Wednesday, August 03, 2011

#545 Jesus Alou

#545 Jesus Alou
A few weeks ago (yes, weeks! I'm four cards away from being caught up!), reader George DeVerges and his father sent me this extra Jesus Alou card they found in their collection. Thanks, guys!

There's a joke based on the old Christian slogan "Jesus is the answer". It suggests that the question must be, "Who is Felipe and Matty's brother?".

Fun facts about Jesus Alou:

-Jesus was born in Bajos de Haina, in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. He signed with the Giants as a teenager in 1958.

-He was the youngest of the three baseball-playing Alou brothers, and is the uncle of Moises Alou and Mel Rojas.

-After a September 1963 callup, Alou became a regular in the San Francisco outfield in 1964. He batted .274 as a rookie, but seldom walked or hit for power. In his entire career, he would top 100 in OPS+ in only two seasons, both as a part-timer.

-On July 10, 1964, he went 6-for-6 with a home run in a 10-3 win over the Cubs.

-Jesus played in a career-high 143 games in 1965, hitting .298 with 9 home runs and 52 RBI.

-He was taken by the Expos in the 1968 expansion draft, but was traded to the Astros prior to the 1969 season. In 1970, he hit .306 with a personal-best 27 doubles for Houston.

-In his 30s, Jesus became a pinch hitter and bench player with some positive results. He batted .312 in 102 trips to the plate for the Astros in 1972.

-He was a member of the Athletics' World Series-winning clubs in 1973 and 1974.

-After spending the 1975 season with the Mets, Jesus was released the next spring and did not return to the majors until Houston resigned him for the 1978 season. The 36-year-old rewarded them with a .324 average in 152 plate appearances, including a .364 mark (16-for-44) as a pinch hitter. He retired after serving as a player-coach for the club in 1979. In parts of 15 seasons, he hit .280 with 32 home runs and 377 RBI.

-Alou worked as an Expos scout in the 1980s and 1990s, and has been director of Dominican operations for both the Marlins and Red Sox.

#545 Jesus Alou (back)

1 comment:

  1. I remember how bizarre it was as a kid to see the name "Jesus" on a baseball card!

    ReplyDelete