Jose Altuve donates superfan bat after homerun
BALTIMORE — Christopher Disalvo is a 4-foot-4 middle infielder with a baseball obsession. He lives on Long Island, N.Y., but saw his idol from section 48, row 21, seat 4 at Camden Yards. Jose Altuve walked into the on-deck circle and heard Disalvo call his strike.
“I asked him, ‘If you hit a home run, can I have your bat?’” Disalvo said.
Altuve blasted the second pitch he saw 382 feet into the right-field seats, provided his dugout with the requisite high fives, and gave Disalvo a memory the 11-year-old will never forget. Altuve called Disalvo from his seat, fist bumped him, and handed him the orange bat he had just used.
“Oh my God,” Disalvo said afterward, still holding the bat. “The happiest moment of my life.”
(Photo: Chandler Rome / The Athletic)
Stadium officials took Disalvo, his father, Chris Sr., and a Little League teammate to the concourse at Camden Yards, where the bat was inspected and preserved for the final seven innings of Baltimore’s 7-5 victory.
“The last couple of days have been a little tough for me, obviously, I haven’t been feeling great at bat,” said Altuve, who has just six extra-base hits in his previous 30 games.
“For him to call a home run and me actually hitting it was a big success for me. I was happy, probably happier than he was. All I could do was just give him my bat.”
On the concourse, Chris Sr. held the Orioles cap his son wore as he yelled at Altuve. That loyalty didn’t matter much to Altuve, but it resonated with Chris Sr., who earned a new level of admiration for a player who still gets boos in most of the stadiums he visits.
Chris Sr. coaches his son’s youth team, which is participating in a Ripken Experience Tournament in Baltimore and will play a doubleheader on Saturday.
Visiting all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums is on the family’s bucket list, so it made perfect sense to go to the game on Friday night and check one off their list.
During the third inning, Chris Jr. ran down the stairs from his seat to the on-deck circle, where he announced Altuve’s strike. Before Chris Jr. could return to his seat, Altuve called him back down to throw the bat.
“I was in the bathroom,” Chris Sr. said afterward. “I didn’t even see it. I come back and think, ‘Are you kidding me?'”
Neither father nor son had ever been to Camden Yards. Chris Jr. has been a New York Mets fan since birth, but he now focuses on specific players rather than an entire team. Elly De La Cruz enchants him. And Jonathan India, too.
“But he likes this guy because he’s small,” said Chris Sr., who is 5 feet 6 inches tall. “Good things come in small packages.”
“It always makes you feel good when young guys want to play like you or other guys on the team,” Altuve said. “At the end of the day, we play for the fans and we play to inspire young guys to get to the big leagues and get better every day.”
Altuve is one of the most generous players in the Astros locker room, whether it’s signing endless autographs during pregame batting practice or the occasional selfie with excited fans. He maintains that same kindness at home or on the road, whether he’s being adored by a Minute Maid Park crowd or vilified by many others.
“The man is an absolute gentleman,” Chris Sr. said. “He’s a baseball fan. I coach these guys and it’s a real sportsmanlike attitude, no matter what the kid’s wearing, if you love the game, you respect the game. I teach them to respect the game. When you go out there, give it everything you’ve got, like he does every time.”
Chris Jr. will step into right field for his team during Saturday’s doubleheader. “One of the best teams in the country” awaits them, Chris Sr. said.
“But we’re here for the experience,” he said.
Altuve made it an unforgettable moment.
“Everything that happened tonight, that’s the highlight and what it’s all about,” said Houston manager Joe Espada, whose club gave up five runs in the eighth inning en route to a crushing defeat.
“It’s about a good man who does nice things for people and the humility that he shows. That kid hits that home run, (Altuve) hits that home run and that kid gets a bat. We’re going to send that kid to college after that home run. Jose is just such a good man and it goes beyond what he does on the baseball field.”
(Photo: Tommy Gilligan/USA Today)
