The colorful, fun-loving Trout led the AL in wins in 1943 for Detroit, but his best season was 1944, when he won 27 and led the league in ERA (2.12). He also topped the AL in shutouts (7) and hit five of his 20 career home runs while batting .271. That season, he and lefty Hal Newhouser, who won 29, came closer to teammates winning 30 each than any pair since 1904.
In 1945 Trout was the Tigers’ workhorse in the pennant drive, pitching six games and winning four over a nine-game late-season stretch. In Game Four of the 1945 WS, Trout beat the Cubs 4-1 on a five-hitter. He remained a Tiger mainstay into the 1950s. Five years after Dizzy “retired,” he signed with the Orioles and pitched twice after an impressive showing in an Old-Timers Game. Dizzy is the father of pitcher Steve Trout.
