If the Astros win the WS, Altuve will be at the same level as Dream from a Houston's sports standpoint. Dream was more dominant and won the first championship for the city, but he had plenty of character flaws and in some ways underachieved for a good part of his career. He was supposed to be amazing. Altuve on the other hand is just everything that is great about sports. Great talent but greater will, overachiever, underdog, humble for his entire career (Dream was an ******* in his youth), great teammate, great person. No one in the world has anything negative to say about him. Even my Yankee fan friends love him, even when he rips their heart out. Class act all the way around.
TBF. That was the last and worst of 3 straight 100 loss seasons, and the 1st season in the American League. It probably was the lowest any of time to be an Astros fan. I was just lucky to be in residency so I was distracted.
Just think about it. Four years ago there wasn't a single plaque in Cooperstown with a Stros hat on it. Nolan Ryan, went in as a Ranger.... Now we've got two and if their careers ended at the end of this season we could have at least two more (presuming we can convince Verlander to go in as a Stro instead of a Tiger). If Gerrit Cole can stay an Astro and Bregman and Springer continue to play like they have that could be three more with Correa having the potential to be one of the greats too.
Probably. The only other person who comes to mind is Nolan Ryan but I don’t see no Astros championship rings from his tenure.
Hall of game hat (team) is not completely up to the player. Verlander would need to pitch a few more years at this level to distinguish his play time here from his previous mvp/cy young team. https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2018/01/how_does_the_mlb_hall_of_fame.html
I love Altuve, but this statement is just wrong- he’s not a no doubt Hall of Famer right now- he’s got work to do and probably needs at least 3 more great or 5 more really good years to get there. I’m sure he will be someday but he’s only 29 and not there yet. In my lifetime (I’m 41) there are only 2 guys that did enough in their 20’s that they could retire/die at 30 and make the HOF, Mike Trout and Ken Griffey Jr. I’d be shocked if Altuve didn’t end up being a HOF but he’s got to punch the clock for another 5 years at least. Nobody gets in the HOF with 1500 hits and less than 200 HR’s in their career. Same argument for greatest Astro ever- he’s got to compile some more stats, awards etc to surpass Bagwell and Biggio. His career, to date, isn’t better than Lance Berkmans career was. I think he will eventually surpass all those guys and cruise into Cooperstown on the first ballot, but he isn’t there yet.
Fun thing for yall to talk about. Is he? Is he not? Career vs Career plus Post Season? Who ****ing cares?
This is what makes baseball a sport unlike any other. Being able to compare one player to another. One team to another. Is he a HOF player? From one time period to another. Having stats to look at to make a case....whether it be who the MVP is for a specific season, who's the Cy Young winner, who's the greatest hitter of all-time, who's the greatest SS ever, etc etc. If I said the following, "56.....and.....61.....and 714......4,256.....755 you'd know what I'm saying. What other sport can you say this about? Not who's rushed for more yards in NFL history but what's the #? The most career TDs? Not just who scored the most points in the NBA but how many? I can't speak for anyone else but talking about this stuff is one of the reasons I love the game. Telling my 15 yr old son about Cesar Cedeno, and Don Wilson, Dierker, Dickie Thon, Sambito, and Cheo, as well as guys like Roberto Clemente, Gwynn, Brooks and Frank Robinson, Rose, Morgan & Bench, Big Red machine, the Mustache Gang, his eyes light up just like mine did when my dad told me about Ruth and DiMaggio, Musial, Mantle, Williams, Jackie Robinson, Mays and countless others. Can't wait to see how the story unfolds for our boys in this window and how history speaks about them?
Just off hand I disagree. Hakeem is a top 10 player all time. He doesn't get as much pub because he did not speak English well enough to do endorsements like Barkley and Jordan. Altuve is not finished though. I actually just read that you said from a Houston's sports standpoint. So I could agree I suppose. Hakeem just seem insurmountable in general. Harden and Altuve are trying though.