Hey everyone, Ben here. The episode you're about to hear was recorded before the announcement that Mike Trout, longtime podcast favorite, would be undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.

And maybe it's just as well that we recorded before that news because as it was we got to

giggle about summer sausage without adopting a funarial tone look maybe we'll talk about this next time

but what more is there to say?

This is news, but it's not new.

This is the fourth straight season with an extended trout absence.

Following the pandemic shortened season,

those games played totals from his youth seem almost mythical now. No fewer

than 157 games played in any season from 2013 through 2016. But now this is

sadly what we expect. We've been bracing ourselves for this.

Every time we talked about Trout's hot start, we acknowledge that it could be interrupted

by an injury at any time. I'm ready to get hurt again by Trout getting hurt again,

is how I put it once. And yeah, it still hurts very much for him. He's the one having surgery, but it also stings for his fans. Yet another ailment, a knee now as he continues to go Griffey. His fast start had slowed somewhat.

Over his last 11 games he hit 105 261 263 that's a 524 oPS but at least he was

healthy and this may be the most disbaying injury of all in that 24 oPS, but at least he was healthy.

And this may be the most disbaying injury of all in that it's not even clear how it happened.

He isn't sure how he tore his meniscus.

As the NPCC in Skyram says, I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee. Doesn't sound like that's what happened to Trout. I'm sure he would have noticed an arrow, but at least an arrow would have offered an explanation. He felt a twinge as he was running in from the outfield in his game on Monday,

didn't think it was anything serious, but it really started to bother him after the game.

How can you even try to prevent something if you don't know how it happened?

If your downfall comes without any apparent inciting incident, it just

reinforces the sense that his body is breaking down, that there's nothing he can do about it.

...