Jose Altuve
As the following modified chart from Baseball Almanac so clearly denotes, Jose Altuve is now traveling in some rarified hitters’ company through his first 7 MLB seasons as a Houston Astro. His 3 battle titles over the past four seasons – and his 1,250 total hits – now place him in the # 61 all-time highest career batting spot at .316 (.31637) – just a tad below recent times retiree Todd Helton at #60 – and a short leg up on # 62 Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch, another diminutive 2nd baseman of some considerable note.
Jose Altuve and fellow Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera are the only active players on this single nation leader chart for the past 7 seasons:
The Cabrera-Altuve Batting Title Monopoly
| 2011 | Miguel Cabrera | .344 (.34441) | Detroit |
| 2012 | Miguel Cabrera | .330 (.32958) | Detroit |
| 2013 | Miguel Cabrera | .348 (.34775) | Detroit |
| 2014 | Jose Altuve | .341 (.34091) | Houston |
| 2015 | Miguel Cabrera | .338 (.33799) | Detroit |
| 2016 | Jose Altuve | .338 (.33750) | Houston |
| 2017 | Jose Altuve | .346 (.34576) | Houston |
********************
Here’s the long-legged table on Jose Altuve’s place in career batting average history:
| Career Batting Average All Time LeadersBaseball Almanac |
||
| Name | Batting Average | Rank |
| Ty Cobb | .366 (.36636) | 1 |
| Rogers Hornsby | .358 (.35850) | 2 |
| Joe Jackson | .356 (.35575) | 3 |
| Ed Delahanty | .346 (.34590) | 4 |
| Tris Speaker | .345 (.34468) | 5 |
| Ted Williams | .344 (.34441) | 6 |
| Billy Hamilton | .344 (.34429) | 7 |
| Babe Ruth | .342 (.34206) | 8 |
| Harry Heilmann | .342 (.34159) | 9 |
| Pete Browning | .341 (.34149) | 10 |
| Willie Keeler | .341 (.34129) | 11 |
| Bill Terry | .341 (.34116) | 12 |
| George Sisler | .340 (.34015) | 13 |
| Lou Gehrig | .340 (.34008) | 14 |
| Nap Lajoie | .339 (.33914) | 15 |
| Jesse Burkett | .338 (.33844) | 16 |
| Tony Gwynn | .338 (.33818) | 17 |
| Riggs Stephenson | .336 (.33607) | 18 |
| Dan Brouthers | .335 (.33509) | 19 |
| Al Simmons | .334 (.33417) | 20 |
| John McGraw | .334 (.33359) | 21 |
| Paul Waner | .333 (.33323) | 22 |
| Eddie Collins | .333 (.33320) | 23 |
| Mike Donlin | .333 (.33264) | 24 |
| Cap Anson | .331 (.33084) | 25 |
| Stan Musial | .331 (.33084) | |
| Heinie Manush | .330 (.32976) | 27 |
| Honus Wagner | .329 (.32886) | 28 |
| Wade Boggs | .328 (.32789) | 29 |
| Rod Carew | .328 (.32775) | 30 |
| Sam Thompson | .327 (.32712) | 31 |
| Tip O’Neill | .326 (.32573) | 32 |
| Bob Fothergill | .325 (.32548) | 33 |
| Jimmie Foxx | .325 (.32530) | 34 |
| Earle Combs | .325 (.32475) | 35 |
| Joe DiMaggio | .325 (.32459) | 36 |
| Babe Herman | .324 (.32447) | 37 |
| Hugh Duffy | .324 (.32406) | 38 |
| Joe Medwick | .324 (.32364) | 39 |
| Edd Roush | .323 (.32269) | 40 |
| Sam Rice | .322 (.32226) | 41 |
| Ross Youngs | .322 (.32224) | 42 |
| Kiki Cuyler | .321 (.32104) | 43 |
| Charlie Gehringer | .320 (.32043) | 44 |
| Chuck Klein | .320 (.32007) | 45 |
| Pie Traynor | .320 (.31962) | 46 |
| Mickey Cochrane | .320 (.31960) | 47 |
| Ken Williams | .319 (.31921) | 48 |
| Kirby Puckett | .318 (.31806) | 49 |
| Earl Averill | .318 (.31780) | 50 |
| Vladimir Guerrero | .318 (.31760) | 51 |
| Arky Vaughan | .318 (.31758) | 52 |
| Roberto Clemente | .317 (.31733) | 53 |
| Chick Hafey | .317 (.31697) | 54 |
| Joe Kelley | .317 (.31687) | 55 |
| Miguel Cabrera | .317 (.31675) | 56 |
| Zack Wheat | .317 (.31671) | 57 |
| George Van Haltren | .317 (.31654) | 58 |
| Lloyd Waner | .316 (.31639) | 59 |
| Todd Helton | .316 (.31638) | 60 |
| Jose Altuve | .316 (.31637) | 61 |
| Frankie Frisch | .316 (.31607) | 62 |
Now rest up, Astros! ~The first big playoff game is still two days away – and we need everybody refreshed and ready to go!
********************
Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
Leave a Reply