Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou (December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011) was 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 professiona ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. 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 c ...

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) ...

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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

-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 subject. 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 separat ...

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 Co ...

. 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 is ...

and was a two-time All-Star in

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

and

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 ** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. He was a member of a World Series Champion with the Athletics in 1972 and a NL pennant winner with the Giants in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

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 the ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. 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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...

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 ("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, who attempts to e ...

, 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 Ricans, Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early dea ...

Bill Mazeroski William Stanley Mazeroski (born September 5, 1936), nicknamed "Maz" and "The Glove", is an American former second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1956 to 1972. A 7-time All-St ...

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, 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 ...

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 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 (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

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 ( Taiheiyo Club Lions) and managed in the

Dominican Professional Baseball League Dominican may refer to: * Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean ** People of the Dominican Republic ** Demographics of the Do ...

. On June 23, , the

Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum was founded in San Francisco, California on October 24, 1998, by Amaury Pi-Gonzalez. Members of Hall of Fame *Juan Marichal, 2003 * Tony Taylor, 2004 *Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker ( ...

Hall of Fame inducted Alou into their Hall of Fame during an on-field,

pre-game ceremony A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field ceremony occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause. Celebrating past even ...

at AT&T Park before a game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees. Alou died in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, Dominican Republic as the result of diabetic complications, according to his former Dominican team,

Leones del Escogido Leones del Escogido (English: ''Chosen One Lions'' or ''Lions of Chosen One'' or ''Picked Lions'') is a professional baseball team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Established in , Leones are the third most successful team in the Dominican Wi ...

. The Giants confirmed Alou had had variety of health issues for several years.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alou, Matty 1938 births 2011 deaths Matty Deaths from diabetes 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 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 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

See also

References

External links