Altuve Wins A.L. Batting Crown
HOUSTON - Astros second baseman Jose Altuve went 2-for-4 Sunday at Citi Field to secure the first batting title in Houston franchise history. Altuve hit a ML-best .341 in what was an historic season for the Astros All-Star second baseman.
The Venezuela native passed through Corpus Christi briefly in 2011, playing in 35 games for the Hooks before a promotion straight to the big leagues. In his Texas League time, Altuve hit .361 with five home runs and 25 RBIs.
In addition to batting average, Altuve also led the American League in hits (225) and stolen bases (56), becoming just the third player since 1945 to lead his league in those three categories. The other two are Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki in 2001 and the Yankees Snuffy Stirnweiss in 1945.
Altuve also finished second in the AL in doubles with 47. With 225 hits, 47 doubles, and 56 stolen bases, he joins Ty Cobb as the only two players in ML history to reach totals that high in those categories in the same season. Cobb turned the trick in 1911. Since 1900, Tris Speaker (1912) and George Sisler (1922) are the only other two players to reach 220 hits, 40 doubles and 50 steals in the same season.
Additionally, Altuve's 225 hits are the most by a second basemen since Charlie Gehringer of the Detroit Tigers collected 227 hits back in 1936. Prior to this season, Rod Carew's 218 hits in 1974 had been the highest total by a second baseman since Gehringer in '36.