Hank Aaron Says He’d Pay to Watch Jose Altuve Play: Love from Baseball Legend Cuts Through the Dodgers’ Culty Zealotry

LOS ANGELES — Jose Altuve’s awards season started with a Hank Aaron bang even as his playing season continued. With baseball’s all-time Home Run King sitting right next to him, Altuve picked up the Hank Aaron Award for the best offensive player in the American League this season in a Dodger Stadium basement.

But the words of Aaron — probably the greatest living ballplayer — meant even more than the hardware to the Houston Astros’ MVP favorite.

“I wouldn’t pay to go see many guys play. But I’d pay to go see him,” Aaron says, touching Altuve on the shoulder.

That’s pretty heady stuff for any baseball player, let alone one who’s been doubted and dismissed for most of his ascent to superstardom. And make no mistake, Altuve is a full-fledged superstar in ways that the Aaron Judges of the game will never comprehend. Altuve is the first player in baseball history to lead the American League in hits four straight years — and he easily won another batting title with a .346 batting average this year.

Yes, there are more than a few tired references to Altuve’s height (he stands all of 5-foot-5 in case you’ve been living under a rock) made during the awards ceremony. “You have stood tall,” Aaron says at one point. But when it’s Hank Aaron, who’s going to quibble?

Besides, it’s nice to see Altuve getting some love amid all the Los Angeles Dodgers zealotry going on in the stadium. Even Tiger Woods shows up for Game 2 in full Dodgers gear (at least Woods is a Southern California kid). Legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully doesn’t just come out to throw the first pitch or get that well-deserved “Scully! Scully!” No, Scully comes out and gives a funny five-minute skit with a cast of extras as only Scully can.

It was hilarious — and completely Dodgers cultish.

“Oh wow, this is a long walk to the mound,” Scully says at one point during a running monologue that may be the best one ever delivered before a first pitch.

But Altuve had his own, quieter moment. “First of all I’d like to thank Hank,” the Astros second baseman says. “I’m more nervous right now than I was yesterday playing…This is a dream come true. It means a lot to win this award while I’m in a jersey still playing for my city back in Houston.”

Yes, unlike the National League Hank Aaron Award winner (Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton), Altuve’s team is still battling for a world championship. That’s something significant.

Sitting next to Altuve in a tan suit with a brown tie, Aaron seems to sense this. He spends several minutes talking to Altuve during the wait for the awards to start. As baseball memories go, it doesn’t get much better than this.