Astros’ Altuve is AP male athlete of year

Houston star second baseman Jose Altuve is named AP Male Athlete of the Year after leading the Astros to their first World Series title, bringing hope to a city ravaged by Hurricane Harvey.

HOUSTON » Jose Altuve led the Houston Astros to their first World Series title with a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in November and picked up the franchise’s first MVP trophy in more than two decades a couple of weeks later.

“Winning the World Series, winning the MVP, you feel like you have everything,” Altuve told The Associated Press. “But my perspective is to try and get better every year and if we win one World Series, why not win another one? Just keep playing for the team and keep playing for my city.”

Altuve, who was one of only a handful of players who endured the Astros’ painful rebuilding process en route to this year’s championship, was chosen as The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.

Results of voting by U.S. editors and news directors was announced Wednesday. The 5-foot-6 dynamo got 715 points, beating out New England quarterback Tom Brady, who had 646, and third-place finisher LeBron James, with 626.

Altuve is a five-time AllStar who led the majors with a career-high .346 batting average and his 204 hits topped the American League. He is the first player in MLB history to lead his league in hits in four straight seasons. He tied a career-best with 24 homers and had 81 RBI. He was second in the AL by scoring 112 runs, his on-base percentage of .410 ranked third, he was third with 32 steals and his .547 slugging percentage ranked sixth.

His work made him the second Astro to win an MVP award , joining Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell, who picked up the National League’s honors in 1994.

Altuve carried his stellar regular season into the postseason, where he paced the Astros in their ALDS win over the Red Sox by hitting .533 with an outrageous 1.133 slugging percentage.

Altuve’s grit and determination is evident every time he takes the field. His teammates marvel at the fact that no matter how good he is, he’s always looking to do better.

“He has four hits and he’s like, ‘Carlos I never had a fivehit game before, let me try to get the fifth hit,”’ Carlos Correa said. “He’s always striving for more. And that’s what I’ve learned from him that makes me better every, single day.”

Altuve, who grew up in Venezuela, considers Houston his second home after spending his entire professional career with the Astros. He took great pride in wearing the Houston Strong patch on his uniform throughout the playoffs as a reminder of what the city went through during the storm and how difficult the rebuilding process would be.

“We had the responsibility of making it happen for the city,” the 27-year-old said. “We wanted to win the World Series for the city. We just wanted to try to see a smile from them.”