When Jose Altuve's one-year-old daughter grows up to fully understand who her father really is, Jose is going to have quite a life story to tell her as well as any kids that he might have further along the way. In 2007, at the age of 16, Altuve went to the Astros tryout camp in his hometown of Maracay, Venezuela. At the height of 5'5, he was told that he was too small to try out for the team so he was sent home. His father encouraged him to go back the next day to show the scouts the players he really is. A report by The Score was used as a primary source for this article.

The next day, Altuve followed what his father had told him and went to the Astros tryout camp so he could show the scouts the kind of player he really was. Despite not allowing him to try out the previous day because of his height, this time, they allowed him to participate in the tryout and the scouts were actually impressed with what they saw from him so they signed him to a $15 000 signing bonus on March 6, 2007.

The beginning of a spectacular career that no one saw coming

Once he officially became part of the Houston Astros organization, they assigned him to the Venezuelan Summer League, where in 62 games, he put up a slash line of .343/.429/.441 as well as getting 70 hits over 16 strikeouts.

He then was assigned to rookie-level baseball in America where he would hit his first professional HR.

With some very good seasons in the minors, his 2011 season at the levels of single-A advanced and double-A is the season that stood out the most. With both teams combined, in 87 games, he put up a ridiculous slash line of .389/.426/.591 with 139 hits over 40 strikeouts.

This led him to receive a promotion straight from double-A to the big leagues which meant that he would be skipping triple-A which most players don't do.

His first taste of the big leagues which lasted 57 games saw him finish with an average of .276 which is the lowest average he has recorded so far in his career. An average of .276 as a career low is spectacular.

Like many MLB players, their stats get better as they get more experience playing at the highest level in the world. While .276 is nothing to drool over, what Astros fans and even baseball fans didn't know is what they would be seeing and getting from this guy in the future.

In 2012 which was his first full season in the big leagues, he recorded a slash line of .290/.340/.399 in 147 games played. 2012 marked the first season that Jose Altuve became an all-star. 2013 came around and in 152 games, he put up a slash line of .283/.316/.363.

2014 is the season where he turned himself into one of the best players in the game. He recorded a so far career-high 225 hits while only striking out 53 times.

He stole 56 bases which led the AL and is also a career high for him so far. In 2014, he became the first player since 1917 to steal at least two bases in a game in four consecutive games. Altuve also became the first player since 1930 to record 130 hits and 40 stolen bases before the All-Star break which always happens in early July which Altuve participated in. 2014 also marked the season that Altuve broke the previous record of most hits in Astros franchise history which was 210 by former Astros 2B Craig Biggio. To cap off his phenomenal 2014 season, Altuve became the first player in Astros history to win a batting title and he also won the first Silver Slugger Award of his career.

The season of 2015 saw him record 200 hits which led the Astros to the wild card game who would end up beating the Yankees.

The Astros were a surprise team in 2015 as no one expected them to contend for a playoff spot as they were still in the later stages of their rebuild. While Altuve was a big factor in getting the Astros to the playoffs, another big factor on the 2015 Astros was Altuve's double-play mate and superstar Carlos Correa who won 2015 AL rookie of the year. The Astros would end up losing to the Royals in the ALDS. 2015 saw him do more spectacular things than just putting up great numbers as Altuve was the starting 2B for the AL team in the 2015 All-Star Game, he won his second Silver Slugger Award and he won his first Gold Glove Award.

2016 was another outstanding season for Altuve as he put up spectacular numbers.

He appeared in all but one game and recorded a so far career high of 96 RBIs along with a career high of 24 HR. He also led the MLB with the most hits in the 2016 season with 216. In June 2016, Altvue was named player of the month as he batted .420 in the month of June. With his great 2016 season, Altuve finished third in AL MVP voting finishing behind Mike Trout and Mookie Betts but he did win the Sporting News Player of the Year award.

2017 is a season that he had for the ages. He batted a career high in all slash line categories with a slash line of .346/.410/.547 while also tying a career high in HR with 24. July was a crazy month for him as he batted .485 for the whole month while also recording a 19 game hit streak.

This led him to receive his second player of the month award. Finishing the season with 204 hits, he became the fifth player since 1947 to record four consecutive 200 hit seasons. Altuve wasn't just a great player in the regular season but he also showed how good of a player he really was in the postseason. In game one of the ALDS, he became the tenth player ever to hit three HR in one game. In 18 games in the playoffs, Altuve finished with a slash line of .310/.388/.634 with 22 hits which is the most hits in a post season in Astros franchise history.

2017 saw him get his first Hank Aaron award which is awarded to the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in the AL. With his outstanding 2017 season, Altuve finally won his first MVP award which should be the first of many MVP awards for him.

Other awards that he won in honor of his spectacular 2017 season are, postseason MVP along with Justin Verlander, Sporting News Major League Player of the Year, Baseball America's Major League Player of the Year, Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, Players Choice award, AL Outstanding Player along with his fourth Silver Slugger Award. Altuve also won the Sports Illustraded Sportsperson of the Year Award along with Texans DE J.J. Watt for their great seasons on the field and off the field as both of them helped the city of Houston recover from Hurricane Harvey.

Future plans

There's no doubt that the Astros want Altuve to be with the team for as long as he can last. Who wouldn't want one of the best players if not the best player on their team for a long time?

Yesterday, the Astros extended Altuve and rewarded him with a five-year, $151 million contract which begins in 2020 according to Jon Heyman of FanRag sports. When this contract starts, he will be getting an average annual value of $30.2 million a year.

2018 and 2019 will see him earn what he agreed to in his previous contract which is $6 million in 2018 and $6.5 million in 2019. The salaries he will be receiving for the next two years is seen as one of the biggest bargains in sports.

This all happened to a guy who was told he was too small to play and told to not come back to try out again, who then ended up signing for just $15 000. This guy so far has ended up winning an MVP award, four Silver Slugger awards, a Gold Glove Award, five All-Star appearances, a World Series ring and countless numbers of other awards that he has won.

This is Jose Altuve folks.