Jesús Alou facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jesús Alou |
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Alou in 1965
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| Outfielder | |||
| Born: March 24, 1942 Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic |
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| Died: March 10, 2023 (aged 80) | |||
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| debut | |||
| September 10, 1963, for the San Francisco Giants | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| September 29, 1979, for the Houston Astros | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .280 | ||
| Home runs | 32 | ||
| Runs batted in | 377 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Jesús María Rojas Alou (born March 24, 1942 – died March 10, 2023) was a professional baseball player from the Dominican Republic. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 15 years. Jesús was the youngest of three brothers who all played baseball in the major leagues. His older brothers were Felipe and Matty.
Playing Baseball
Many thought Jesús would be even better than his brothers. The San Francisco Giants baseball team gave him a $4,000 bonus to join them. He first played in the big leagues with the Giants in 1963. On September 10, 1963, something special happened: all three Alou brothers batted in the same part of the game! Five days later, they all played in the outfield together for the Giants.
In 1964, his first full year, Jesús had a batting average of .274. This means he got a hit almost 27.4% of the times he tried to hit the ball. On July 10, he had an amazing game, getting six hits in six tries, including a home run.
In 1968, the Montreal Expos team chose Alou in a special draft. He was then traded to the Houston Astros. In 1970, Alou hit .306, which was a great batting average. He also got 21 walks, meaning the pitcher threw four balls and he got to go to first base for free.
After 1971, younger players like Bob Watson and Cesar Cedeño started playing more for the Astros. So, Alou became a reserve outfielder and a pinch-hitter. A pinch-hitter is a player who bats in place of another player during a game. In 1972, he hit .312 in 52 games.
In 1973, the Astros traded Alou to the Oakland Athletics. He became a bench player for the Athletics. He was part of two teams that won the World Series championship! The World Series is the final championship series in Major League Baseball.
The Athletics released Alou in 1975. He then signed with the New York Mets. He batted .265 as a pinch-hitter for the Mets. After that, he played for a team in the Mexican League in 1976. The Houston Astros signed Alou again in 1978. He played well, hitting .324. The next year, he became a player-coach before he retired from playing.
After Playing Baseball
After his playing career, Alou continued to work in baseball. He was a scout for the Expos. A scout finds new talented players. Later, he worked for the Florida Marlins as the director of their operations in the Dominican Republic. This meant he helped manage their baseball activities there.
From 2002 to 2017, he held the same job with the Boston Red Sox. After that, he worked part-time as a special assistant and ambassador. He helped the Red Sox with finding new international players and developing them.
On September 23, 2008, Alou received the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame Pioneer Award. This award honored his important contributions to baseball.
Personal Life
Jesús Alou was married to Angela Hanley. They had five children together. They lived in the Dominican Republic. Jesús Alou passed away on March 10, 2023, when he was 80 years old.
See also
In Spanish: Jesús Alou para niños
- Alou family
- List of Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic
- List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders
