I get it. I came up with all kind of reasons for hating the Yankees in the late 90s bc they kept winning. Look at it from their pov, they are tired of seeing astros win every year and altuve is doing this stuff every year. If he was a Yankee or a ranger, we would hate him too
I grew up loving Bagwell and Biggio, but their failures on the biggest stage means this isn't even an argument anymore. Altuve is the greatest Astro.
Regular season should be half of the grade. Post season is what makes legends. Altuve and Puma foreeevvverrr.
Puma, through no fault of his own in my recollection, is not even in the same stratosphere as Altuve. No one in Astro history is. As a lifetime fan, I endured all the playoff losses. I know how hard it is to perform, nevermind ACTUALLY WIN in the post season. And I've seen Altuve just crush the playoffs in crucial moments. This is special. This is legendary. No player (short of Beltran in small sample sizes) can match this TITAN. It's one thing to get hot for a game or series. It's another thing to do it over a career. It's unprecedented to do it in a fashion resulting in incredible victories in crucial games (on the road, too?!?!) for the Stros in a career. That's unheard of in Astros lore. He is the unequivocal greatest. And he isn't done yet. Sidenote: Bagwell might be the best equipped and most naturally talented, but a players legacy is tied to much more than that, including the cast of characters around him. Still, Altuve, given his situation, has risen as the greatest. No dispersions to Baggy - he is my "favorite Astro" - but Altuve is the GREATEST. By far.
Greatest season ever? 94 Bags. But he would trade that season for Altuve's career in a Trevor Hoffman greatest- closer-streak-in-a- season Padre minute. Context is everything.
I said it on the other thread. Altuve is the greatest Astro of all time. Not close. His parents did an amazing job. What a fantastic player, person, and role model. So proud to call him an Astro.
Also the fact he is a tiny 5 foot 6 and able to do what he does, makes him even more admirable. He shows all these roided up beefcakes (not looking at judge) how it's done, and what it takes to be a true winner.
Cesar Cedeno was my first "favorite stro" followed by Jose Cruz,Dickie Thon, Billy Doran, Cam, Bags, and Bigg, Puma, to Altuve...with a few others sprinkled in over the years...Fav pitchers...JR, Nolan, Scott, and Wagner. I say all of this to qualify my opinion, through all of the ups and downs, close calls and sad endings, only one of those names brought me the pride of a world series title....TWICE! The End
Like I said in the beginning of this thread. He may not be the best Astro, but he is the greatest. What he does on the biggest stages is just amazing.
I've held out as long as I could... I'm ready to concede. Bagwell's numbers remain significantly better - but it's just impossible to ignore what Jose Altuve has done in the postseason. And not only do I think he's the greatest/best Astro ever (and I do think there's a difference between greatest and best) but I now believe he's a lock for Cooperstown. It's been happening for roughly a year but you can really see the writers - who, scandal aside, LOVE the Altuve story - moving past what happened in '17. There's a growing enthusiasm returning to their coverage of him. When someone writes the history of 21st century baseball, it is going to be flat-out impossible to not dedicate a chapter to Jose Altuve. He is the most unique and most impactful player of his era and he's the face of a full-blown dynasty. He's going to the Hall of Fame.
Oh I couldn’t stand those Yankees teams but I respected Jeter, Bernie Williams, Rivera, etc. I was even sick of Michael Jordan overshadowing Dream but have no doubt he was the greatest NBA player. I get you can’t stand the opponent, root against them and such but this stuff with Altuve has been disproven but people still keep on accusing him. While Tom Brady was tarred with Deflategate people weren’t talking about his later Super Bowl titles as tainted nor questioning whether he will get into the HOF yet we still see the same questions about Altuve.
I've watched the Astros since the late 1960s. Doug Rader and Lee May were my Astro Buddies as a kid. Not only is Altuve the greatest Astro, he is the best post-season second baseman ever--better than Jackie Robinson, better than Roger Hornsby, better than Tony Lazzeri. I loved a bunch of Astros from Jimmy Wynn to Cedeno to Bagwell, but Altuve could retire today and it still wouldn't be close. He is the greatest Astro. He's also one of the Top Two in Houston sports history--and both he and Dream were clutch and inspired clutchness in others that brought multiple championships to the city. (There may be an argument for Yordan in a few years, but I don't think he matches the leadership/cultural status of Altuve. I think he has benefitted from it though.)
The reason Altuve is greatest Astro is his elite playing performance, his elite clutch hitting ability, his character, the way he sets the clubhouse tone while keeping the guys relaxed, plus his ability to be thankful and grateful - (Altuve is the anthesis to saltiness). Altuve allows the Astros players to enjoy the fun of the game. I remember those Biggio/Bagwell Astros, and those guys albeit hall of fame talented were salty, highly critical of peers, managers, ownership, etc. Baseball players have to be able to have fun to exploit all their abilities; after all it is a very cerebral game, and relaxing the mind to let natural instinct and talent need to be optimal. I always felt that Biggio/Bagwell had folks walking around on egg shells. It wasn’t until Beltran could give a damn what Tone Biggio/Bagwell set that we saw some success in postseason baseball. Plus the following year with Roger Clemens and Andy Petite being Alpha dogs themselves dismissing the Biggio/Bagwell salty tone. Biggio/Bagwell we’re amazing and elite, but they were too uptight for their own good to a fault.
