Jose Altuve

José Carlos Altuve (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈtuβe]; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). 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.

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. He is the shortest active MLB player, at 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m), and his listed weight is 166 pounds (75 kg). 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's 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's Major League Player of the Year. 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), and seventh in RBIs (55); ten of his home runs were go-ahead home runs (three in the ninth inning), the most in postseason history. 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. On the international stage, he has represented the Venezuelan national team in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics (WBC).