Astros standout Jose Altuve was greeted with a surprise right at the end of Houston's Game 2 victory over the Yankees in the ALCS.
With just three outs separating the Astros from a 3-2 victory, Altuve strutted to his usual post of second base quietly.Yet, as the ball zipped from bag to bag ahead of Ryan Pressly's opening pitch of the inning, a Houston fan, clad in a retro Craig Biggio jersey, slipped past security and made his way to the hole between first and second base — right towards Altuve.
Here's how the former AL MVP described the incident:
"I saw someone running and I saw Astros jersey and I said, I’m fine," Altuve told reporters after the game. "He kept saying, ‘OK, we need to win today.’ I said, ‘We will.’ He said, 'We need to win. I spent all my money on the ticket.'
Altuve reassured the fan that the 'Stros were going to do everything in their power to close out the game.
"I was trying to tell him yes, we’re trying to win," Altuve added. "We were about to take a selfie but then security guys got there and did their job."
The fan was planning to snag a cheeky selfie with Houston's diminutive general. However, he was swept away by security before he got a chance.
The last moments of the interaction were caught by a vigilant fan in the outfield, in addition to TBS' broadcast camera. It made for an interesting sight at the end of an enthralling pitcher's duel.
A fan ran on the field, looks like trying to get a selfie with Jose Altuve.
— Ari Alexander (@AriA1exander) October 21, 2022
Astros security has him in hand. pic.twitter.com/bCQQmtQQHU
Everything seemed to work out in the end, for both the fan and Altuve. The Astros nabbed a momentous victory over a resilient Yankees team, pushing their series lead to 2-0. The fan got a cool, if only fleeting, interaction with one of his sporting heroes. And nobody got hurt.
Doesn't get much better than that.
