He Showed Up Anyway

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In today's edition...

Eight MLB teams turned him down.

But then he asked himself “What if I just show up again?”

That led to a day that changed his life (and turned him into a household name).

Let’s dive in 👇

After Countless Rejections, Jose Altuve Refused to Take 'No' for an Answer

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“You’re not gonna believe this guy…everybody thinks he’s the bat boy, but he can hit. He can hit any pitch.” – Reid Ryan, former president of the Houston Astros.

Jose Altuve is without question one of the greatest players in the history of the Houston Astros.

Yet because of the team’s sign stealing scandal, he’s become one of the most hated players in baseball.

Boos rain down on him in every opposing ballpark.  To many fans outside of Texas, he’s a villain.

But dismissing Altuve at face value ignores the full story – because overcoming doubt and defying expectations is exactly what he’s done his entire life.

The fact that he’s a household name is an incredible accomplishment in itself.

Raised in Maracay, Venezuela, Jose grew up alongside fellow big-leaguer Salvador Perez.

“He has never let anything stop him, even when we were little kids,” Perez said.

“He just loves playing baseball and I think that love of baseball really drives him. He always had to prove himself.”

Jose inherited that love for the game from his father, Carlos.

“Santa Claus brought him a bat, ball, and glove,” said his mother, Lastenia. “And every day he would wait religiously for his dad with his little bat and ball.”

Every day after work, Carlos would walk his son down to their local field to hit, field ground balls, and run through drills.

“Sometimes we just had one ball,” Jose said.

“And then he’d throw it to me, I’d hit it, he went back to pick the ball up, come back here, and boom.”

On some occasions, when Jose would hit a long foul ball, it’d sail over a wall and disappear.

“We’d have to go back to the house and start planning, how are we gonna get a ball?”

When that happened, they’d often show up early to a Tigres de Aragua game – a local pro team – and ask one of the players for a ball.

Other times, they’d wait in the outfield bleachers to hunt for home run balls.

They rarely stayed for the full game.  Once they got their ball, they went back to the practice field.

That was Jose Altuve’s childhood in a nutshell – putting in the time and doing everything in his power to pursue his dream.

But what he couldn’t control was his size.

When he was 16 years old, Jose went to a tryout the Houston Astros were hosting nearby.

Altuve was one of 50 or 60 players to show up for the 10 or 11 scouts in attendance.

"So I run 60 yards," he told Bleacher Report. "I catch some ground balls. I hit some balls. And they decide to let me go."

“It was tough.”

But not surprising.

In fact, this tryout was no different than any of the others.

As a teen, Jose went to camps hosted by the Angels, Cubs, Rays, Giants, Braves, A’s, and Yankees.

He was only 5’5” and 140 pounds back then, so he was used to being written off.

The only thing that changed after the Astros' tryout was that Jose asked himself, “What if?”

What if I just show up again?

What if, this time, I don’t take no for an answer?

So the next day, Jose rolled up to the field again, praying the Houston scouts either wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t care.

"They were surprised when I showed up,” he said, “but they let me go and do it again just because I did show up.”

This time, there was a new face in the crowd: Al Pedrique, a former MLB infielder who was a special assistant to the GM.

"I remember our first conversation," Pedrique said. "I asked him, 'Can you play?'”

“He looked me in the eye and said, 'I'll show you.'"

Jose ran through all the same drills as the first day.  He hustled, hit well, and ran the 60-yard dash faster than anyone else.

Beyond the measurable aspects, what Pedrique liked most were the intangibles.

“Altuve was different compared to everybody else. The way he walked on the field, handled himself, how quick his hands were.”

But when he spoke to the other scouts, Jose's height kept coming up.

"The Astros back then, they looked for big players, physically strong and tall,” Pedrique said. “Altuve definitely wasn't that guy.”

Luckily, the veteran special assistant had enough sway to sell the front office on taking a chance.

His pitch was simple: “We don’t have anything to lose.”

They offered Altuve $15,000, which they claimed was all they had left.

“It was more than I thought,” Jose said.

They assumed he’d negotiate, but Altuve couldn’t accept the offer fast enough.

"The smile on his face was like a kid with new toys at Christmas,” Pedrique said. “It was amazing."

Signing a professional contract – even for a small sum – was a major milestone.

But the reality is that MLB teams sign a significant number of international free agents each year. The 5’5” infielder was a little fish in a huge pond.

“[He] told me several times,” Pedrique said, “‘I know I’m short, I know it’s not gonna be easy, but in my heart, I know that I can make it to the United States and go from there.’”

His first chance to prove himself came a few months later in the Venezuelan Summer League.

The minors are just as political as every other level – the guys with more service time or pedigree get the first crack and a longer leash.

That put Jose at the bottom of the list.

“We called him 'enano' in Spanish – 'the midget,’” said Omar Lopez, the team’s manager that summer.

“We had a scout named Johan Maya. Every day, he said, 'Omar, you've got to put the midget [in the lineup].' I said, 'Maya, I can't do it. Not every day.' So, one day, I made a decision. I said, 'OK, he's going to play two days in a row.' And then the rest was history because Altuve took a place, got in the lineup, got in the field, and I think he played for five days in a row and got one day off a week. That's it.”

Altuve never gave Lopez a choice but to keep penciling him in, and he ended the summer with a scorching .343 batting average.

The following spring, he flew to Greeneville, Tennessee for rookie ball.

“I remember he called me his first year in the United States,” his dad said.

“He called almost crying and said, ‘I had 30 at-bats and only 2 hits.’ I said, ‘You have two options: man up and start hitting, or tell the team to buy you a flight and come home if you’re going to cry every time things go wrong.’”

“But that was the only time. He understood the message.”

Three years later, Jose Altuve was in the majors.

Within a few seasons, he was talked about as one of the best all-around hitters in baseball. The narrative around his size slowly faded away.

"He understands who he is," said Hall of Famer, Craig Biggio.

"He's not Aaron Judge...He stays within his capabilities, and that's the hardest thing to do for any big leaguer – understanding what you can do and can't do."

Today, Jose Altuve is a 9-time All-Star, 3-time AL batting champion, and 2-time World Series champion.

Now 34 years old, he ranks third in career hits, runs scored, and total bases on the Astros’ all-time list.

With every new accolade, he gives thanks to the man who opened the door for him.

"When not too many people were willing to give me the opportunity, [Al Pedrique] was the one who believed in me," Jose said.

"He gave me more than a chance. He pushed for me all the way through the minor leagues. I thank him every time I talk to him.”

Altuve spent his entire life proving people wrong. But not for the reason you’d think.

Growing up, he idolized players like 5’9” Omar Vizquel and 5’8” Dustin Pedroia.  Now, he's sending the elevator back down.

The next generation of undersized kids look up to 5’6” Jose Altuve.

“I wanted to prove them wrong for the guys behind me who are short, too. Guys who are not really strong, not really tall, guys who are 14 to 16 right now who are very small and want to get an opportunity.”

"And I know maybe after that happened to me scouts now will think twice before telling someone, ‘You're not going to make it.’ They're going to think, ‘This guy is the same size as Jose, and if Jose made it, maybe one of these guys can make it, too.’”

"If I open at least one door, two doors, three doors for guys behind me, I'm going to feel like everything that I did, it was because of this, and that will feel good."

🐶 

Today’s story was written by yours truly.

If you enjoyed this one, you’ll love my book: The Underdog Mentality. It’s full of the best sports stories you’ve never heard, plus book-only exclusives you won’t find anywhere else 👇

Here are two more stories you might also like:

• After a Drunk Driver Ended His MLB Career, This Man Dedicated His Life to Empowering Athletes with Disabilities

• The Hidden Magic of Playing Catch

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this week’s story, shoot me a reply and let me know.

Otherwise, have a nice rest of your Sunday and a great week ahead!

As always, I appreciate your support 🤝 

Til next time,
Tyler

Extra Innings…

🌟 Trivia Answer: A) 12 years old. Here’s the story of the 5-foot 90-pound bat boy who made baseball history in 1952.

📕 Jon Finkel has been a big inspiration to me as a writer, and seeing him write such kind things about my work is truly humbling. Go read his review of The Underdog Mentality (and subscribe to Books & Biceps while you’re at it).

⚾️ College baseball player Cade Belyeu honored his mom's last wishes by playing for the Auburn Tigers hours after she passed away. And then this happened.

🫵 Shout out to KG Summer on Twitter for having the closest guess to the total number of copies sold in the book’s first week!