On August 7, 1996, the Phillies played a game on Mike Trout’s birthday and lost, 14-1. It was on that day, Justin and Trev theorize, on which the six-year-old Trout declared that yes, they were his hometown team and he loved them, but he would NEVER play for the Phillies.
Cut to 23 years later, and Trout came through on that potentially fictional promise by signing a contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels. At the end of the day, all the Eagles game balls and self-assured Philly columnists in the world couldn’t compete with the crushed spirits of a sad little boy on his birthday.