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 ambled into the on-deck circle and heard Disalvo call his shot.
“I asked him, ‘If you hit a home run, can I have your bat?’” Disalvo said.
Altuve annihilated the second pitch he saw 382 feet into the right field seats, supplied his dugout with the requisite high fives and handed Disalvo a memory the 11-year-old will never forget. Altuve called Disalvo down from his seat, gave him a fist bump and gifted him the orange bat he had just used.
“Oh my God,” Disalvo said afterward, still clutching the bat. “The happiest moment of my life.”
(Photo: Chandler Rome / The Athletic)
Stadium officials whisked Disalvo, his father, Chris Sr., and a little league teammate into the concourse at Camden Yards, where the bat got authenticated and kept for the final seven innings of Baltimore’s 7-5 win.
“Obviously, the last few days have been a little tough for me, haven’t been feeling great at the plate,” said Altuve, who had just six extra-base hits across his previous 30 games.
“For him to call a homer and I actually hit it was big for me. I was happy, probably happier than him. The only thing I could do was just give him my bat.”
On the concourse, Chris Sr. clutched the Orioles cap his son wore while shouting at Altuve. That allegiance mattered so little to Altuve but resonated with Chris Sr., who earned a new level of admiration for a player still serenaded with boos in most ballparks he enters.
Chris Sr. coaches his son’s little league team, which is participating in a Ripken Experience Tournament in Baltimore and is scheduled to play a doubleheader Saturday.
Touring all 30 major-league ballparks is part of the family’s bucket list, so attending Friday night’s game and checking one off the list made perfect sense.
During the third inning, Chris Jr. darted down the stairs from his seat toward the on-deck circle, where he called Altuve’s shot. Before Chris Jr. could return upstairs to his seat, Altuve called him back down to deliver the bat.
“I was in the bathroom,” Chris Sr. said afterward. “I didn’t even see it. I come back and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
Neither father nor son had ever been to Camden Yards. Chris Jr. is a New York Mets fan from birth but is now gravitating toward specific players instead of an entire team. Elly De La Cruz mesmerizes him. So does Jonathan India.
“But he likes this guy because he’s short,” said Chris Sr., who stands 5-foot-6 himself. “Good things come in small packages.”
“It always makes you feel good that young kids want to play like you or some other guys on the team,” Altuve said. “At the end of the day, we play for the fans and we play to inspire young kids to get to the big leagues and get better every day.”
Altuve is among the most generous players in the Astros’ clubhouse, be it through endless autograph signings during pregame batting practice or the occasional selfie with eager fans. He maintains the same affability at home or on the road, whether he’s about to be adored by a Minute Maid Park crowd or maligned by many others.
“The man is an absolute gentleman,” Chris Sr. said. “He’s a fan of baseball. I coach these guys and it’s a true sportsman attitude, no matter what the kid is wearing, if you have the love for the game, you just respect the game. I teach them to respect the game. When you go out there, give it your all like he does every single time.”
Chris Jr. will play 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 turned it into one they’ll remember forever.
“All that happened tonight, that’s the highlight and what this is all about,” said Houston manager Joe Espada, whose club surrendered five eighth-inning runs en route to a crushing loss.
“It’s about a good human doing nice stuff for people and the humility that he shows. The kid called that homer, (Altuve) hit the homer and the kid gets a bat. We’re about to put that kid in uni after that one. Jose is just such a good person and it goes beyond what he does on the baseball field.”
(Photo: Tommy Gilligan / USA Today)
