Major League Baseball has blocked the MLB Players Association for 25 days. I know for sure it’s been so long because for 25 days a redditor calling himself u / DidItForTheStory has been creating hand-drawn images of Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout to commemorate every 24 hours that goes by without a new collective agreement.
It is unclear who is behind the account or what artistic training they may have received in the past. Trout’s first drawing on December 3 suggested there wasn’t much.
A collection of mostly straight lines that make a dive shot was mostly identifiable thanks to the Angels logo and the number 27 inscribed on the jersey.
Over the days, the drawings have become more refined, more descriptive, but not necessarily more inspiring. Mainly, they have given a reason for scrolling through the r / baseball subreddit during a winter in which MLB owners have chosen to close the store.
“At first I thought we would see this as the artist improving rapidly over time,” commenter u / BUSean posted so elegantly on the 14th. “But now I know the real journey is watching his descent into madness.”
Enjoy these selected works from u / DidItForTheStory as we wait patiently for MLB’s return. I recommend that you review them all.
Day 1
There is not much to see, but little did we know what to expect.
Day 2
The recreation of an epic face of Trout.
Day 5
The home run steal JJ Hardy is probably still raging.
Day 8
True nirvana won’t be achieved until baseball returns, making this tribute to the Nevermind cover a worthwhile addition.
Day 10
Ok now we are entering new territory
Day 11
This feels like the moment our artist realized that he could be drawing for a while.
Day 14
Have you never seen a train with the shadow of five o’clock?
Day 16
Of course Trout is worthy.
Day 17
We’ve gotten to the cartoon part of “putting Mike Trout in a movie scene” and finally we get a cameo from Shohei Ohtani!
Day 19
Paint Mike as one of your French girls.
(Extra image from the 20th)
Day 21
Come to the coast, we will meet, we will laugh a little.
-Mike Trout recruiting free agents.
Day 23
Here there are more blocking!
Day 24
Various reports note that the MLB and the Players Association will not even restart negotiations until early January. There is no idea how long the lockout could last.
Say a prayer for the well-being of our artist because this could get very, very strange.
