Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba have a lot in common. They’re both professional hockey players. They both played for the New York Rangers and now play for the Anaheim Ducks after having similar unceremonious exits from the Big Apple. Both are married and have young families. Both players also love baseball.
Kreider and Trouba were on hand for the ceremonial first pitch of the Los Angeles Angels’ Sept. 5 matchup against the formerly-located Oakland Athletics. Kreider dealt the pitch and zipped a strike to Trouba at the plate. “Low and outside,” Kreider cracked afterwards as Trouba unraveled into a fit of laughter.
“That was a dream come true,” Kreider said. “That was super cool. Yeah, that was awesome.” The former New York Ranger and Boston College alumnus grew up about 30 miles from Boston in Boxford, where he played baseball up until high school. Kreider said that he went to a lot of Boston Red Sox games growing up with his family and grandfather and that every game ‘was like a national holiday’ during the 2004 postseason, when the Red Sox reverse swept the Yankees in the ALCS and then broke the Curse of the Bambino by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series and earning their first title since 1918.
Kreider, who was acquired by the Ducks this past June, just arrived in Anaheim this past week with his family and has now settled into a place close to Trouba and a few of his other new Ducks teammates.
“Everyone’s super welcoming, super kind,” Kreider said. “The organization’s has been fantastic. Yeah, just really excited.”
“I was excited coming to (Anaheim), knowing Stromer (Ryan Strome) and Frank (Vatrano),” Trouba said. “Then the (Kreider) situation happened this summer, obviously excited about that. Having people you’re familiar with is great. I don’t think you’ll find a guy around the league or on our team that’ll say a bad word about Kreids. A great addition, I’m excited to have him here. Do what I can to make him as comfortable as possible coming into this situation. Obviously, it’s different for him to play in only one place and then go somewhere else. It’s a challenge to get comfortable as soon as you can. So, whenever I can help him, I’m hoping to do that. He’ll be a big part of our team.”
Trouba’s baseball experience is a bit different from Kreider’s. Though he also grew up just outside of a major city with an MLB team, Trouba’s Detroit Tigers were not as highly successful as the Red Sox. He mentioned going to a lot of Tigers games as a kid, especially during the 2003 season when they lost a whopping 119 games.
“I went to Comerica (Park) when it first opened,” Trouba said. “Damion Easley was my Tiger as a kid. I was actually at the game when Magglio Ordóñez hit the home run in the ALCS (in 2006 against the A’s). That was probably my biggest Tigers moment that I was there in person. Just a lot of good memories of going downtown with my family and brothers and going to games with my dad. It was a fun thing we always did as kids.”
Trouba’s family has now switched coasts after being unable to do so immediately after his trade to the Ducks this past December. “It’s been great,” Trouba said. “I think that was a big piece for me missing last year. We’ve been here now for a couple of weeks. We’re pretty settled in. It’s a great life. Obviously different than the city life that we’re used to, but adjusting, and it’s been fantastic. I think my wife loves it. My son loves it. We’re all happy, so this is a place we’re hopefully going to enjoy a lot this year.”
“(Ducks Night) was good. I was around for the Angels at the Ducks game, so coming (to Angel Stadium) has been fun. I grew up loving baseball. I went to a lot of Tigers games in Detroit as a kid. Kreids throwing out the first pitch was pretty fun to be a part of. Our families are here, our wives are good friends. He just got here this week, so it’s fun to kind of kick off (with this), be around each other. Our families are all here and our kids are here. Enjoy the game. I’ve always enjoyed going to baseball games, so this is fun for me.”
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