Jesús María Rojas Alou (born March 24, 1942) is a Dominican former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. During a 15-year

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) career, he played for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

(1963–68), Houston Astros (1969–73; 1978–79), Oakland Athletics (1973–74), and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

(1975). He was the youngest of the trio of baseball-playing brothers that included Felipe and Matty. Alou was considered a better prospect than either of his brothers and received a $4,000 signing bonus. He made his debut at the end of , and his first game, on September 10, was notable in that 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. In his first full year of Major League action in , Alou failed to live up to expectations, hitting only .274 with little power, but on July 10, he went 6–6 with five singles and a home run. Alou was selected by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

in the 1968 MLB expansion draft and then was dealt to Houston. He had his most active season there, hitting .306 in 487 at-bats, but with few walks and little power. He was traded to the Athletics midway through the season, and served as a bench player on two

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

championship teams. Alou was released by the A's before the season, failed to catch on with the Mets and Córdoba of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

in short stints, and did not return to the majors until Houston signed him in . He responded by hitting .324 in part-time action and became a player-coach the following year before retiring. Alou later served as a scout for the Expos, then moved to the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

as the club's director of Dominican operations. He has held the same post with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

since the season. Jesús Alou was awarded the

Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum was founded in San Francisco, California on October 24, 1998, by Amaury Pi-Gonzalez Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is a Spanish language Major League Baseball announcer. He is the only major league baseball announcer to h ...

Hall of Fame Pioneer Award at a

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Minute Maid Park Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 ...

, on September 23, 2008.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alou, Jesus 1942 births

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

Artesia Giants players Boston Red Sox scouts Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Republic people of Catalan descent El Paso Sun Kings players Eugene Emeralds players Hastings Giants players Houston Astros coaches Houston Astros players Houston Astros scouts Leones del Caracas players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Leones del Escogido players Living people Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball right fielders Miami Marlins scouts Montreal Expos scouts New York Mets players Oakland Athletics players People from Bajos de Haina Phoenix Giants players San Francisco Giants players Tacoma Giants players

See also

References

External links