Since 1962 the following teams do not have anyone that has had more than 211 hits: *Arizona Baltimore Cubs White Sox Indians Oakland Giants *Tampa Bay *Nationals/Expos *Entered league after 1962
If the Astros previous record was 220, I would not have thought it "seemed low". Bobrek posted stats that showed Astros were 21st of 30 teams since 1962... which is indeed "low". Altuve is about to have us much more respectable.
Meh 210 is mediocre when you consider that the Astros came into a league that was more pitching centric and played in the Astrodome. When the Astros finally moved to MMP, the era was one of lots of walks and strike outs, which mean elite players typically had fewer plate appearances. Regardless, 215-225 hits for a second baseman is certainly special. Off the top of my head, the only second baseman that got hits like that were Rogers Hornsby and Nap Lojie and Pete Rose.
Great article on some of the adversity Altuve has to face as an undersized player in the league. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-year-in-high-strikes-to-jose-altuve/
I'll post what I had in the other thread [If he got to] 220--would be more hits in a season than any active player not named Ichiro, more than Jeter ever had in a season, and more than anyone not named Ichiro since 2004. (222 would change that year to 2000) So while it isn't in the "all-timer" range, he certainly could be looking at a "2000's" type record, which is pretty significant.
Ha, I meant 2000-2014, as in a 15 year type record / one that's top ~5 for an era, which is still significant.