BALTIMORE — Christopher Disalvo is a 4-foot-10 center fielder with a baseball obsession. He lives on Long Island, N.Y., but watched his idol from section 48, row 21, seat 4 at Camden Yards. Jose Altuve strolled into the holding circle and heard Disalvo call his pitch.
“I asked him, ‘If you hit a home run, can I have your bat?'” Disalvo said.
Altuve blasted the second pitch he saw 382 feet into the right-field seats, gave his dugout the obligatory high fives and gave 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 afterwards, still holding the bat. “The happiest moment of my life.”
(Photo: Chandler Rome / The Athletic)
Stadium officials escorted Disalvo, his father, Chris Sr., and a Little League teammate to the Camden Yards concourse, where the bat was authenticated and kept for the final seven innings of Baltimore’s 7-5 victory.
“The last few days have obviously been a little rough for me, I haven’t felt so good at bat,” said Altuve, who has had just six extra-base hits in his last 30 games.
“The fact that he called a home run and I actually hit him was great for me. I was happy, probably happier than he was. The only thing I could do was give him my bat.”
On the concourse, Chris Sr. clutched the Orioles cap his son was wearing while yelling at Altuve. That loyalty didn’t matter to Altuve, but it resonated with Chris Sr., who gained a new level of admiration for a player who is still booed in most stadiums he enters.
Chris Sr. is coaching his son’s Little League team, which is participating in a Ripken Experience tournament in Baltimore and has a doubleheader on Saturday.
The family’s bucket list includes visiting all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums, so it was only logical to attend Friday night’s game and check one item off the list.
During the third inning, Chris Jr. ran from his seat down the stairs to the circle where he called Altuve’s bat. Before Chris Jr. could return upstairs to his seat, Altuve called him back to throw the bat.
“I was in the bathroom,” Chris Sr. said afterward. “I didn’t even see it. I come back and think, ‘Is this a joke?'”
Neither father nor son had ever been to Camden Yards. Chris Jr. has been a fan of the New York Mets since he was born, but these days he’s more interested in specific players than an entire team. Elly De La Cruz fascinates him. Jonathan India, too.
“But he likes this guy because he’s small,” said Chris Sr., who is 5’6″ tall himself. “Small but beautiful.”
“It’s always a good feeling when young kids want to play like you or 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 one of the most generous players in the Astros locker room, whether it’s through endless autograph signings during pregame batting practice or the occasional selfie with adoring fans. He maintains the same kindness at home or on the road, whether he’s being adored by a crowd at Minute Maid Park or vilified by many others.
“The man is a total gentleman,” said Chris Sr. “He’s a baseball fan. I coach these guys and they have a real sportsman attitude, no matter what the kid is wearing, if you love the game you just respect it. I teach them to respect the game. When you go out there you do your best, just like he does every time.”
Chris Jr. will play right field for his team in Saturday’s doubleheader. “One of the best teams in the country” awaits them, said Chris Sr.
“But we are here to gain experience,” he said.
Altuve made it something they will never forget.
“Everything that happened tonight is the culmination and that’s what this is about,” said Houston manager Joe Espada, whose club allowed five runs in the eighth inning and suffered a crushing loss along the way.
“It’s about a good person doing good things for others and the humility he shows in doing it. The kid called the home run, (Altuve) hit the home run and the kid gets a bat. We’re going to send the kid off to college right after this. Jose is just such a good person and it goes beyond what he does on the baseball field.”
(Photo: Tommy Gilligan / USA Today)
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