From My Collection: Jose Altuve, 2b, Houston Astros

I got this Jose Altuve autographs through the mail back in 2011. This was the second try on him. He signed another card but it got messed up in the mail on the way back to me. I send him another letter–only included a Hawaiian Tiki with it in a show of good faith that I was not being greedy. I like to think that he still has it.

At the time Altuve was in AA Corpus Christi, where he would hit .361/.388/.569 with 5 HR before getting promoted to the big leagues. Despite the great numbers, there was still some doubt about how productive he would be at the major league level due to his size. This sentiment was illustrated by John Sickles in the write-up of his top Houston Astro’s prospects of 2011:

13) Jose Altuve, 2B, Grade C: You have to love the numbers, but can a 5-5 player really succeed at higher levels? We’ll find out this year.
-Johns Sickles, 28 Dec 2010, minorleagueball.com

Should be noted that Sickles, like normal, was on top of his game on being a little more bullish than most on his prospect status.

While I am a Cleveland fan, and Oakland is firmly entrenched as my #2 team, I was rooting hard for the Astro’s this past season. It was great seeing so many players that I like take home a World Series trophy.