At the risk of jinxing what a great season Jose Altuve is having, let's try to put his 2014 season in context:
*149 hits in 103 games (1.45 hits/game)
*46 multi-hit games
*18 3-hit games
*2 4-hit games
*His 149 hits are best in the Majors, 13 better than 2nd place Melky Cabrera.
*Altuve is on pace for 230 hits, which would tie him for 36th-best in baseball history, and would be the most in the Majors since Ichiro's 238 in 2007. Should Altuve get to 230 hits, it would be the 13th season in the last 50 years with 230+ hits.
*In 2007, Ichiro had 147 hits after his 103rd game.
*No Astro has ever led the league in hits.
*Craig Biggio is the only Astro with 200+ hits in a season (210 in 1998).
*Following his 103rd game in 1998, Biggio:
129 hits, .315/.391/.491 with 31 stolen bases and five caught stealings. Altuve:
149 hits, .343/.377/.449 with 42 stolen bases and five caught stealings. (Stealings? Stolens? Stoles?)
*Just as an aside, Jose Altuve recorded his 2000th career plate appearance last night, and his .298 batting average is 2nd in franchise history (behind Moises Alou who, in 1777 PAs, had a .331 BA with the Astros).
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
