Jesús Alou

Jesús María Rojas Alou (Spanish: [xeˈsus aˈlo], March 24, 1942 – March 10, 2023) was a Dominican professional baseball outfielder. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the San Francisco Giants (1963–68), the Houston Astros (1969–73; 1978–79), the Oakland Athletics (1973–74), and the New York Mets (1975). He was the youngest of a trio of baseball-playing brothers that included Felipe and Matty.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rojas and the second or maternal family name is Alou.

Jesús Alou
Alou in 1965
Outfielder
Born: (1942-03-24)March 24, 1942
Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic
Died: March 10, 2023(2023-03-10) (aged 80)
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 10, 1963, for the San Francisco Giants
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1979, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics
Batting average.280
Home runs32
Runs batted in377
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Playing career

Alou was considered a better prospect than either of his brothers and received a $4,000 signing bonus from the San Francisco Giants. He made his major league debut with the Giants late in the 1963 season.[1] In his first game, on September 10, all three Alou brothers batted in the same inning (they were retired in order). Five days later, for the first time, the three played in the outfield for the Giants at the same time.[2] 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 Jesús entered the game in right and then to center in the eighth when Matty was inserted in left.[3]

In 1964, his first full year in the major leagues, Alou batted .274 with little power, but on July 10, he went 6-for-6 with five singles and a home run. Alou was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 1968 MLB expansion draft and then was traded to the Houston Astros with Donn Clendenon for Rusty Staub.[4] In the 1970 season, Alou hit .306 in 487 at-bats, with a career-best 21 walks, but little power (only 1 homerun).[5]

With the emergence of younger players in the Astros' outfield such as Bob Watson and Cesar Cedeño, Alou was no longer a regular outfielder after the 1971 season.[6] As a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter, he hit .312 in 52 games in the 1972 season.[5] On July 31, 1973, the Astros traded Alou to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later.[7] He served as a bench player for the Athletics on two World Series championship teams. Alou was released by the Athletics towards the end of March 1975, before the start of the 1975 season,[8] and he signed with the New York Mets on April 10.[9] He batted .265 as a pinch hitter for the Mets, and they released Alou before the 1976 season.[10] In 1976, Alou played for Córdoba of the Mexican League.[5] Houston once again signed Alou in 1978. He responded by hitting .324 in part-time action and became a player-coach the following year before retiring.[6]

Post-playing career

Alou later served as a scout for the Expos, then moved to the Florida Marlins as the club's director of Dominican operations. He held the same post with the Boston Red Sox from 2002 through 2017, then moved to a part-time role as special assistant and then ambassador to the Red Sox' international scouting and player development department through 2020.[11][12]

Alou was awarded the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame Pioneer Award at a pre-game ceremony at Minute Maid Park, on September 23, 2008.[13]

Personal life

Alou married Angela Hanley. They had five children and lived in the Dominican Republic.[6]

Alou died on March 10, 2023, at age 80.[14]

See also

References
  1. Diario, El Nuevo (March 10, 2023). "Fallece Jesús, el más pequeño de la trilogía Rojas Alou". El Nuevo Diario (República Dominicana) (in Spanish). Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  2. "Today in Baseball". Washington Post. September 15, 2008. pp. E7.
  3. Alonso, Nathalie. "60 years ago, the Alous formed the first all-brother outfield," MLB.com, Friday, September 15, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  4. "Alou and Clendenon Of Expos Traded For Astros' Staub - The New York Times". The New York Times. January 23, 1969. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  6. Armour, Mark. "Jesús Alou". Society for American Baseball Research.
  7. "The Evening Sun 01 Aug 1973, page 60". Newspapers.com. August 1, 1973. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  8. "The Times 29 Mar 1975, page Page 26". Newspapers.com. March 29, 1975. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  9. "The Jersey Journal 11 Apr 1975, page 21". Newspapers.com. April 11, 1975. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  10. "The Berkshire Eagle 31 Mar 1976, page 26". Newspapers.com. March 31, 1976. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  11. "Falleció Jesús Alou, el más joven de legendaria trilogía de hermanos dominicanos". ESPNdeportes.com. March 10, 2023.
  12. Boston Red Sox 2020 Media Guide. Boston Red Sox. p. 412.
  13. "R.D. de luto ante el fallecimiento de Jesús Rojas Alou". MLB.com (in Spanish). Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  14. Anderson, R.J. (March 10, 2023). "Jesús Alou, two-time World Series champion and youngest member of legendary Alou brothers, dies at 80". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
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