| Felipe Alou | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alou in 1961 | |||||||||||||||
| Outfielder /First baseman /Manager | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1935-05-12)May 12, 1935 (age 90) Haina, Dominican Republic | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| June 8, 1958, for the San Francisco Giants | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| April 24, 1974, for the Milwaukee Brewers | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .286 | ||||||||||||||
| Hits | 2,101 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 206 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 852 | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial record | 1,033–1,021 | ||||||||||||||
| Winning % | .503 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
As player
As manager As coach | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| Member of the Canadian | |||||||||||||||
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||
| Induction | 2015 | ||||||||||||||
Medals
| |||||||||||||||
Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a Dominican former professionaloutfielder,first baseman, coach andmanager inMajor League Baseball (MLB). He managed theMontreal Expos (1992–2001) and theSan Francisco Giants (2003–2006). 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 includedMatty andJesús, who were both primarily outfielders, and his sonMoisés was also primarily an outfielder; all but Jesús have been namedAll-Stars at least twice. His sonLuis, in turn, managed theNew York Mets.[a]
During his 17-year career spent with the Giants,Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves,Oakland Athletics,New York Yankees,Montreal Expos, andMilwaukee Brewers, Alou played all three outfield positions regularly (736 games inright field, 483 incenter, 433 inleft), and led theNational League twice inhits and once inruns. Batting regularly in the leadoff spot, he hit ahome 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 theCanadian Baseball Hall of Fame,[1] and in 2016, he was inducted in theCaribbean Baseball Hall of Fame.[2] He is one of just three men to have 2,000 hits, 200 home runs, and 1,000 managerial wins (the other two areJoe Torre andFrank Robinson).[3]
Born into theAlou family, Alou lived in poverty in the Dominican Republic, but his parents dreamed of his escaping poverty 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 the1955 Pan American Games (held in March), aiming for track. However, at the last minute, he was switched to thebaseball roster.[citation needed] 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.[4]
Alou began hisminor league baseball career in theEvangeline Baseball League in 1956. Prior to the season, however, the city ofBaton Rouge, Louisiana bannedNegroes from playing in its public parks, including the ballpark used by theBaton Rouge Rebels. After initially negotiating a resolution whereby Alou and other NegroLake Charles Giants players would be held out of games in Baton Rouge in exchange for the Rebels at the same positions also being benched,[5] pressure began to mount for the Lake Charles club to cut Alou and his Negro teammates altogether. Lake Charles was forced to forfeit at least one game and other games were moved from Baton Rouge to Lake Charles.[6] In early May, Alou was reassigned to theCocoa club of theFlorida State League and the Evangeline League achieved totalracial segregation.[7]
Alou made his major league debut at the age of 23 on June 8, 1958. He went 2-for-3 while driving in a run.[8] He played sparingly in his first three seasons, playing 276 total games (with 199 hits) in his first three combined seasons (primarily in the outfield while spending a bit of time pinch-hitting); he walked 52 times while striking out 114times. He played in 132 games for the 1961 squad and batted .289 while collecting 120 hits with eighteen home runs.[9][10][11][12]
Felipe was joined by his brothers,Matty in 1960, andJesús in 1963. All three formed the first and only all-brother outfield in MLB history in the last two innings of a 13–5 win over thePittsburgh Pirates atForbes Field on September 15, 1963. Felipe was the starting right fielder but first moved 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.[13]
1962 was his fifth season with the Giants. It would also be his first All-Star season along with the first time he would reach the postseason. He played 154 games while being named to the1962 All-Star Game (first game); he batted .316 while slugging 25 home runs with 98runs batted in (RBI)[14] The Giants won 101 games in theNational League to force atie-breaker series with theLos Angeles Dodgers (a best-of-three series counted as regular season games). In the ninth inning of the third game, the Giants trailed 4–2 withEd Roebuck pitching. Matty Alou started the inning with a single, and Felipe later came to bat with two on base and one out. Alou would draw a walk on six pitches to load the bases. The next batter,Willie Mays, lined a shot through the pitcher for a run, beforeOrlando Cepeda drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to tie the game;Jim Davenport would draw a walk with the bases loaded again to score Alou as the third of four runs scored by the Giants in the inning on their way to a 6–4 victory.[15] This meant the Giants had won their first NL pennant since1954 and first since the move toSan Francisco. Alou and his Giants were matched against theNew York Yankees (winners of thelast World Series). In a seven-game series, he batted .269 (collecting seven hits). However, it was the play that he did not make that "haunted" him. In Game 7, the Giants were trailing 1–0 in the bottom of the ninth inning with a batter on. Alou was instructed to bunt against pitcherRalph Terry. However, the bunt moved foul on the first base line. He then hit a foul ball on a called hit-and-run play before striking out. This proved key on the final out of the game, whenWillie Mays hit a two-out double beforeWillie McCovey committed the last out with batters on third and second; Alou was quoted as stating “You have to be ready to bunt in a World Series. I was not ready. I drove in 98 runs. I hit 25 home runs [including 15 at Candlestick Park], and Candlestick was big. I saw the bunt sign, and I had my doubts."[16][17][18]
Despite playing with a handful of Latino players (such asOrlando Cepeda) on the Giants, managerAlvin Dark did not allow them to speak Spanish in the clubhouse, which displeased Alou, who noted it decades later in his memoirs; the two became friends after Alou retired because of their shared Christian faith.[19][20] He also had a problem with what he felt was a lack of understanding that Major League Baseball had with its Latino players, stating “We have many friends in this country, our names are in the American papers, and we become well known to many Americans, but though we are in this country, we are not a part of this country. We are strangers.”[21]
He was traded to the Braves before the 1964 season withEd Bailey,Billy Hoeft and aplayer to be named later (Ernie Bowman) forDel Crandall,Bob Hendley andBob Shaw. In 1966 Alou batted .327 with 31 home runs and led the league in runs (122), hits (218), at bats (666) andtotal bases (355); he finished second in the batting race to his brother Matty and fifth in National League MVP voting. In 1968 Alou batted .317 and leading the league in hits (210) and at bats (662); he made the All-Star team both years. While the Braves went to the1969 National League Championship Series after winning the NL West, Alou appeared just once, doing so as a pinch hitter in Game 3. FacingNolan Ryan, he lined out in the eighth inning for his last postseason appearance as a player.[22]
After that season, the Braves traded Alou to the Athletics forJim Nash. In April 1971, He was dealt from the Athletics to the Yankees forRob Gardner andRon Klimkowski on April 9, 1971.[23]
He played in 131 games for the Yankees, batting .288 with 135 total hits and eight home runs. He played another two years with the Yankees (playing 120 games in 1972, 93 in 1973), ultimately hitting .271 with 289 combined hits in three years with the team. On September 6, 1973, he was selected off waivers by the Expos from the Yankees; he played nineteen games with the Expos, having ten hits. He was purchased by the Brewers from the Expos after the season. He played three games for the Brewers, striking out twice with no hits before being released on April 29.[24][25][26][27]
In 2,082games played over eighteen seasons, Alou compiled a .286batting average (2101-for-7339) with 985runs, 359doubles, 49triples, 206home runs, 852RBI, 423base on balls, .328on-base percentage and .433slugging percentage. His careerfielding percentage was .986 at all three outfield positions and first base.
After the end of his playing career, Alou joined the Montreal Expos organization in 1976, becoming abatting coach and aminor league manager. The Giants offered him the manager's spot in 1985, but he remained with the Expos out of loyalty. On May 22, 1992, he was promoted from bench coach to field manager of the Expos, becoming the first Dominican-born manager in MLB history.[28]
The team was developing a core of young talent during this period, includingLarry Walker,John Wetteland,Delino DeShields and Alou's own son, Moisés. In 1994 the Expos had the best record in the major leagues until the mid-Auguststrike that ended up cancelling the entire postseason, thereby denying them a chance to get to their firstWorld Series, and ownership soon began dealing all their young talent to cut payroll. Alou was named theNL Manager of the Year. TheLos Angeles Dodgers tried to lure him away in 1998, but he declined to leave Montreal and eventually became the most successful manager in team history.
Despite Alou's popularity in Montreal, the Expos' lackluster record after 1994 eventually led to his dismissal by new ownerJeffrey Loria, who replaced him withJeff Torborg during the 2001 season. Several teams tried to lure him out of retirement, including theBoston Red Sox, but he would not budge. He finally agreed to serve a single year as the bench coach forDetroit Tigers rookie managerLuis Pujols (2002). Prior to the 2003 season, Alou was named manager of the Giants, the team where he began his professional baseball career, replacingDusty Baker who had left to manage theChicago Cubs. In his first season in San Francisco, he won a hundred games and managed the Giants into the playoffs, but they fell to theFlorida Marlins in theNL Division Series in 4 games; the Marlins went on to win their second World Series in seven years.
In 2005, the Giants signed Moisés Alou to a one-year contract with an option for the 2006 season, reuniting him professionally with his father after seven seasons apart. On July 3, 2006, Alou won his 1,000th game as a manager, winning against theColorado Rockies 9–6.[29] He retired as Giants' manager after the 2006 season.[30] Since 2007, he has remained with the Giants organization as a special assistant to the general manager.[31]
Alou managed theDominican Republic national team at the2009 World Baseball Classic. He was hampered by the absence of several star players, such asAlex Rodriguez,Adrián Beltré, andAlbert Pujols, who either withdrew or were not given permission to join the team.[32] The Dominican Republic saw a disappointing 1–2 run and was eliminated from the tournament by theNetherlands.[33]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| MTL | 1992 | 125 | 70 | 55 | .560 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 1993 | 162 | 94 | 68 | .580 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 1994 | 114 | 74 | 40 | .649 | 1st in NL East | Postseason cancelled | |||
| MTL | 1995 | 144 | 66 | 78 | .458 | 5th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 1996 | 162 | 88 | 74 | .543 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 1997 | 162 | 78 | 84 | .481 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 1998 | 162 | 65 | 97 | .401 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 1999 | 162 | 68 | 94 | .420 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 2000 | 162 | 67 | 95 | .414 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| MTL | 2001 | 53 | 21 | 32 | .396 | (fired) | – | – | – | – |
| MTL total | 1,409 | 691 | 717 | .491 | – | – | – | – | ||
| SF | 2003 | 161 | 100 | 61 | .621 | 1st in NL West | 1 | 3 | .250 | LostNLDS (FLA) |
| SF | 2004 | 162 | 91 | 71 | .562 | 2nd in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| SF | 2005 | 162 | 75 | 87 | .463 | 3rd in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| SF | 2006 | 162 | 76 | 85 | .472 | 3rd in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| SF total | 646 | 342 | 304 | .529 | – | – | – | – | ||
| Total[34] | 2,055 | 1,033 | 1,021 | .503 | 1 | 3 | .250 | |||
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, Felipe Rojas Beltre (who died in a swimming accident at the age of 15), José Rojas Beltre,Moisés Alou, Christia Alou, Cheri Alou, Jennifer Alou, Felipe Rojas Brens,Luis Rojas, Valérie Alou, and Felipe Alou Jr.[35]
In 2018, he released a memoir, titledAlou: My Baseball Journey, which he cowrote with Peter Kerasotis.[36]
After the death of his brothers, he is the oldest living player out of the Alou family.
· ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | Montreal Expos First Base Coach 1984–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Detroit Tigers Bench Coach 2002 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
