José Altuve

José Carlos Altuve (born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He became the first Astros player since Adam Everett in 2003 to hit an inside-the-park home run, the first Astros player to get his first major league home run on an inside-the-park home run since pitcher Butch Henry in 1992, and the first Astros player to lead off a game with an inside-the-park home run since Bill Doran in 1987.

Born and raised in Maracay, Venezuela, Altuve was signed by the Astros as an amateur free agent in 2007, and he made his major league debut in 2011.

The club gave him an evaluation, and, after he impressed team officials, they signed him to a contract as an undrafted free agent on March 6, 2007, with a $15,000 (USD, $0 today) bonus.

After a strong 2007 season in the Venezuelan Summer League in which he hit .343, Altuve moved to the United States in 2008 and hit .284 in 40 games for the Greeneville Astros in the Rookie-level Appalachian League.

He returned to Greeneville in 2009 and hit .324 with 21 stolen bases in just 45 games, earning him a spot on the league All-Star team, team most valuable player (MVP) honors, and a promotion to the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League for which he played in 21 games.

He began 2010 with the Lexington Legends of the Class A South Atlantic League, hitting .308 with 39 steals and 11 home runs, earned a spot on the league all-star team, and then moved up to the Lancaster JetHawks in the Class A-Advanced California League and hit .276.

Having played for the Astros since 2011, he is the longest-tenured current member of the team, and the only one to have been with the Astros since they were in the National League.

He had 31 games with four hits from 2011 to 2021, the most among any player in that span in MLB, and he also has the most 3+ hit games in MLB since 2011 with over 160.

Altuve is widely regarded as one of the greatest Astros in franchise history, and one of the best second basemen of his generation.

Returning to Lancaster for 2011, he hit .408 with 19 steals in 52 games.

After being promoted to the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League, he hit .361, giving him an overall line of .389 with 24 steals, 26 walks, and 40 strikeouts in 357 minor league at-bats that year.

He was named the second baseman on Baseball America's 2011 Minor League All Star Team as well as the Houston Astros Minor League Player of the Year.

Altuve was called up to the major league club in mid-summer, bypassing Class AAA level.

The Astros promoted Altuve to the major leagues for the first time on July 19, 2011.

He represented the Astros at the 2011 All-Star Futures Game.

He was named the second baseman on Baseball America 2011 Minor League All-Star team.

On July 27, 2011, Altuve tied Russ Johnson for the Astros record for most consecutive games with a hit to start a career with 7.

On August 20, 2011, Altuve hit an inside-the-park home run, his first major league home-run.

He is the shortest active MLB player, at 5 ft, and his listed weight is 166 lb. Altuve quickly established himself as a premiere contact hitter; from 2014 to 2017, Altuve recorded at least 200 hits each season (with his 225 hits in 2014 being an Astros record), leading the American League in the category each year, and won three batting championships (becoming the first Astro to win a batting title) in that span.

In 2014, he became the first player in over 80 years to reach 130 hits and 40 stolen bases before the All-Star Game.

He has also won six Silver Slugger Awards (an American League record for second basemen) and one Gold Glove.

In 2017, he won the AL Most Valuable Player Award, the Hank Aaron Award, and won the 2017 World Series with the Astros.

In the same year, Altuve was Sports Illustrated co-Sportsperson of the Year with J. J. Watt of the NFL's Houston Texans for helping to lead relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Other awards Altuve received in 2017 were the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year (making him the fifth player to be selected in consecutive years), and Baseball America Major League Player of the Year.

On the international stage, he has represented the Venezuelan national team in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics (WBC).

Altuve is a native of Maracay, Venezuela, and grew up there.

At age seven, he met fellow future major leaguer Salvador Pérez, who became a catcher for the Kansas City Royals.

The two competed together beginning in Maracay and many times in American League games.

At age 16, Altuve attended a Houston Astros tryout camp in Maracay.

However, the team's scouts declined to allow him to participate because they decided he was too short and they suspected that he had lied about his age.

The next day, with encouragement from his father, Altuve returned to the camp and produced his birth certificate.

Al Pedrique, then a special assistant for the Astros, asked Altuve, "Can you play?"

Altuve looked him in the eye and said, "I'll show you."

Pedrique championed him to the front office, convincing them that he had the talent and strength to eventually play in the major leagues.

After hitting a walk-off home run to win the 2019 American League Championship Series, Altuve was awarded his first ALCS MVP, and would later win the 2022 World Series with the Astros.

Although Altuve has received criticism for the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal, later reports have indicated that Altuve did not participate in the scheme.

Altuve's eight MLB All-Star selections are the most for an Astro, and he was voted the starting second baseman in the All-Star Game five times.

He has twice led the AL in stolen bases.

As part of an era that has seen the Astros win two World Series titles and four pennants in six seasons, Altuve has become one of the most voluminous postseason hitters in history; through the 2023 postseason, he ranks second all-time in postseason home runs (27), second in runs scored (89), tied for third in hits (117), seventh in RBIs (55) and games played (103); ten of his home runs were go-ahead home runs (three in the ninth inning), the most in postseason history.