HOUSTON -- It happened in player introductions before the game. It happened when he came to the plate. It happened when made a ranging play to extinguish Didi Gregorius in the fifth. It happened when he swiped a bag to set up the first run of the 2017 ALCS.

All night and at every turn, the fans at Minute Maid Park brayed "MVP! MVP!" at Jose Altuve. Over the course of Game 1, which the Astros won by a score of 2-1, he did nothing but justify their enthusiasm, even with primary competitor for the award -- Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and his 52 home runs -- across the way. 

Not so long ago, it seemed that the 5-foot-6 Altuve was a good player elevated to cult figure by his diminutive stature. Since cultivating power without letting any of his other tools dull though, he's become perhaps the best player in all of baseball. On Friday night, he acutely reminded the Yankees and everyone else who watched him of that ... 

Power

During the regular season, Altuve slugged .547 with 24 homers and 39 doubles. He did that despite striking out in just 12.7 percent of his plate appearances. Rare is the player in 2017 who can marry power and contact. In the ALDS against Boston, he slugged 1.133 (!) while walking twice as often as he struck out.  

In Game 1, Altuve didn't notch any extra bases, but in the first he absolutely scalded a first-pitch Masahiro Tanaka slider. Aaron Hicks had him played well and hauled in what was a 380-foot line drive that left the bat at 98 mph.

Sure, he's self-evidently small in stature, but he's strong and he transfers a lot of energy into the ball with his excellent swing. He was, after all, the Game 1 No. 3 hitter for an offense that scored almost 900 runs in the regular season. 

Average

Altuve led the majors in batting during the regular season with a .346 mark and also claimed his third batting title in six qualifying seasons in the bigs. He's also led the AL in hits for four straight seasons. Framed yet another way, Altuve will go into his age-28 season with 1,250 career hits. 

It's also the relentless consistency of it. Throw in the walks, the HBPs, and the reached via error plays (partly a function of Altuve's excellent speed), and he reached base at least once in 88.2 percent of the games in which he came to the plate at least three times. That kind of everyday-ness is so valuable to a lineup. 

True to form, here's his Game 1 ... 

player headshot
Jose Altuve
HOU • 2B • #27
vs. NYY, ALCS Game 1
AB4
H3
R1
SO0
SB1
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Yes, his only out of the night came on that gunshot detailed above. Count his ALDS Game 1 and Game 3 performances against the Red Sox, and Friday marked the 26th time in 2017 that Altuve registered three or more hits in a game. 

Fielding

Altuve has a Gold Glove on his mantel, and while the advanced metrics are mixed on his fielding, he certainly passes the eye test. Speaking of which, let breathe this aforementioned robbery of Gregorius in the fifth inning ... 

It was impressive enough even to get a glove on that ball, but note the body awareness on display when Altuve pivots clockwise, against instinct, because it was quickest way to get the throw off. When one of the fastest players on the Yankee roster is beating it down the line, the every instant matters. 

Sure, Altuve would later make an error on what could've been a double-play ball, but keeping Gregorius off the paths in front of a Starlin Castro single and an Aaron Hicks deep drive proved more vital in what turned out to be a one-run game. 

Baserunning  

This season, Altuve stole 32 bases in 38 attempts (84.2 percent success rate) and took the extra base at a clip that's well higher than the league mean. In the home half the fourth, Altuve singled up the middle and then swiped second base despite careful attention from Tanaka (three pickoff attempts preceded the theft). The next pitch, Carlos Correa lined a single to left that plated Altuve. 

It's not always easy to score from second on a ball to the left fielder (just ask Greg Bird), but Altuve eked out an impressive secondary lead as Tanaka went to the plate. It was all that -- his speed, his instincts, his baseball intelligence -- that allowed him to scurry home with the first run the Astros have scored in the ALCS in more than a decade. 

At this point, a tweet sums up both Altuve's Game 1 performance and his prevailing baseball ethos ... 

All hosannas for Jose of the Dirty Pants. 

When Altuve registered his final act of the night -- a line-drive (what else) single off a Chad Green 97-mph fastball -- the 43,000 voices minus a few Yankee fans tolled again ... 

He's probably going to be that. What he might also be bound headlong for is one of the greatest postseason performances in baseball history. After Game 1 of the ALCS, Altuve is now 11 for 19 (.579) through five games of the 2017 postseason with three home runs. That, of course, is just his work with the bat.

As we knew and know, Jose Altuve is more than that.