Altuve honored
Hank Aaron Award given to Astros second baseman as AL’s top offensive player
Astros star named AL’s top offensive player.
LOS ANGELES — Seated on a dais in the bowels of Dodger Stadium to the left of the honor’s namesake, Astros star second baseman Jose Altuve was recognized Wednesday as the American League winner of this year’s Hank Aaron Award before Game 2 of the World Series.
Altuve became the first Astro to win the award, presented annually since 1999 to “the most outstanding offensive performers” in the American and National Leagues. Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins was the NL recipient. Stanton also won the award in 2014.
The players were recognized by Aaron and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in a news conference about an hour before first pitch Wednesday. Altuve came in full uniform. A brief on-field ceremony followed.
“Most people that I talked to said, ‘Get a picture. Talk to him. See if he’s for real,’ ” Aaron said of the 5-6 Altuve. “’Is he for real?’ I know he’s for real.
“I just want to say congratulations to you, Altuve, on a wonderful year, not only for this year but last year also. You have stood tall. … It doesn’t make any difference whether you’re 5 feet tall or 6 feet tall as long as you’ve got the want and the know-how and the drive to do it, and you have demonstrated that.”
Aaron then said of Altuve, “There’s not many people I would pay to go to see, but I’ll tell you, I would pay to go see him.”
Once Aaron finished speaking about Altuve, the 2017 AL MVP candidate thanked the all-time great and said he was “more nervous right now than I was (Tuesday) while I was playing.” ‘Blessed to be here’
“I feel blessed to be here,” Altuve said. “I thank God for the opportunity to be sitting here with Giancarlo, the commissioner and Mr. Hank. What can I say? Thanks to all of the Hall of Famers and fans that made this dream come true.
“This is so important for me, even more (so because) I’m in uniform. … This means a lot for me to win this award and be with my jersey (on) still playing for my city back in Houston.”
The Hank Aaron Award was established to honor the 25th anniversary of the former slugger’s breaking Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record. This was the eighth year a panel of fellow Hall of Famers joined Aaron in voting for the award, which was also subject to a fan vote on MLB.com. Craig Biggio was among those on the panel.
Altuve vaulted himself atop the AL MVP conversation with one of the best individual seasons in Astros history. He won his third career batting title behind a career-high .346 average and matched a career best with 24 home runs. His .957 on-base plus slugging percentage tied for third in the AL, behind only Mike Trout (1.071) and Aaron Judge (1.049).
In the postseason, Altuve has only added to his incredible season. In Game 1 of the ALDS, he became the ninth player in history to hit three homers in a postseason game. His five homers overall are the second most for an Astros player in a single postseason. He came into Wednesday night’s Game 2 of the World Series with six multi-hit performances in these playoffs. NL honor special for Stanton
Stanton led the majors with 59 home runs in the regular season, the most by any player since 2001, and 132 RBIs. His 18 homers in August matched Rudy York’s 1937 record for most in that month.
“I’d like to thank the voters and Hank for his kind words and always supporting me,” said Stanton, a native of the Los Angeles area. “Yeah, it’s my second one, but it’s just as special. Just hearing from all of the old-school players on what type of player Hank was and the attitude he brought, it’s similar to how I design my game. So it’s a great honor for me.”
Along with Aaron and Biggio, who attended Wednesday’s news conference, Roberto Alomar, Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey Jr., Eddie Murray and Robin Yount made up the Hall of Fame panel to vote for this year’s award winners.
The Cubs’ Kris Bryant and Red Sox’s David Ortiz were last year’s recipients.