“He’s the same kid. He’s 33, but he’s a kid. And he’s still playing as a kid,” first base coach López said before Altuve got hit No. 2000.
back to the beginning. The same face that greeted him in Guacara, Venezuela, 16 years ago now stands inside the coach’s box, ready to strategize after a seeing-eye single or slap Altuve’s hand following another first-pitch home run in a career full of them.There are few constants in Altuve’s journey from castoff to cornerstone. Omar López is one of them — the first man to manage Altuve and, now, the first man he sees after a base hit.
“He’s the same kid. He’s 33, but he’s a kid. And he’s still playing as a kid,” López said this week. “Obviously more mature, which is what you should , but when the show time comes up, he’s enjoying it, he’s happy.”Houston hired López in 1999 after his three-year minor-league playing career concluded. López started as a Venezuela-based scout and, in 2006, attended a tournament in Barquisimeto to watch a shortstop named Angel Nieves.
“There are some differences in the game in Latin America coming here. We never played in college. We’re coming from summer leagues as 16-year-olds,” Altuve said. “He definitely helped that transition to know about the differences. I feel like as a 16, 17, 18-year-old kid, you’re making a lot of mistakes. He taught how to play the game the right way and that’s something important in today’s game.
Altuve advanced to full-season affiliated ball after that summer. At the same time, López started a 12-season managerial tour across six different Astros affiliates. He never managed Altuve in the Astros’ system again, but caught up with him during spring training and stayed aware of his progress. The smile he wore on the way to the dugout has persisted for more than a decade. Altuve has transformed his body and tapped power he didn’t possess early on. Fly balls like that one against Bumgarner are now leaving ballparks, sometimes to win a pennant or silence a crowd seething at his association with Houston’s sign-stealing past.“The other day in Baltimore, 410 for a homer.
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