The Los Angeles Angels ballpark often can be heard echoing with a bashful cheer of enthusiastic fans during their seasons’ games. One name that stands out the most is that of Mike Trout. Intriguingly enough, Trout’s passion for the sport seems to have been passed down by his father, Jeff. Jeff Trout’s past interactions with baseball might not have been fruitful for him, but they certainly did help Trout Jr. shape a diamond-shaped dream of his own.

Although little is known about his involvement in his son’s career, Mike’s posts on social media have never failed to show his reverence for Trout Sr. over and over again, proving his influence on his son’s life. Thus, the lore of baseball’s one of the biggest stars’ fathers demands to be brought to light today.

Who is Jeff Trout? How is he related to Mike Trout?

Born in Indianapolis, Jeff Trout is related to Mike Trout by the bond of blood that goes deeper than anything. Mike is the youngest of the three children of Jeff and his wife, Debbie Trout. Jeff played three major sports other than baseball during his Northwest High School days: football, basketball, and wrestling. However, only the baseball part of his athletic endeavors continued into his latter days.

Jeff has been named a Hall of Fame alumni of one of the many institutions that had the chance to watch him play: the University of Delaware. Per their in-house report, “In the long history of championship baseball at the University of Delaware, few players have matched the pure hitting talents of Jeff Trout.” The instances of the said hitting talent later became prominent in his minor league days.

A star at a diamond: A look at Jeff Trout’s baseball career

When asked to speak about his career in his own words, Jeff Trout chuckles before giving a humble comeback: “I can tell you I wasn’t nearly as good as my son,” according to Grantland. His career record, however shortlived it was, tells a different story.

Many mentions of Trout Jr.’s early years in MLB come along with a certain, default sentence to act as an homage to his father—that he “topped out at Double-A.” Neither that line nor Mike’s innate talent for hitting .356 at just 18 years of age reveals a single hint of the magnitude of the powerhouse that is Jeff Trout.

Trout Sr. hit .398/.482/.602 while playing for the University of Delaware, a Division 1 institution, where his coach tagged him as a “really outstanding player.” “I was kind of a Pete Rose–type hitter, a grinder,” Jeff recalled, musing back to the days when he focused more on taking calculated, patient steps as opposed to a traditional hitter’s aggressive and fast-paced stance.

Watch This Story: Breaking Down The Details Of Ippei Mizuhara: The Bridge Between The Japanese Phenom Shohei Ohtani And America

His history of excellence and aptitude in the sport brings the next question to mind: what exactly happened in his past that made Jeff Trout, who was considered the best college player in the country back in 1983, completely drop off any chance of stepping foot in the major leagues?