Steven Russell Trout (born July 30, 1957) is an American former professional
baseball pitcher who played
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
(MLB) during the 1980s.
He is the son of former
MLB pitcher
Dizzy Trout. He had the nickname "
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows ...
".
Career
Chicago White Sox
After attending
Thornwood High School in
South Holland, Illinois
South Holland is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, within Thornton Township. The population was 21,465 at the 2020 census.
History
The area currently occupied by South Holland, Illinois, was first ...
, Trout was drafted by 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 ...
in the first round of the
1976 MLB draft
First round selections
The following are the first round picks in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.
''*'' Did not sign
Other notable Selections
''*'' Did not sign
Background
The 1976 Arizona State University team, considered by ma ...
.
[Steve Trout](_blank)
Baseball-Reference.com, Retrieved on June 22, 2007 He played three years in the minor leagues before joining the White Sox and pitching in his first MLB game on July 1, 1978 against the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...
.
Chicago Cubs
Before the season, Trout was traded to the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
along with
Warren Brusstar for
Scott Fletcher,
Pat Tabler,
Randy Martz
Randy Carl Martz (born May 28, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.
Career
In 1977, after being named the Most Valuable College Player (he went 14–0 for the University of South ...
, and
Dick Tidrow.
Trout had 32 starts in his first season with the Cubs, going 10-14 with a 4.65
ERA.
The following season in , he stayed in the Cubs rotation, pitching along with
Rick Sutcliffe
Richard Lee Sutcliffe (born June 21, 1956), nicknamed "The Red Baron", is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals between 1976 and ...
,
Dennis Eckersley
Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American professional baseball pitcher and former color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...
, and
Lee Smith. They led the Cubs to 96 victories and their first trip to the playoffs in 39 years. Steve pitched the Cubs home opener on April 13 against the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major leagu ...
, pitching a complete game and allowing just two hits in the 11-2 victory. On May 30, Trout took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...
that was broken up by
Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...
.
Trout finished the season with a 13-7 record in 31 starts, posting a 3.41 ERA. Steve pitched effectively in the
1984 National League Championship Series against the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
, going 8.1 innings for the victory in Game 2, which put the Cubs one victory away from their first
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...
since 1945. He pitched in relief in the series-deciding Game 5 in San Diego, which the Cubs lost.
["Steve Trout", Cubs Official 1985 Yearbook, Published by Woodford Associates]
Trout started strong in with a 6-1 record through June 8, until ulnar nerve problems caused him to miss time on the disabled list, as he was only able to make nine starts for the remainder of the season Trout was traded in to the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
, for
Bob Tewksbury,
Rich Scheid
Richard Paul Scheid (born February 3, 1965) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Houston Astros (1992) and Florida Marlins (1994–1995) of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Scheid attended Seton Hall University, whe ...
, and
Dean Wilkins.
New York Yankees
Trout's acquisition by the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
in a mid-season trade proved to be a disastrous trade for the Yankees. Though his last two starts with the Cubs were complete game shutouts, and his ERA was one of the best in the National League, with the Yankees he proved unable to locate the strike zone. He walked 37 batters and threw nine wild pitches in 46 innings and lasted an average of only four innings a start in his nine starts Yankee starts. The Yankees traded Trout to Seattle after the 1987 season, paying the Mariners over one million dollars to offset some of Trout's substantial salary.
Seattle Mariners
Trout was traded to the
Mariners before the season with
Henry Cotto
Henry Cotto (born January 5, 1961) is a former professional baseball outfielder. He played all or parts of ten seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1984 until 1993. He also played one season in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants in 1994, winning ...
in exchange for
Lee Guetterman,
Clay Parker, and
Wade Taylor. He pitched infrequently over the next season and a half before being released by the team.
Retirement
Trout runs a baseball clinic from his home in
Venice, Florida
Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located in Sou ...
from November through April. It is open to all ages.
In 2002, he authored a book about his and his father
Dizzy Trout's baseball lives called ''Home Plate: The Journey of the Most Flamboyant Father and Son Pitching Combination in Major League History''.
He has been a pitching coach for the
Brockton Rox of the
Can-Am League and Chicago's
Windy City ThunderBolts of the
Frontier League
The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...
. On January 25, 2008, it was announced that Trout would be the manager of the
Texarkana Gunslingers for their inaugural season
Moloka'i High School in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
hired Trout in March 2010 to be its head coach. Trout answered an ad in the local newspaper.
He started the Chicago-based Trout Baseball Academy in 2015 and conducts baseball camps for children throughout the year.
Trout recently co-wrote a children's illustration book called ''Loosey-Goosey Baseball'' that is available for purchase on his website.
According to the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' in 2015, Trout sued a North Side baseball camp claiming the camp unlawfully used his name in the source code of their website for monetary gains.
See also
*
List of second-generation Major League Baseball players
Dozens of father-and-son combinations have played or managed in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The first was Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, who made his debut in 1903.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. became the first father-and-son duo ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trout, Steve
1957 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Appleton Foxes players
Baseball players from Michigan
Calgary Cannons players
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox players
Gulf Coast White Sox players
Iowa Oaks players
Knoxville Sox players
Louisville Redbirds players
Major League Baseball pitchers
New York Yankees players
Peoria Chiefs players
Seattle Mariners players
Baseball players from Detroit