Dominican baseball player and manager (1938-2011)
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Rojas
and the second or maternal family name is
Alou
.
Baseball player
Matty Alou
|
---|
Alou in 1971
|
Outfielder
|
Born:
(
1938-12-22
)
December 22, 1938
Haina, Dominican Republic
|
Died:
November 3, 2011
(2011-11-03)
(aged 72)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
|
|
|
MLB:
September 26, 1960, for the San Francisco Giants
|
NPB:
July 26, 1974, for the Taiheiyo Club Lions
|
|
MLB:
June 21, 1974, for the San Diego Padres
|
NPB:
September 5, 1976, for the Taiheiyo Club Lions
|
|
Batting average
| .307
|
---|
Home runs
| 31
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 427
|
---|
|
Batting average
| .283
|
---|
Home runs
| 14
|
---|
Runs batted in
| 75
|
---|
|
---|
|
|
|
|
Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou
(December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011)
[1]
was a
Dominican
professional baseball
player and
manager
.
[2]
He played as an
outfielder
in
Major League Baseball
from 1960 to 1974. He also played in
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)
with the
Taiheiyo Club Lions
from 1974 through 1976.
[3]
Alou was a two-time All-Star and the 1966
National League batting champion
.
[2]
Baseball career
[
edit
]
Alou was the middle of a trio of
baseball
-playing brothers that included the older
Felipe
and younger
Jesus
.
[4]
They were the first set of three
siblings
to all bat in the same half-
inning
in the majors (September 10),
[5]
and play together in the same outfield (on September 15),
[6]
accomplishing both with the Giants in
1963
. The latter achievement happened in the last two innings of a 13–5 win over the
Pittsburgh Pirates
at
Forbes Field
, with starting right fielder Felipe first moving to left in the seventh inning when Jesus entered the game in right and then to center in the eighth when Matty was inserted in left.
[7]
Matty had been teammates with Felipe during the prior three campaigns, and was likewise with Jesus for the following two. Matty and Felipe later reunited with the Yankees in 1973.
[8]
Alou's best years as a player were spent with the Pirates, where he won the
National League (NL)
batting title
in
1966
and was a two-time
All-Star
in
1968
and
1969
. He was a member of a
World Series Champion
with the Athletics in 1972 and a NL
pennant
winner with the Giants in
1962
.
Playing career
[
edit
]
Alou was born in
Haina
,
Dominican Republic
. He was a platoon player for the Giants for several years and was mostly unremarkable. His finest moment in San Francisco came in
1962
when his pinch-hit bunt single in the final game of a three-game tie-breaking playoff against the
Los Angeles Dodgers
began the rally that won the game and the pennant for the Giants. He
batted
.333 in the Giants' losing effort against the Yankees in the
1962 World Series
. While he was primarily an outfielder, Alou also appeared in one game in 1965 as a
pitcher
, pitching two scoreless innings.
[9]
After being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the
1966
season Alou received instruction from expert hitting instructor
Harry "the Hat" Walker
that helped turn him into a high-average contact hitter. This earned him a starting job as an integral member of a Pirates team which included future Baseball Hall of Fame members
Roberto Clemente
,
Bill Mazeroski
and
Willie Stargell
. The Pirates fought the
Los Angeles Dodgers
and
San Francisco Giants
in a tight pennant race and were in first place on September 10, before they faltered to finish the season in third place for a second consecutive year.
[10]
Alou won the 1966 NL batting title with a .342 average, with his brother Felipe finishing second, and finished in the top five in hitting four more times - in
1967
?
1969
,
1971
.
His contract was sold by the
St. Louis Cardinals
to the
San Diego Padres
on October 24, 1973,
[11]
In 1969 Alou led the major leagues in at-bats (698), doubles (41), and hits (231). His 231 hits in 1969 remain the highest total by any National League player since
Joe Medwick
's 237 in 1937.
[
citation needed
]
After leaving the Major Leagues following the
1974
season, he played three seasons in
Japan
(
Taiheiyo Club Lions
) and managed in the
Dominican Professional Baseball League
.
On June 23,
2007
, the
Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame
inducted Alou into their Hall of Fame during an on-field,
pre-game ceremony
at AT&T Park before a game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees.
Alou died in
Santo Domingo
, Dominican Republic as the result of diabetic complications, according to his former Dominican team,
Leones del Escogido
.
The Giants
confirmed Alou had had variety of health issues for several years.
[12]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Fallece Mateo Alou a los 72 anos"
. Archived from
the original
on February 3, 2013
. Retrieved
October 22,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Matty Alou Statistics"
. Baseball Reference
. Retrieved
February 8,
2020
.
- ^
"Former batting champ Alou passes away at 72"
Associated Press, Saturday, November 5, 2011
- ^
Brisbee, Grant (1963-09-15).
"Former Giants, Pirates Outfielder Matty Alou Passes Away ? Baseball Nation"
. Mlb.sbnation.com
. Retrieved
2011-11-03
.
- ^
"September 10, 1963 San Francisco Giants at New York Mets Box Score and Play by Play"
. Baseball Reference
. Retrieved
21 May
2012
.
- ^
"Today in Baseball".
Washington Post
. September 15, 2008. pp. E7.
- ^
Alonso, Nathalie. "60 years ago, the Alous formed the first all-brother outfield," MLB.com, Friday, September 15, 2023.
Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ^
Dittmeier, Bobbie. "Matty Alou, middle brother, batting champ, dies", MLB.com, Thursday, November 3, 2011.
- ^
"Pirates 8, Giants 0, Thursday, August 26, 1965, Forbes Field, First game of doubleheader"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
. Retrieved
May 17,
2020
.
- ^
"1966 Pittsburgh Pirates Schedule, Box Scores and Splits"
. Baseball-reference.com
. Retrieved
1 February
2020
.
- ^
"Royals, Red Sox Trade Pitchers,"
The Associated Press
(AP), Wednesday, October 24, 1973.
Retrieved April 29, 2020
- ^
"Ex-Giant Matty Alou, 72, dies in Dominican Rep"
.
foxnews.com
. Associated Press
. Retrieved
May 17,
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]