Paul Howard "Dizzy" Trout (June 29, 1915 – February 28, 1972) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from to , most notably as a member of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

team that finished either in first or second place in the American League pennant races between 1944 and 1947 and won the

1945 World Series The 1945 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1945 season. The 42nd edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. The ...

. The two-time All-Star player was the American League wins leader in 1943 and, was the league ERA leader in 1944. In , Trout made a brief comeback attempt at the age of 42 with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. He also played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

1939–1942

Trout was born in Sandcut, Indiana. He first played professionally in 1935 with the

Terre Haute Tots The Terre Haute Tots were a baseball team in Terre Haute, Indiana from 1921–1937 after being established in 1919 as the Terre Haute Browns. They were a Three-I League team; while they were unaffiliated for most of their existence; in 1937, ...

in the Three-I League before signing with the Tigers in 1939. In his first four seasons (1939–1942), Dizzy Trout never had a winning record and totaled 33 wins and 44 losses. Even in 1940, as the Tigers won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pennant, Trout finished 3-7.

1943–1947

Dizzy Trout was classified 4-F due to hearing impairmen

and was not accepted for military service during World War II. It was during the war years that Trout had his best seasons. Trout had a losing record in his first four seasons, but in the next four years (1943–1946) he turned into one of the best pitchers in the

, winning 82 and losing 54. Dizzy Trout led the

in wins (20) in 1943, but his best season was 1944, when he won 27 games and lost 14. He led the American League that year in earned run average, ERA (2.12),

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pit ...

s (33),

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s (7), and

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

(352-1/3). He also finished second in the league to his Detroit teammate, Hal Newhouser, in wins (27) and strikeouts (144). The Tigers' pitching duo of Trout and Newhouser won 56 games in 1944 and finished 1-2 in ERA, wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, complete games, and shutouts. Newhouser and Trout also finished 1-2 in the American League MVP voting, with Trout trailing Newhouser in the voting by only 4 votes. Trout's pitching totals were not as impressive in 1945, but he was a workhorse in the pennant drive. He pitched six games and won four over a nine-game late-season stretch. In Game 4 of the

, Trout beat the Cubs 4-1 on a five-hitter. The Tigers won the 1945 World Series, and Trout went 1-1 with an ERA of 0.66 in the Series.

1947–1952

From 1947–1949, Trout's performance dropped off, as he failed to achieve a winning record, and had a total record of 23-31. Aside from his pitching, Trout could hit for power. He hit 20

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s, tying him for 11th all-time in home runs by pitchers. He hit a 9th inning grand slam against the Washington Senators on July 28, 1949, helping the Tigers to a victory. In 1950, Trout and the Tigers both turned things around. Trout won 13 and lost only 5, and the Tigers won 95 games and narrowly lost the

pennant to the Yankees. On June 3, 1952, Trout was sent to the

in a blockbuster trade that sent

Walt Dropo Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer * Walt ...

, Don Lenhardt,

Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He was a shortstop and third baseman during a t ...

Fred Hatfield Fred James Hatfield (March 18, 1925 – May 22, 1998), nicknamed "Scrap Iron", was a Major League Baseball infielder who played nine seasons in the Major Leagues with the Boston Red Sox (1950–52), Detroit Tigers (1952–56), Chicago White S ...

, and

Bill Wight William Robert Wight (April 12, 1922 – May 17, 2007) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball ( MLB) who played from through for the New York Yankees (1946–47), Chicago White Sox (1948–50), Boston Red Sox (1951–52), Detro ...

to the Tigers for Trout, George Kell,

Hoot Evers Walter Arthur "Hoot" Evers (February 8, 1921 – January 25, 1991) was an American baseball outfielder, scout, coach, and executive. Evers played professional baseball from 1941 to 1942 and 1946 to 1956, including 12 seasons in Major League ...

, and

Johnny Lipon John Joseph Lipon (November 10, 1922 – August 17, 1998) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Redlegs over the course of nine seasons (1942; 1946; 1948–1954). Th ...

. Trout started only 17 games for the Red Sox, and retired at the end of the 1952 season. Trout was a very good hitting pitcher in his 15-year major league career. He posted a .213

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average i ...

(205-for-961) scoring 99 runs with 28 doubles, 7

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 20

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

, 110

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

and drew 59

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

. He was in double figures in RBI in five seasons, with a high of 24 RBI in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in No ...

Retirement

After retiring from baseball, Trout called play-by-play for the Tigers on radio

WKMH WKMH (102.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian music format. Licensed to Hudson, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1995 under the WMXE call sign. WKMH primarily targets the Hillsdale area. The 102.5 frequency ha ...

and TV

WJBK-TV WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facil ...

from 1953–1955. He also hosted ''

The Knot-Hole Gang ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', a sports show aimed at children. Trout broadcast the Tigers games with Van Patrick and became popular with Detroit fans for his self-effacing humor, scrambled syntax, and folksy demeanor. In 1956, Trout ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in Wayne County as a Republican, losing to long-time incumbent

Andrew C. Baird Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

. He attempted a return to baseball with the

in 1957 at age 42. Trout made two appearances, allowed three earned runs, and retired one batter, for an 81.00 ERA. After being released by Baltimore, he joined the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

as a pitching instructor and then worked with that organization's front office until his death from stomach cancer at the age of 56 in 1972 at

Harvey, Illinois Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,324 at the 2020 census. Harvey is bordered by the villages of Dixmoor and Riverdale to the north; Dolton, Phoenix, and South Holland to the east; East Hazel Cre ...

. He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Trout's son,

Steve ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, pitched for 12 years in the major leagues.

References

Dizzy Trout – A Major League Talent

External links