Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira announced that his body just can’t take it anymore, and he’ll retire at the end of the season. The Yankees announced that they’re forcing Alex Rodriguez into retirement after Friday night’s game against the Rays because they can’t take it anymore. And Prince Fielder announced that his doctors have told him, after two neck surgeries, that he can’t play baseball anymore.

MORE: A look back at A-Rod’s turbulent career

Retirements are end points, so they provide an opportunity for reflection on a player’s career: What did he accomplish on the field? How did he make us feel when we watched him play? How does he compare to others? How should he be remembered?

Milestones work much the same way. Ichiro Suzuki’s 3,000th career hit Sunday launched a wide appreciation of his achievements, his distinctive style and his longevity, along with what-might-have-beens had Ichiro been allowed to begin his major league career a few years earlier. 

Another player reached a milestone this week, but without much fanfare, which is a shame, because what this player does on the field every day should be noted, appreciated, enjoyed and memorialized, lest we become jaded to his greatness.

Mike Trout turned 25 the day Ichiro reached 3,000. By some measures, Trout has accomplished more on the field than any other player in baseball history from the start of his career through his age-24 season. (For baseball statistics, a player’s age is determined by how old he is on June 30 of any particular season. Trout’s birthday is Aug. 7, so he’s in his age-24 season). By other measures, he’s one of the five best to play the game through age 24. However you slice it, Mike Trout is a marvel, a once-in-a-generation talent. We don’t talk about that nearly enough.

Let’s start with the wins above replacement statistic. WAR isn’t perfect, by any means. It’s particularly suspect in the way it relies on certain defensive metrics, which themselves can be unreliable, even over relatively large sample sizes. But WAR is the one publicly available statistic that attempts to place a value on every aspect of a position player’s game: hitting, hitting for power, plate discipline, catching, throwing and baserunning. 

MORE: A look at Mike Trout’s career, in photos

Using FanGraphs, we can look at cumulative stats for all players from their MLB debut date through their age-24 season. That’s the easy part. The hard part is deciding where to start. Organized professional baseball began in 1871, but detailed, accurate accounts of games don’t go back that far. The folks at Retrosheet have verified and computerized box scores and play-by-play accounts for games dating to 1913. Play-by-play is important if you want to take into account defense and baserunning.

With that introduction, you can probably guess that Mike Trout has accumulated the most WAR of any player in history through his age-24 season, as calculated by FanGraphs. Trout leads all players in that category with 45 WAR. Mickey Mantle is second with 41.1 WAR, followed by Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams and Rogers Hornsby. Alex Rodriguez is seventh. Bear in mind that Trout will continue to add to that total in the games remaining in his age-24 season. 

Trout’s baserunning is what sets him apart, and it’s not just stolen bases. His instincts and speed give him an edge in taking extra bases on his own hits, advancing further around the bases once he’s on base, and staying out of double plays. Since making his debut in 2011, he leads the majors in FanGraphs’ baserunning metric BsR, with 40.7 runs above average.

If you’re more comfortable with traditional statistics, we have those, too.

Through Thursday’s action, Trout ranks in the top 20 in hits (870), walks (437), home runs (161), RBIs (472), stolen bases (131) and runs scored (566) for players through their age-24 season. And he’s the only player with that distinction.

MORE: Trout among best players not to win a championship

No other player in baseball history ranked in the top 20 in each of those statistical categories through their age-24 season. Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx and Ken Griffey Jr. had the hits, walks, home runs, RBIs and runs scored, but not the stolen bases. Alex Rodriguez had the hits, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases and runs scored, but not the walks. 

Unlike Bryce Harper, to whom he is often compared, Trout has performed at an elite level from the beginning of his career, and consistently so. Trout has hit at least 20 home runs and 25 doubles, walked at least 65 times, knocked in at least 75 runs and stolen at least 10 bases in each of his five full seasons. In many seasons, he has easily exceeded those thresholds. 

Unfortunately for Trout, and for us, he rarely plays on the national stage. Angels home games typically start after 7 p.m. on the West Coast. East Coast fans and the New York media market are heading off to sleep. Highlight packages for the day have already been produced. ESPN rarely features the Angels on its Sunday night broadcast. And the Angels have made the postseason only once in Trout’s career. In 2014, the Royals swept the Angels in three games in the American League Division Series.

Greatness is on display when Trout is on the field. Every day. We shouldn’t squander our opportunity to watch it and enjoy it.

Sporting News contributor Wendy Thurm writes with a focus on sports, including baseball advanced statistics, sports business and sports law.