Jose Altuve Should Be The Face Of Baseball
Like many Red Sox fans, I was pretty upset when the Houston Astros eliminated them from the playoffs. But if any good came out of that series, it’s that John Farrell was fired and that I got to watch Jose Altuve. Man is this guy special. After watching him play against the Red Sox and now watching him play against the Yankees; a thought popped in my head. Why isn’t this guy the face of baseball?
Baseball for a while now has been looking for a face of baseball. Basketball has LeBron James, football has Tom Brady, and hockey has Sidney Crosby. But baseball does not have a definitive face of the game since Derek Jeter (maybe David Ortiz). The three best candidates for that have been Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and more recently Aaron Judge. But the three of them haven’t been able to capture that title. Trout appears to have be vanilla when it comes to his personally, Harper can’t remain healthy, and Aaron Judge hasn’t been around long enough. But to me, Jose Altuve would be the perfect choice to take that title.
Jose Altuve can do everything on a baseball field, has a great personality, and has a larger than life persona. Those are the three main aspects to becoming the face of a sport. Starting with the actual play on the field; Jose is the definition of a 5 tool player. He’s got both speed and power. In his 7 year career, Altuve is a 5x All-Star, a 3x batting champion, 2x stolen base leader, 3x Silver Slugger, Gold Glove award winner, and the likely 2017 AL MVP. Not bad for a player whose just 27 years old. He also has a great personality. Altuve always seem to have a smile on his face and plays the game at 100% every damn day. I mean just look at what he did win the game for the Astros in game 2 of the ALCS running 1st to home.
But the main reason why I think Altuve should be te new face of baseball is because of his larger than life persona. Jose Altuve is officially listed at 5’6” and 165 pounds. So he’s not short, he’s freaking tiny. I mean, I am 5’5” and 145 pounds. So the fact that he is even in the league is a miracle on to himself. Altuve has always thrived on people counting him out and its part of the reason that he’s become one of the five best players in baseball. When I look at him, it inspires me; that a guy with such a disadvantage compared to other players can be so good. That’s why no one can relate to Aaron Judge because no regular person is 6’8”. But there are a ton of 5’6” guys out there. Just like Altuve. He’s the main reason why I cheer for the Astros and I have a feeling I’m not the only one that thinks that.
Written By: Steven Santoro (SVS_1993)
