Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou (December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011) was a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and

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. He played as an

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 catch ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

from 1960 to 1974. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the

Taiheiyo Club Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, ...

from 1974 through 1976."Former batting champ Alou passes away at 72"
Associated Press, Saturday, November 5, 2011 Alou was a two-time All-Star and the 1966 National League batting champion.

Baseball career

Alou was the middle of a trio of

-playing brothers that included the older Felipe and younger Jesús. They were the first set of three

sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the other person. A male sibling is a brother, and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised ...

s to all bat in the same half-

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

in the majors (September 10), and play together in the same outfield (on September 15), accomplishing both with the Giants in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. The latter achievement happened in the last two innings of a 13–5 win over the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the fir ...

, 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. Matty had been teammates with Felipe during the prior three campaigns, and was likewise with Jesús for the following two. Matty and Felipe later reunited with the Yankees in 1973.Dittmeier, Bobbie. "Matty Alou, middle brother, batting champ, dies", MLB.com, Thursday, November 3, 2011.
/ref> Alou's best years as a player were spent with the Pirates, where he won the National League (NL) batting title in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and was a two-time

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1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and 1969. He was a member of a

World Series Champion The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) and concludes the MLB postseason. First played in 1903, the World Series championship is a best-of-seven playoff and is a contest between the champions of base ...

with the Athletics in 1972 and a NL pennant winner with the Giants in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

Playing career

Alou was born in

Haina Haina (Kloster) () is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northwest Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Haina lies in Waldeck-Frankenberg south of Frankenberg and east of Burgwald at the southwest slope of the Kellerwald range. It lies on ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. He was a platoon player for the Giants for several years and was mostly unremarkable. His finest moment in San Francisco came in

when his pinch-hit bunt single in the final game of a three-game tie-breaking playoff against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

began the rally that won the game and the pennant for the Giants. He batted .333 in the Giants' losing effort against the Yankees in the 1962 World Series. While he was primarily an outfielder, Alou also appeared in one game in 1965 as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

, pitching two scoreless innings. After being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the

season Alou received instruction from expert hitting instructor Harry "the Hat" Walker that helped turn him into a high-average contact hitter. This earned him a starting job as an integral member of a Pirates team which included future Baseball Hall of Fame members

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, primarily as a right fielder. On December ...

, Bill Mazeroski and

Willie Stargell Wilver Dornell Stargell (March 6, 1940 – April 9, 2001), nicknamed "Pops" later in his career, was an American professional baseball left fielder and first baseman who spent all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1962– 1982 ...

. The Pirates fought the

and

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

in a tight pennant race and were in first place on September 10, before they faltered to finish the season in third place for a second consecutive year. Alou won the 1966 NL batting title with a .342 average, with his brother Felipe finishing second, and finished in the top five in hitting four more times - in –, . His contract was sold by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

on October 24, 1973, In 1969 Alou led the major leagues in at-bats (698), doubles (41), and hits (231). His 231 hits in 1969 remain the highest total by any National League player since Joe Medwick's 237 in 1937. After leaving the Major Leagues following the season, he played three seasons in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(

) and managed in the Dominican Professional Baseball League.

Death and Legacy

On June 23, , the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame inducted Alou into their Hall of Fame during an on-field, pre-game ceremony at AT&T Park before a game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees. Alou died in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, Dominican Republic as the result of diabetic complications, according to his former Dominican team, Leones del Escogido. The Giants confirmed Alou had had variety of health issues for several years. Alou was honored in New York City by the naming of Matty Alou Way in Upper Manhattan's Inwood Hill Park neighborhood in October 2015.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alou, Matty 1938 births 2011 deaths Matty Diabetes-related deaths Detroit Tigers scouts Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Republic people of Catalan descent Leones del Caracas players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Leones del Escogido players Licoreros de Pampero players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Michigan City White Caps players National League All-Stars National League batting champions New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players People from Bajos de Haina Baseball players from San Cristóbal Province Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Cloud Rox players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres players San Francisco Giants players San Francisco Giants scouts Springfield Giants players Tacoma Giants players Taiheiyo Club Lions players

Baseball career

Playing career

Death and Legacy

See also

References

External links