Jeff Trout held all of the baseball records at his high school, was an All-American in college and played minor league ball. If ever there was a guy with the credentials to be a demanding parent to a talented kid, it would be him.
When Mike reached the ninth grade and began to create a future in baseball, generating awe in scouts such as Morhardt with his speed, Jeff and Debbie Trout attended his games in lawn chairs, captured video, cheered for Mike and his teammates — and left the instruction and coaching of their son to others, a calculated distance that remains in place today.
“I know he’s already got a lot of pressure, a lot of people coming at him,” Jeff Trout said. “There’s no sense in us adding to that.”
Mike is the youngest of three children, following Teal and Tyler, and Jeff and Debbie Trout encouraged their three children to play whatever sport they wanted. “I think part of the job of being a good parent is to find out what your kid’s passions are and try to encourage them to succeed and do well in them and follow their gut,” Jeff Trout said, “and give them the opportunities to do well in what they like to do.”
Source: Buster Olney, ESPN.com