Jose Altuve tops among second baseman since 1937
Jose Altuve’s historic season just continues to roll along. With his RBI double in the fifth inning of Houston’s game against divisional rival Seattle, Altuve broke he a tie with hall of famer Rod Carew for the most hits by a second baseman since 1937. The hit mark his 219th of the season. Altuve added a single in the eighth for good measure to pad the Astros’ lead which now stands at 8-3.
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So why should you care? There are a multitude of good reasons.
The first is that history should never be taken lightly; especially not in a game that is so heavily rooted in numbers such as baseball. The second? Altuve’s season should be garnering more attention than it honestly is.
Back in early September, he broke Craig Biggio’s team record for hits in a single season which previously stood at 210 in 1998. Third; the next person Altuve could potentially pass is hall of famer Charlie Gehringer, whose 229 hits in 1936 are the standard by which the former will now be measured against.
In addition to all of that, Jose Altuve currently leads the majors with a .345 average, and earlier this season he became the only player to be elected to the all star game with the same team in two different leagues; the Astros were still a National League ball club back in Altuve’s 2012 campaign.
One can only wonder if the Houston Astros were a contender this season if Jose Altuve would be gather significant MVP consideration. His numbers match up against any position player in the AL, including Mike Trout and Victor Martinez. However, if the team continues to improve each coming season, perhaps Altuve will become a perennial MVP candidate should his line at the plate remain consistent for years to come. He is only 24 this year, so there is time, and certainly room to improve his game.
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