ASSEMBLY, No. 4949

STATE OF NEW JERSEY 218th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED JANUARY 28, 2019

Sponsored by: Assemblyman R. BRUCE LAND District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland) Assemblyman MATTHEW W. MILAM District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

SYNOPSIS Designates portion of State Highway Route 55 in City of Millville as “Mike Trout Interchange.”

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced.

(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 5/14/2019)

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1 AN ACT designating a portion of State Highway Route 55 in the 2 City of Millville as the “Mike Trout Interchange.” 3 4 WHEREAS, Michael Nelson Trout, commonly known as Mike Trout, 5 was born on August 7, 1991, in the City of Vineland, New Jersey 6 and was raised in the City of Millville, New Jersey; and 7 WHEREAS, Nicknamed the “Millville Meteor,” Trout graduated from 8 Millville Senior High School in 2009, where he was a member of 9 the football, basketball, and baseball teams; and 10 WHEREAS, At Millville Senior High School, Trout excelled in 11 baseball earning the attention of both college and major league 12 baseball scouts by pitching a no-hitter in his junior year and setting 13 a New Jersey high school record with 18 home runs in his senior 14 year; and 15 WHEREAS, After turning down a scholarship to East Carolina 16 University to pursue a career in Major League Baseball, Trout was 17 drafted in the first round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft 18 as the 25th overall pick by the Los Angeles Angels; and 19 WHEREAS, Prior to his major league debut, Trout played for the Cedar 20 Rapids Kernels, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, and the Arkansas 21 Travelers, ultimately ending with a minor league batting average of 22 .342 and an on-base percentage of .425 with 108 stolen bases; and 23 WHEREAS, In 2012, Trout was called up to play for the Los Angeles 24 Angels and had one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time, 25 winning the 2012 American League Rookie of the Year Award and 26 the 2012 Baseball Writers Association of America Jackie Robinson 27 Rookie of the Year Award while finishing second in the voting for 28 the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award; and 29 WHEREAS, Trout’s rookie season was compared to the rookie seasons 30 of some of the greatest baseball players of all time, including Joe 31 DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and Ty Cobb, 32 as he ranked first in runs scored with 129 runs scored, second in 33 batting average with an average of .326, third in slugging 34 percentage with a percentage of .564, and first in wins above 35 replacement with 10.8; and 36 WHEREAS, In addition to his offensive prowess, Trout has also been 37 praised for his defensive abilities in centerfield, which is largely 38 considered one of the most important defensive positions in 39 baseball; and 40 WHEREAS, After only seven seasons in Major League Baseball, 41 Trout’s accomplishments include collecting 1,187 hits, earning a 42 .307 career batting average, finishing in the top two in voting for 43 the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award in five consecutive 44 seasons including winning the 2014 Most Valuable Player of the 45 Year Award and the 2016 Most Valuable Player of the Year Award, 46 making seven consecutive All-Star Game appearances including 47 winning the 2014 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award and

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1 the 2015 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, and winning 2 five consecutive Louisville Silver Slugger Awards; and 3 WHEREAS, Trout’s accomplishments are not only limited to the 4 baseball diamond as he has inspired generations of fans of the sport 5 including in his hometown, the City of Millville, where the high 6 school baseball team bestows Trout’s high school jersey number 7 upon the captain of the team and the high school baseball field has 8 been named in his honor, and in the City of Los Angeles, where he 9 has become an ambassador of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of 10 Orange County and an active participant in the Angels Baseball 11 Foundation’s monthly visits to the Children’s Hospital of Orange 12 County; and 13 WHEREAS, Mike Trout’s career and life have been marked by 14 excellence on and off the field and as a result have made the 15 citizens of this State proud of his accomplishments, thus, it is fitting 16 and proper for the Legislature of the State of the New Jersey to 17 honor the outstanding career of Mike Trout by designating a portion 18 of State Highway Route No. 55 in the City of Millville in 19 Cumberland County as the “Mike Trout Interchange”; now, 20 therefore, 21 22 BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 23 of New Jersey: 24 25 1. The Commissioner of Transportation shall designate the 26 portion of State Highway Route 55, extending from milepost 27.65 27 to milepost 28.00, in the City of Millville as the “Mike Trout 28 Interchange” and erect appropriate signs bearing this designation 29 and dedication. 30 31 2. State or other public funds shall not be used for producing, 32 purchasing, or erecting signs bearing the designation established 33 pursuant to section 1 of this act. The Commissioner of 34 Transportation is authorized to receive gifts, grants, or other 35 financial assistance from private sources for the purpose of funding 36 or reimbursing the Department of Transportation for the costs 37 associated with producing, purchasing, and erecting signs bearing 38 the designation established pursuant to section 1 of this act and 39 entering into agreements related thereto, with private sources, 40 including but not limited to non-governmental non-profit, 41 educational, or charitable entities or institutions. Work shall not 42 proceed and funding shall not be accepted by the Department of 43 Transportation until an agreement has been reached with a 44 responsible party for paying the costs associated with producing, 45 purchasing, erecting, and maintaining the signs. 46 47 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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1 STATEMENT 2 3 This bill requires the Commissioner of Transportation to 4 designate the interchange on State Highway Route 55 in the City of 5 Millville that connects State Highway Route 55 with State Highway 6 Route 47 as the “Mike Trout Interchange.” The bill provides that 7 State or other public funds are not to be used for producing, 8 purchasing, or erecting signs bearing the designation for the “Mike 9 Trout Interchange.” The Commissioner of Transportation is 10 authorized to receive financial assistance from private sources.