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Matty Alou
Born: 1938

  • Brother of Felipe Alou
  • Brother of Jesus Alou
  • Uncle of Moises Alou
  • Uncle of Mel Rojas
  • Cousin of Jose Sosa
    [Courtesy Arnie Braunstein]
  • OF-1B 1960-74 Giants, Pirates, Cardinals, Athletics, Yankees, Padres

    Matty Alou's Teammates

    • All-Star in 1968-69
    • Led League in ba 66

    GamesAverageHRRBI
    Career 1667.30731427
    League CS 8.33302
    World Series 13.13901

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    RELATED LINKS
    » 1963: Three Brothers Bat Consecutively in Same Inning

    Book Excerpts
    » "Dark never gave Matty the opportunity to show what he really had": Orlando Cepeda

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    » The 1971 Swap Meet: The Trades That Weren't by Bruce Markusen
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    The 5'9" 160-lb Matty was the best hitter for average and the fastest of the three Alou brothers as well as the smallest. The feisty Dominican had his finest year when he came from the Giants to the Pirates in 1966, leading the league in batting at .342. In 1969 he topped the NL in hits and doubles. The only lefty of the Alous, he lined hits to all fields and batted .300 seven times. As a late-season pick-up in 1972, he hit .381 in the LCS and helped Oakland to their first World Championship. He and Felipe played together in the 1962 Series against the Yankees, and played together near the ends of their careers on the 1973 Yankees. The three brothers were together on the same team only briefly when Jesus came up in 1963 to join the Giants, but did all appear in one game together in the outfield. (ArB/JD)


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    FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
    » May 15, 1961: The Alou brothers and Orlando Cepeda lead an 18-hit attack as San Francisco overpowers the Cubs, 14–1. Dick Ellsworth gives up six runs in the 1st without retiring a batter. Cepeda hits two homers and a double and drives in five runs, while Felipe Alou hits his 1st grand slam and brother Matty Alou his first ML homer. Matty will combine with Jesus Alou in 1965 to homer in the same game. Mike McCormick is the easy winner.

    » October 5, 1962: Jack Sanford's 3-hitter handcuffs New York and knots the World Series. Matty Alou's RBI grounder and Willie McCovey's home run off Ralph Terry account for San Francisco's 2–0 win.

    » October 16, 1962: New York scores the game's only run, as Tony Kubek grounds into a 5th-inning DP. In the 9th, with two outs and Matty Alou on 1B, Willie Mays rips a double to right off Ralph Terry, but great fielding by Roger Maris keeps Alou from scoring. Willie McCovey then hits a screaming liner toward right, but 2B Bobby Richardson gloves it, giving the Yankees a 1–0 win and a 2nd straight World Series victory. Terry is named World Series MVP.

    » September 10, 1963: At New York, the Giants trail 3–0 after 7 innings when manager Alvin Dark sends up consecutive Alous to bat in the 8th. Pinch hitter Jesus Alou grounds out, pinch hitter Matty Alou strikes out, and leadoff hitter Felipe Alou bounces back to P Carlton Willey. The Giants lose, 4–2. Willie McCovey's 38th homer and Orlando Cepeda's 29th account for the SF scoring.

    » September 22, 1963: For the first time, all three Alou brothers share the outfield. In the seventh inning, Matty Alou is in LF, Felipe Alou replaces Willie Mays in CF, and Jesus Alou is in RF. In the 8th, the three are retired, 1, 2, 3. But the offense comes from Willie McCovey who hits three homers as the Giants whip the Mets, 13–4.

    » June 2, 1964: Giants OF Matty Alou suffers a fractured wrist, as Pittsburgh's Bob Veale beats the Giants 3–1. Alou will miss five weeks.

    » August 12, 1965: The Giants split a pair with Pittsburgh, losing game two by a 5–2 score after winning the opener, 4–3. In the win, Matty and Jesus Alou hit homers, the first time two Alous have homerd in the same game since Matty Alou and Felipe Alou did it on May 15, 1961.

    » December 1, 1965: The Giants send Matty Alou, coming off a .231 season, to the Pirates for P Joe Gibbon and infielder Ossie Virgil. Alou will rebound to lead the National League in hitting and have four straight seasons over .331.

    » October 2, 1966: With the Pirates ahead of the Giants by two runs at the end of eight innings, ex-Buc Ozzie Virgil ties the score with his last major league hit. The Giants bullpen holds and Willie McCovey's pinch homer in the 11th wins it, 7–4. The Giants use every player except Gaylord Perry, held out in case he is needed to pitch against the Reds. With the Dodgers winning, the Giants finish one 1/2 behind, and a San Francisco rainout will not need to be rescheduled. Matty Alou of the Pirates ends the season with a .342 average to lead the National League, but drives in just 27 runs. This is a record low for a batting leader.

    » September 29, 1968: In a 3–0 loss to the Giants, the Reds Pete Rose goes 1-for-3 to take his first NL batting title with a .335 average. Rose was 5-for-5 yesterday against Gaylord Perry. Matty Alou goes 0-for-4 to finish at .332.

    » April 8, 1969: In the Padres victory over Houston, the leadoff batter at Jack Murphy Stadium is Astro outfielder Jesus Alou. Brother Matty Alou, with the Pirates, was the first batter up at the opening of Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium on April 12, 1966, and Brother Felipe, playing for Atlanta, was the first batter up when Busch Stadium opened in St. Louis a month later.

    » July 16, 1969: Despite four homers by Montreal, the Pirates beat the Expos, 8–7, scoring three in the 8th and three in the 9th. The Pirates only homer comes in the 8th innings with Matty Alou on 2B and Dan McGinn pitching, when Willie Stargell splashes a pitch over the RF fence into the municipal swimming pool at Jarry Park.

    » September 13, 1970: At Wrigley, the Pirates lead the Cubs, 2–1 with two outs and no on in the 9th when Willie Smith hits a routine fly to Matty Alou. Alou drops it and three singles later the Cubs have a 3–2 win. The victory puts the Cubs a game behind the Buc and a half-game behind the Mets.

    » January 29, 1971: The Pirates trade OF Matty Alou and P George Brunet to the Cardinals for OF Vic Davalillo and P Nelson Briles.

    » September 5, 1971: Cardinal pitcher Jerry Reuss is a winner, 12–5, in a duel with Chicago's Fergie Jenkins. Jenkins gives up home run to Matty Alou in the contest and now all three Alou brothers have hit dingers off him.

    » August 27, 1972: The Cardinals trade .314 hitter Matty Alou to the A's for two players, Bill Voss and minor leaguer Steve Easton. The A's will send Matty on to the Yanks in November.

    » November 24, 1972: The Yankees acquire veteran Matty Alou from the A's for Rob Gardner and Rich McKinley. It is the 2nd time the Yankees have traded Gardner to the A's for an Alou. Last year it was Felipe Alou.

    » May 31, 1973: Against Houston, Cubs pitcher Fergie Jenkins gives up home run to Jesus Alou, but holds on as the Cubs win, 16–8. Dave Roberts takes the loss. The tally of Alou family homers off Jenkins is as follows: Jesus homered on July 7th and 23rd, 1967 while with the Giants: Felipe Alou homered on April 25, 1968 as a Brave; Matty Alou hit a homer on September 5, 1971 while with the Cards.

    » September 6, 1973: The Yankees bid adieu to the Alous, selling Felipe Alou to Montreal and Matty Alou to St. Louis.

    » July 11, 1974: The Padres release OF Matty Alou. Matty's brother, Felipe Alou, was released by the Brewers on April 29th. Younger brother Jesus Alou keeps the Alou name alive in ML baseball, playing for the A's.