ANAHEIM – Friday night, Mark Trumbo makes his first trip to Angel Stadium where he’ll be playing in anything but a Los Angeles Angels uniform. With the Seattle Mariners in town, and newly acquired Trumbo will make his return to the “Big A” for the first time since September 29th, 2013.
“It’s a fun day,” said Trumbo prior to Friday’s game. “I guess there’s a lot of emotions but I’m excited that I get the chance to come and play in a familiar place with a lot of cool memories here.“
Trumbo did expect to make his return a few weeks earlier, with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but was recently traded to Seattle for a large dish of prospects. Trumbo is still excited to play in front of his family and friends, who are coming from just 10 minutes up the road in Villa Park.
“As a member of the Diamondbacks I saw we had two games that would be played here and now we have a few more and it’s going to be good.”
The familiar stomping grounds of Angel Stadium bring excitement for the Angels 18th round pick in 2004, but also came as simple as walking into the stadium from a different gate and entering a different clubhouse.
“Obviously I’m very familiar with the place so I know how to get around a little bit, but it is strange coming in from the right field side, and the clubhouses are obviously different. It feels like business. It’s going to be great seeing everyone I played with and kept in touch with, but ultimately I’m here with the Mariners and I’m trying help this team win games.”
Trumbo was a large fan favorite during his four years with the Halos. Over the four years, Trumbo hit .250/.299/.469 with 95 home runs and 284 RBI. How will Angels fans welcome him back though?
“I hadn’t really thought about it. I hope there are a few cheers at least. I’d say I ended things on pretty good terms here. Obviously you always hope for the best so it’ll be an interesting experience.”
Trumbo would love to hear some cheers, maybe a few, but there’s someone who’d like to see Mark Trumbo get some extra love from his old fans.
“I hope he gets a great reception,” said Angels skipper, Mike Scioscia. “Mark obviously played great for us when he was here, but he’s just a great guy. Whatever he needed to do in the community he did. I always refer to that Christmas party where he was traded a couple days before and still showed up to the Angels Christmas Party just because he committed to it and knows how much the kids look forward to it. That’s the kind of guy he is, so I hope he gets a really warm reception.”