Chris DiSalvo Jr., a young fan from Plainview, N.Y., was in town for a baseball tournament and made his way to a front-row seat above the visitors’ dugout at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in the third inning and yelled to Altuve.
“I was telling him when he was on deck, ‘If you hit a home run, can I have your bat?’” DiSalvo said. “He hit a home run on the second pitch to right field. Right after he hit the home run and went back to the dugout, he ran right up and called me up and gave me the bat.”
Altuve belted an 0-1 changeup from Orioles starter Cade Povich and sent it over the right-center-field fence for a two-run homer. Altuve’s gesture earned a huge cheer from the fans sitting in the area and gave DiSalvo the thrill of a lifetime.
“He was like, ‘You called it!’ And he gave me the bat,” he said. “Oh my God, I was shaking. It was crazy.”
Altuve said he hasn’t been feeling good at the plate and was happy to be able to hit a home run and get back on track. He wanted to reward the kid for his faith in him.
“At the end of the day, we play the game for the fans, and we really appreciate all the support,” Altuve said. “Obviously, he’s [not an Astros fan] but it doesn’t really matter. They came here to enjoy the game, and like I said, he was supporting me and rooting for me. It felt really good that he called the homer.”
Altuve’s homer sparked a four-run third inning for the Astros, who wound up having their nine-game road winning streak snapped when Anthony Santander hit an eighth-inning grand slam off Bryan Abreu to send the Orioles to a come-from-behind victory. Still, Altuve’s generosity ruled the day.
“All that happened tonight, that’s the highlight,” manager Joe Espada said. “It’s what this is all about. It’s about a good human doing nice stuff for people, the humility he shows. And the kid called that homer, and he hit the homer and the kid gets the bat. We’re about to put that kid in [uniform] after that one. … Again, Jose has kindness and is just a good person. It goes beyond what he does on a baseball field.”
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