They all had careers better than Altuve.
You could say Hornsby was a top 5 player of all-time.
I love old baseball as much as anyone but I don’t really count those guys in this discussion.
So how can we say those players are better than him when they were facing lesser competition?
So let’s keep it to post-integration.
The only second baseman I have ahead of Altuve are Joe Morgan and Rod Carew.
As awful of a broadcaster as Joe Morgan was for ESPN, he was that great of a player.
He led the league in WAR 4 times.
Carew had 3000 hits and went to 18 All-Star Games.
He also won 7 batting titles and an MVP.
Altuve also has an MVP but only three batting titles.
Carew’s lifetime batting average is .323.
However, Carew never went to a World Series.
How much can you punish a guy for that?
Ken Griffey Jr. never played in a World Series either.
I have Altuve next on this list in some sort of tie with Roberto Alomar.
Altuve’s peak was better but Alomar has (so far) played longer.
If we are talking off the field issues, Alomar is a legit bad human being.
His ex-wife accused him of holding her at knifepoint and multiple women accused Alomar of exposing them to HIV.
The Blue Jays had retired his number and have since taken it down.
He’s also currently banned from baseball.
So does all of this mean Jose Altuve will be a first ballot HOFer?
It should be a clear yes but we need to talk about the cheating scandal of 2017.
Rob Manfred and MLB have done their very best to sweep this under the rug.
In fairness to Altuve, Jeff Passan does throw water on Wiregate at least.
But that doesn’t excuse what happened in 2017.
Cody Bellinger has even said that Altuve’s MVP shouldn’t count and he stole it from Aaron Judge.
The Astros did cheat and Yankee and Dodger fans have every right to still be pissed off about it.
All baseball fans should be.
That is cheating and that is fact.
In my opinion, MLB did Altuve no favors with how they handled the investigation.
They wanted this to go away so badly, they punished no active players.
By doing that, you painted them all as guilty.
Some players (like Kemp) declined the heads up.
Others like Carlos Beltran (who also helped develop the plan) did not.
Beltran is an interesting case study for Altuve’s HOF timetable.
If you take the scandal away, Beltran is absolutely a Hall Of Famer in my eyes.
2725 hits, 435 home runs, 70 WAR.
Incredible baseball player who did everything really well.
He even had 312 steals!
Last winter, he had his first year of Hall Of Fame eligibility.
He got 46.5% of the vote.
We all know HOF voters love nothing more than punishing baseball players.
Take the steroid guys out of it.
They made Jim Rice wait 15 years because he was a dick to them.
Is Beltran a first ballot HOFer?
I kind of hate the debate because you either are or aren’t a HOFer.
Why make these guys wait?
Altuve is a different case.
He’s a clearer HOFer than Beltran is.
He’s also 33 so it’s not like his career is close to being done.
3000 hits is not entirely out of the question.
Imagine if he can finish with a couple more titles?
I also think time will help Altuve more than anything.
Beltran is facing the music because he’s first out of the gate.
I do think Altuve will get in on the first ballot.
If you disagree, I do understand.
He’s been so great since the scandal was made public.
I truly don’t believe that’s a reason to hold back his greatness.
This is a guy who came up with the Astros when they were the worst team in baseball.
He had to sit through seasons where they lost 106, 107 and 111 games.
The only question that remains for me is if Jose Altuve can catch Rod Carew.
I’m guessing he will.
