A Message from How Many Altuves

I started the How Many Altuves website, Twitter account, and Facebook pages in May of 2012. As someone with no background in web design, it took some effort to figure out how to code the basic calculator that has been unchanged since the site first went live. I then dusted off my high school math skills to come up with all the other fun Altuves calculations (Altuves per second, cubic Altuves, etc.) And I never imagined it would be as popular has it has become. One of my favorite early examples of how popular this is was when the Astros featured a How Many Altuves infographic on their TV broadcast, complete with a link to the website. As a fan of the team from as early as I can remember, about 30 years, I was excited. 

Then, a year later, the team started selling How Many Altuves tshirts in the team store. Shirts that featured the copyrighted speed, area, and volume calculations on the back. And I had no idea these shirts existed until fans of the website brought them to my attention. Needless to say I was disturbed. I reached out to the team for an explanation. After a series of phone calls and emails the Astros and I were able to reach an agreement, the terms of which shall remain undisclosed, other than to say I received no monetary compensation.

Another year later, I reached out again to the team to inquire about any remaining inventory they may have had. I was told at that time that the shirts were discontinued and the team wouldn't "do the item again."

So imagine my surprise when it was brought to my attention a few days ago that the shirts had again emerged for sale, this time at Houston area Walmarts. The team has assured me that they are not involved in this; that the shirts did not come from them.

This latest development is extremely disappointing. I feel as though I have been completely taken advantage of. I have never tried to profit from the popularity of my content. The few ads you've seen don't even cover the cost of the site's domain name. 

So I've decided that How Many Altuves will be taking an indefinite hiatus while I consider my options and decide if I want to put any more effort into padding other people's pockets.