Felipe Alou

[Michael Trzinski]

Felipe Rojas Alou was born in 1935 in Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic. He was signed by the New York Giants in November 1955 for $200, which paid off his parents’ grocery bill.

Early in the 1956 season, Alou was shifted from Lake Charles (Louisiana) to Cocoa (Florida) because the Class C Evangeline League did not want black players in their league. All Alou did was lead the Class D Florida State League in all three slash numbers, .380/.460/.582 and slammed 21 home runs.

The righty hitting outfielder made his major league debut in 1958 for the Giants, who had moved to San Francisco prior to the season. By 1962, Alou was an NL All-Star and received MVP votes with his .316/.356/.513 season, along with 25 homers and 98 RBIs.

After the 1963 season, Alou was traded to the Milwaukee Braves. He spent two seasons in Milwaukee and then moved with the Braves to Atlanta, where he would play through the 1969 season. Alou was traded to the Oakland Athletics prior to the 1970 season and although he had a solid season, he was traded to the New York Yankees two games into the 1971 season. He played three seasons in New York but was waived and picked up by the Montreal Expos in September 1973. Alou had a batting line of .208/.240/.292 in 19 games and was released.

Alou was purchased by the Brewers after the season but only played three games for Milwaukee in April 1974 before he was given his release. His in 17-year MLB career, his batting line was .286/.328/.433 with 2,101 hits and 206 home runs.

The respected Alou managed for 14 years in the majors (Montreal and San Francisco), retiring from the bench after the 2006 season.

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