Undersized until a teenage growth spurt (when I was twelve-years-old, I was usually guessed for eight or nine) brought me up to average size, I have always had a special place for the major league’s smaller (or smallest) players. This affinity for (sm)All Stars was fueled in part by my Dad’s 5’ 1” stature. In our household, we always rooted for the little guy.
Jose Altuve
Jose Altuve – Houston’s (sm)All Star – alongside Manny Machado.
Being nothing if not consistent, BBRT’s favorite 2014 All Star is MLB’s smallest player – 5’ 5”, 175 lb. Houston Astros’ second basemen Jose Altuve. Altuve, a sparkling fielder, came into the All Star break leading all of baseball in base hits (130), number-three in average (.335, second in the AL), number-two in stolen bases (41, leading the AL, with only three caught stealing). The shortest player in the major leagues, Altuve has inspired a new unofficial unit of measure to document how far a home run has traveled (a 400-foot home run travels 73.8 Altuves). See the website at www.howmanyaltuves.com for an Altuve calculator.
Altuve, overlooked by many teams because of his size, was signed by the Houston Astros as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Right from the start, he showed solid defense, a quick bat and speed on the base paths. After rapping .343 in the Venezuelan League in 2007, Altuve came to the U.S. and proceeded to hit .284-.302-.301 in three minor league seasons (2008-10), while also showing “plus” defensive skills.
Then in 2011, Altuve had a breakout season. He started the year at High-A Lancaster, hitting .408 with five home runs, 38 runs, 34 RBI and 19 stolen bases in just 52 games. That performance earned him a promotion to AA Corpus Christi, where he hit .361 with five home runs, 21 runs, 25 RBI and five stolen bases in another 35 games. His next stop was Houston (in July) and he finished up the season with 57 major league games, a .276 average and seven steals in ten attempts – and that was just the beginning. In 2012, Altuve hit .297 (with 33 steals), earning his first All Star berth. He came back with .283 and 35 steals in 2013 – before his sterling start to 2014.
Now, at just 24-years-old, the diminutive Altuve has made two All Star teams and his cleats are in the Baseball Hall of Fame – honoring a late-June streak during which notched multiple stolen bases in four consecutive games. Altuve was just the third player since 1900 to achieve that feat and the first in 97 years.
For Trivia buffs, on May 1, 2012, when Altuve faced New York Mets’ 6’ 11” reliever Jon Rauch (MLB’s tallest player ever), the 18″ height difference between hitter and pitcher was reported to be the second largest ever – exceeded only by the 25-inch difference between 3’ 7” Eddie Gaedel (sent to the plate on August 19, 1951 by the St. Louis Browns in a Bill Veeck publicity stunt) and Detroit Tigers’six-foot tall pitcher Bob Cain.
Bobby Shantz
Altuve, however, is not BBRT’s favorite (sm)All-Star. That recognition goes to a player my dad often referred as “Little Bobby Shantz.” The 5′ 6″, 139-pound southpaw side-arming hurler was not an imposing figure on the mound. He was, however a three-time All Star who, in 1952, went 24-7, 2.48 for the fourth-place Philadelphia Athletics – leading the AL in wins and winning percentage and capturing the MVP award (making Shantz the smallest-ever MVP winner – the lightest and tied with Phil Rizzuto for the shortest).
In his 16-season MLB career, Shantz moved between starter and reliever (171 starts and 366 relief appearances) and went 119-99, with a 3.38 ERA. He pitched for the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics (1949–1956), New York Yankees (1957–1960), Pittsburgh Pirates (1961), Houston Colt .45’s (1962), St. Louis Cardinals (1962–1964), Chicago Cubs (1964) and Philadelphia Phillies (1964). In 1957, he helped the Yankees finish atop the AL, going 11-5 and leading the AL in ERA at 2.45 (21 starts and nine relief appearances).
An agile athlete, Shantz also won eight consecutive Gold Glove Awards (American League, 1957–60; National League, 1961–64). In our household “Little Bobby Shantz” was always a favorite (sm)All Star, who held out hope for the little guy.
