Jose Altuve is the superstar second baseman for the Houston Astros. But when he first tried out for the team, he was cut on the first day. People thought he was too short to be a professional baseball player. But Altuve didn't give up. In 2016, he won his second batting title and was voted Player of the Year. Altuve works incredibly hard to keep his body strong and quick—but he also loves to have fun. Learn how Altuve became one of baseball's best athletes and how he spends his time on and off the field.
Jose Altuve: Baseball Superstar tells the story of a baseball underdog whose small stature didn't keep him from winning multiple batting titles, the American League MVP Award, and the World Series with the Houston Astros. Features include a timeline, a glossary, further readings, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
As a sixteen-year-old in Venezuela, José Altuve attended a tryout camp with the Houston Astros. The Astros rejected him because he was too short, but that didnt break his spirit. He attended the tryout a year later and earned a minor-league contract with Houston. Just five-foot-five, Altuve has become a baseball phenomenon. He has played in four MLB All-Star Games and led the American League in hits, stolen bases, and batting average. In 2016, he even belted more than twenty home runs. Learn how Altuve overcame the odds in his first-ever biography. Full-color photographs and plenty of vibrant quotes bring his story into sharp focus.
Introduces readers to the life and career of baseball star José Altuve. Colorful spreads, fun facts, interesting sidebars, and a map of important places in his life make this a thrilling read for young sports fans.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019 “Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations—not just baseball clubs—work best.”—The Wall Street Journal Astroball picks up where Michael Lewis’s acclaimed Moneyball leaves off, telling the thrilling story of a championship team that pushed both the sport and business of baseball to the next level. In 2014, the Astros were the worst baseball team in half a century, but just three years later they defied critics to win a stunning World Series. In this book, Ben Reiter shows how the Astros built a system that avoided the stats-versus-scouts divide by giving the human factor a key role in their decision-making. Sitting at the nexus of sports, business, and innovation, Astroball is the story of the next wave of thinking in baseball and beyond, at once a remarkable underdog tale and a fascinating look at the cutting edge of evaluating and optimizing human potential.
“A baseball book that reads like a spy novel—a story about cheaters and the cheated that has the power to forever change how we feel about the game.” —Brian Williams, MSNBC anchor and host of The 11th Hour The definitive insider story of one of the biggest cheating scandals to ever rock Major League Baseball, bringing down high-profile coaches and players, and exposing a long-rumored "sign-stealing" dark side of baseball By the fall of 2019, most teams in Major League Baseball suspected that the Houston Astros, winners of the 2017 World Series, had been stealing signs for several years. Deconstructing exactly what happened in this explosive story, award-winning sports reporter and analyst Andy Martino reveals how otherwise good people like Astros manager A. J. Hinch, bench coach Alex Cora, and veteran leader Carlos Beltrán found themselves on the wrong side of clear ethical lines. Along the way, Martino explores the colorful history of cheating in baseball, from notorious episodes like the 1919 “Black Sox” fiasco all the way to the modern steroid era. But as Martino deftly shows, the Astros scandal became one of the most significant that the game has ever seen—its fallout ensnaring many other teams, as victims, alleged cheaters, or both. Like a riveting true sports whodunit, Cheated is an electrifying, behind-the-scenes look into the heart of a scandal that shocked the baseball world.
Move over, Moneyball -- this New York Times bestseller examines major league baseball's next cutting-edge revolution: the high-tech quest to build better players. As bestselling authors Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik reveal in The MVP Machine, the Moneyball era is over. Fifteen years after Michael Lewis brought the Oakland Athletics' groundbreaking team-building strategies to light, every front office takes a data-driven approach to evaluating players, and the league's smarter teams no longer have a huge advantage in valuing past performance. Lindbergh and Sawchik's behind-the-scenes reporting reveals: How undersized afterthoughts José Altuve and Mookie Betts became big sluggers and MVPs How polarizing pitcher Trevor Bauer made himself a Cy Young contender How new analytical tools have overturned traditional pitching and hitting techniques How a wave of young talent is making MLB both better than ever and arguably worse to watch Instead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have turned to out-developing opponents, gaining greater edges than ever by perfecting prospects and eking extra runs out of older athletes who were once written off. Lindbergh and Sawchik take us inside the transformation of former fringe hitters into home-run kings, show how washed-up pitchers have emerged as aces, and document how coaching and scouting are being turned upside down. The MVP Machine charts the future of a sport and offers a lesson that goes beyond baseball: Success stems not from focusing on finished products, but from making the most of untapped potential.
An inside look at the food that fuels today’s top Major League Baseball stars In Major League Baseball, the transition to eating healthy food has become more than a movement; it’s a revolution. Jose Altuve, Chris Archer, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, Mike Trout, and the 16 other star ballplayers featured in The Game of Eating Smart are proof of the positive effect of proper nutrition on athletic performance and overall health. Eating smart isn’t about calorie-counting and fad diets. It simply means consuming more nourishing food—including leafy greens, lean protein, and fresh fruit—that eventually decreases the desire to make unhealthy choices. The Game of Eating Smart includes insights from today’s top players on their approach to healthy living and performance nutrition, plus more than 80 easy-to-prepare and nutrient-dense recipes inspired by their food philosophies and favorite meals. José Altuve José Bautista Chris Archer Nolan Arenado Jake Arrieta Kris Bryant Carlos Correa Freddie Freeman Paul Goldschmidt Didi Gregorius Bryce Harper Adam Jones Matt Kemp Clayton Kershaw Ian Kinsler Corey Kluber Hunter Pence David Price Giancarlo Stanton Noah Syndergaard Mike Trout
