It’s the third weekend in January 2013, and it’s unseasonably warm in New York, with temperatures climbing into the low 50s. There is much to celebrate.

Some of baseball’s biggest stars congregate at the New York Hilton to collect the prestigious Baseball Writers Association of America Awards for the previous season, including MVPs Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey and young stars Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, named Rookies of the Year for the American and National Leagues, respectively.

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Harper, perhaps the most touted prospect of all time — a Sports Illustrated cover story dubbed him “The Chosen One” as a 16-year-old — received 16 of 28 first-place votes in a standout first full season for the Washington Nationals. But Trout, a unanimous selection from the Los Angeles Angels, was otherworldly; fitting for a player nicknamed the “Millville Meteor,” a nod to Trout’s New Jersey hometown, by a fan editing his Wikipedia page.

Trout won a Silver Slugger for his offensive prowess and a Fielding Bible Award for exceptional center-field defense. His 10.5 WAR season was so good — only Aaron Judge (10.8 in 2022 and 2024) and Mookie Betts (10.7 in 2018) have produced better campaigns since — that it sparked serious debate in the MVP race. Cabrera, who won the Triple Crown, got 22 first-place votes. Trout, who finished second, got the other six.

The Angels rented out the swanky 21 Club to celebrate their budding superstar, who had turned 21 a few months before. Coming off back-to-back winning seasons, they had the player to power them back into prominence, to recapture the glory of 2002-09, when they went to the playoffs six times, won five division titles and a World Series. To step out of the long shadow cast by the crosstown Los Angeles Dodgers.

Trout and the Angels returned to the playoffs in 2014, falling to the Kansas City Royals in a three-game ALDS sweep. They have not been back since. They haven’t won a postseason game since 2009, the year Trout was drafted. Both streaks are the longest in baseball.

In the expanded postseason era, it’s never been easier to get to October. But another World Series has come and gone, and baseball fans looking for Trout this fall might have been best served to check for him in the stands of his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.