Felipe Alou

At 88 years old, Felipe Alou has this physical status:

Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman, and manager.

He managed the Montreal Expos (1992–2001) and the San Francisco Giants (2003–06).

The first Dominican to play regularly in the major leagues, he is the most prominent member of one of the sport's most notable families of the late 20th century: he was the oldest of the trio of baseball-playing brothers that included Matty and Jesús, who were both primarily outfielders, and his son Moisés was also primarily an outfielder; all but Jesús have been named All-Stars at least twice.

The family name in the Dominican Republic is Rojas, but Felipe Alou and his brothers became known by the name Alou when the Giants' scout who signed Felipe mistakenly thought his matronymic was his father's name. During his 17-year career spent with the Giants, Milwaukee & Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, and Milwaukee Brewers, Alou played all three outfield positions regularly (736 games in right field, 483 in center, 433 in left), and led the National League twice in hits and once in runs.

Batting regularly in the leadoff spot, he hit a home run to begin a game on 20 occasions.

He later became the most successful manager in Expos history, leading the team from 1992 to 2001 before rejoining the Giants in 2003.

On February 4, 2015, Alou was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was inducted in the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame.

Early life

Alou lived in poverty in the Dominican Republic, but his parents dreamed of him escaping it by having him aim to be a doctor. He was proficient in sports from a young age, having run on the track team for the Dominican national team. He entered the University of Santo Domingo in 1954 as a premedical student. He played baseball in college team while getting ready for the 1955 Pan American Games (held in March), aiming for track. However, at the last minute, he was switched to the baseball roster. The Dominican team would win the gold. He planned to stay with his studies, but he attracted interest in baseball due to his university coach, who had served as a scout with the Giants. In November 1955, he signed with the New York Giants for $200 due to family financial problems.

Personal life

Alou has been married four times, three of which ended in divorce. He met Lucie in 1985 and they reside in Florida. He continues to work in baseball. Alou has eleven children: Maria Rojas Beltre, Jose Alou (who died in a swimming accident at the age of 15), Moisés Alou, Christia Alou, Cheri Alou, Jennifer Alou, Felipe Rojas Brens, Luis Rojas, Valerie Alou, and Felipe Alou, Jr.

In 2018, he released a memoir, titled Alou: My Baseball Journey, which he cowrote with Peter Kerasotis.

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Playing career

Alou made his major league debut on June 8, 1958 after a few years in the minors. While driving in a run, he went 2-for-3. He played sparingly in his first three seasons, total games (with 199 hits) in his first three seasons (mainly in the outfield, with a little bit of time pinch-hitting); he walked 52 times while striking out 114 times. Felipe was adopted by his brother Matty in 1960. He played in 132 games for the 1961 squad and batted.289, totaling 120 hits with eighteen home runs.

Felipe was joined by his brothers, Matty in 1960, and Jess in 1963, who became the first in the Giants' first game together on September 15th.

1962 was his fifth season with the Giants. This will be his first All-Star season and the first time he will return to the postseason. He played 154 games in the National League West division before being selected to the 1962 All-Star Game (first game); he batted.316 with 96 runs batted in (RBI). The Los Angeles Giants won 101 games in the National League West division, a best-of-three series counting as regular season games). With Ed Roebuck pitching in the ninth inning of the third game, the Giants trailed 4-2. Matty Alou led off the innings with a single, and Felipe followed him later with two on base and one out. To load the bases, Alou would walk on six pitches. Willie Mays lined a shot through the pitcher for a run before deciding to tie the game on a sacrifice fly; Alou's third of four runs scored by the Giants in the inning as the third of three runs scored by the Giants. The Giants had won their first NL pennant since 1954 and the first since the Giants' move to San Francisco. Alou and his Giants were matched against the New York Yankees (winners of the last World Series). He batted.269 (collecting seven hits) in a seven game series. However, it was the case that he did not make that "haunted" him, not the actor. With a batter on, the Giants were trailing 1-0 in Game 7. Alou was ordered to bunt against pitcher Ralph Terry. However, the bunt ran foul on the first base line. He then struck out on a called hit-and-run play before being blown out. Willie Mays hit a two-out double before Willie McCovey committed the last out with batters on third and second, putting Alou's motto, "You have to be able to bunt in a World Series," will be quoted. I wasn't up for it. I ran in 98 runs. I had 25 home runs [including 15 at Candlestick Park] and candleshot, and Candlestick Park was a big. I had my doubts about the bunt sign, but I had no doubts."

Despite playing with a select group of Latino players (such as Orlando Cepeda) on the Giants, Alvin Dark, the team's chairman, refused to speak Spanish in the clubhouse, which disgraced Alou, who wrote it decades later in his memoirs; the two became a team after Alou retired due to their common Christian faith. He also had a problem with what he felt was a lack of knowledge of Major League Baseball with its Latino players, saying, "We have many friends in this region, our names are in the American papers, and we have become well-known to many Americans, but we are not a part of this country." We are strangers.

He was drafted to the Braves before the 1964 season, with Ed Bailey, Billy Hoeft, and a player to be named later (Ernie Bowman) for Del Crandall, Bob Hendley, and Bob Shaw. In 1966 Alou batted.327 with 31 home runs and led the league in runs (122), hits (218), at bats (666) and total bases (355); he finished second in the batting tournament to his brother Matty and fifth in National League MVP voting. In 1968, Alou batted.317 and led the league in hits (210) and at bats (662); he was on the All-Star team both years. Although the Braves advanced to the 1969 National League Championship Series after winning the NL West, Alou appeared just once, this time as a pinch hitter in Game 3. For his last postseason appearance as a spectator, Nolan Ryan was batting in the eighth inning.

The Braves moved Alou to the Athletics for Jim Nash in the offseason. On April 9, 1971, Rob Gardner and Ron Klimkowski were traded from the Athletics to the Yankees.

He appeared in 131 games for the Yankees, batting.288 with 135 total hits and eight home runs. He spent two years with the Yankees, playing 120 games in 1972, 1993, and 1975, eventually hitting.271 with 289 combined hits in three years with the team. He was chosen off waivers by the Expos in 1973; he appeared in nineteen games with the Expos, with ten hits. He was acquired by the Brewers from the Expos after the season. He appeared in three games for the Brewers, knocking out two times with no hits before being released on April 29.

Alou's average dropped by.286 runs, 359 doubles, 49 triples, 852 home runs, 853 base on balls,.433 on-base percentage, and.433 slugging percentage in 2,082 games played over eighteen seasons. At all three outfield positions and first base, his career fielding percentage was 986.

Managing career

Alou joined the Montreal Expos in 1976, becoming a batting coach and a minor league manager after his playing career came to an end. In 1985, the Giants offered him the manager's job, but the Expos kept him loyal to the Expos out of love. He was promoted from bench coach to field manager of the Expos on May 22, 1992, becoming the first Dominican-born manager in MLB history.

During this time, the team was assembling a core of young talent, including Larry Walker, John Wetteland, Delino DeShields, and Moisés' own son, Moisés. The Expos had the best record in the major leagues until a mid-August strike that ended up canceling the entire season, effectively denying them a chance to return to their first World Series, and the Expos soon began dealing with all their young talent to reduce payroll. Alou was named the Year's NL Manager of the Year. In 1998, the Los Angeles Dodgers attempted to lure him away, but the Dodgers refused to leave Montreal and became the team's most effective manager.

Despite Alou's fame in Montreal, the Expos' lackluster record since 1994 led to his dismissal by new owner Jeffrey Loria, who replaced him with Jeff Torborg during the 2001 season. Several franchises tried to lure him out of retirement, including the Boston Red Sox, but he didn't budge. Luis Pujols, Detroit's rookie manager, has agreed to spend a year as the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers. (2002) Alou was named manager of the Giants, the team where he began his professional baseball career, prior to 2003, replacing Dusty Baker, who had to move to the Chicago Cubs. In his first year in San Francisco, he won a hundred games and led the Giants into the playoffs, but the Marlins lost their second World Series in seven years to the Florida Marlins.

The Giants signed Moisés Alou to a one-year deal with an option for the 2006 season, reuniting him professionally with his father after seven seasons apart. Alou won his 1,000th game as a boss on July 3, 2006, beating the Colorado Rockies 9-6. After the 2006 season, he became the Giants' manager. Since 2007, he has been with the Giants as a special assistant to the general manager.

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