

In the 2025 season so far, the Angels have looked solid at times and boast quite a potent offense. However, they have continued to struggle for consistency, something which fans will unfortunately be all too familiar with at this point.

Trout and the Angels currently sit eighth in the AL wildcard standings, and it looks likely that a playoff spot will elude them yet again.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

Know More

Edited by John Maxwell