03-11-2023, 10:24 PM
Jesús María Rojas Alou (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.
Career[edit]
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]
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.[3] In the 1970 season, Alou hit .306 in 487 at-bats, but with few walks and little power.
On July 31, 1973, the Astros traded Alou to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later.[4] 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,[5] and he signed with the New York Mets on April 10.[6] He batted .265 as a pinch hitter for the Mets, and they released Alou before the 1976 season.[7] In 1976, Alou played for Córdoba of the Mexican League. 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.
Later career[edit]
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.[8][9]
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.[10]
Personal life[edit]
Alou married Angela Hanley. They had five children and lived in the Dominican Republic.[11]
Alou died on March 10, 2023, at the age of 80.[12]
Career[edit]
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]
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.[3] In the 1970 season, Alou hit .306 in 487 at-bats, but with few walks and little power.
On July 31, 1973, the Astros traded Alou to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later.[4] 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,[5] and he signed with the New York Mets on April 10.[6] He batted .265 as a pinch hitter for the Mets, and they released Alou before the 1976 season.[7] In 1976, Alou played for Córdoba of the Mexican League. 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.
Later career[edit]
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.[8][9]
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.[10]
Personal life[edit]
Alou married Angela Hanley. They had five children and lived in the Dominican Republic.[11]
Alou died on March 10, 2023, at the age of 80.[12]
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.