The Birth Certificate

The Birth Certificate

He was sixteen years old and the Astros scouts told him not to come back. Too short, they said, and they weren't sure about his age. Jose Altuve returned the next day anyway, birth certificate in hand. He found Al Pedrique, the special assistant who would champion him. Pedrique asked if he could play. Altuve said he would show him. When they offered a contract, he said he would sign for free just for the chance. They gave him $15,000.

That was March 2007. He was born in Maracay, Venezuela, where he met Salvador Perez at age seven. His father Carlos, a chemical company assistant, practiced with him every day after work at a local field.

Houston

On September 9, 2026, in his sixteenth season with the Astros, Altuve collected his 2,500th career hit. He was 36 years old. He had logged 2,095 games and 8,340 at-bats to reach it, batting .300 across the whole of it.

Sixteen seasons at one franchise. He debuted on July 20, 2011, and the Astros have been his only club. He and Nina, his wife from Maracay, bought their first Houston house in 2013 and made the city their permanent home. He won the 2017 MVP and has two World Series rings, from 2017 and 2022. Teammates and coaches have praised his humility and his ability to stay the same person amid success.

There is a story from the minors, at a YMCA in Greenville, Tennessee. Altuve insisted he could dunk a basketball. His coach forbade it, afraid of an injury. Given three tries, he dunked it once. The coach stopped him right there.

Once, facing a newly called-up pitcher throwing 99 to 100 mph cutters for the first time, Altuve asked about the pitches, then told a teammate he would take one deep to center. First pitch, a 100 mph fastball up and away — he homered to center and looked back as if to say he told them so.

He is still at second base for the Houston Astros.

Reporting: MLB.com, Sports Illustrated, People, Houston Chronicle, Wikipedia. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.