Jesus Alou obit

Jesús Alou, two-time World Series champion and youngest member of legendary Alou brothers, dies at 80

Alou had reportedly suffered a few "cardiovascular accidents" recently

 

He was not on the list.

Jesús Alou, a two-time World Series champion and a big-league veteran of parts of 15 seasons, died on Friday, according to ESPN's Enrique Rojas. Alou would have celebrated his 81st birthday on March 24. Rojas added that Alou had suffered two "cardiovascular accidents" in recent times, but that he was not known to be dealing with a "serious illness."

Alou, for his career, hit .280/.305/.353 (86 OPS+) with 32 home runs and 31 steals in 1,380 contests. His contributions were worth an estimated 0.8 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference's calculations.

Jesús was, of course, the youngest of the Alou brothers, alongside Felipe and the late Matty. The Alou family tree has since produced several other notable big-league players, including Moises, José Sosa, Luis Rojas, and Mel Rojas. Jesús, Felipe, and Matty made history on Sept. 15, 1963 when they appeared (but did not start) in the same outfield for the San Francisco Giants.

In addition to Alou's time with the Giants, he would play with the Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets. It was with the Athletics that he won two World Series, in 1973 and '74. Alou was also briefly a member of the Montreal Expos organization. The Expos took him as part of the 1968 expansion draft, only to trade him to the Astros months later in a deal that fetched Montreal's Rusty Staub, among others. Alou had most recently worked with the Boston Red Sox, who released the following statement honoring his life:

Alou's time with the Astros happened to coincide with that of pitcher-slash-author Jim Bouton. As SABR noted in Alou's biography, Bouton wrote the following about Alou in his second book, I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally: "We called him J. or Jesus, never hay-soos. . . J. is one of the most delicate, sensitive, nicest men I have ever met. He'd walk a mile out of his way to drop a coin in some beggar's cup."

With the emergence of younger players in the Astros' outfield such as Bob Watson and Cesar Cedeño, Alou was no longer a regular outfielder after the 1971 season. As a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter, he hit .312 in 52 games in the 1972 season. On July 31, 1973, the Astros traded Alou to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later. He served as a bench player for the Athletics on two World Series championship teams. Alou was released by the Athletics towards the end of March 1975, before the start of the 1975 season, and he signed with the New York Mets on April 10. He batted .265 as a pinch hitter for the Mets, and they released Alou before the 1976 season. In 1976, Alou played for Córdoba of the Mexican League. Houston once again signed Alou in 1978. He responded by hitting .324 in part-time action and became a player-coach the following year before retiring.

 

Born: March 24, 1942

Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic

Died: March 10, 2023 (aged 80)

 

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

September 10, 1963, for the San Francisco Giants

Last MLB appearance

September 29, 1979, for the Houston Astros

 

MLB statistics

Batting average            .280

Home runs            32

Runs batted in            377

Teams

San Francisco Giants (1963–1968)

Houston Astros (1969–1973)

Oakland Athletics (1973–1974)

New York Mets (1975)

Houston Astros (1978–1979)

 

Career highlights and awards

2× World Series champion (1973, 1974)