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Jesus Maria Rojas Alou
Montreal Expos
Outfield
Born: March 24, 1942, Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic
Signed: Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent, August 25, 1958
Major League Teams: San Francisco Giants 1963-1968; Houston Astros 1969-1973; Oakland Athletics 1973-1974; New York Mets 1975; Houston Astros 1978-1979
World Series Appearances: Oakland Athletics 1973-1974
Died: March 10, 2023 (age 80)
The youngest of the three Alou brothers, Jesus Alou enjoyed a 15-year big league career, playing primarily with the Giants and Astros. Alou made his major league debut on September 10, 1963 and on September 15, 1963, the three Alou brothers played in the Giants' outfield for the first time together with Felipe (#300) in center, Jesus in right and Matty (#490) in left. Jesus Alou's best season came in 1965 when he batted .298 as the Giants' regular right fielder, while hitting a career high nine homes and 52 RBIs. Left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, he was selected by the Expos and then traded to the Astros. A steady hitter for several seasons with the Astros, he was sold to the Athletics in July 1973 and he'd win two World Series rings with the club as a key bat off the bench and occasional designated hitter. After a year in the Mexican League and having spent all of 1977 out of baseball, Alou made a comeback with the Astros in 1978, batting .324 as one of the league's top pinch-hitters. He served as a player-coach in 1979 before retiring.
Died: March 10, 2023 (age 80)
The youngest of the three Alou brothers, Jesus Alou enjoyed a 15-year big league career, playing primarily with the Giants and Astros. Alou made his major league debut on September 10, 1963 and on September 15, 1963, the three Alou brothers played in the Giants' outfield for the first time together with Felipe (#300) in center, Jesus in right and Matty (#490) in left. Jesus Alou's best season came in 1965 when he batted .298 as the Giants' regular right fielder, while hitting a career high nine homes and 52 RBIs. Left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, he was selected by the Expos and then traded to the Astros. A steady hitter for several seasons with the Astros, he was sold to the Athletics in July 1973 and he'd win two World Series rings with the club as a key bat off the bench and occasional designated hitter. After a year in the Mexican League and having spent all of 1977 out of baseball, Alou made a comeback with the Astros in 1978, batting .324 as one of the league's top pinch-hitters. He served as a player-coach in 1979 before retiring.
In 1,380 major league games, Alou collected 1,216 hits with 32 home runs and 377 RBIs. He'd go on to work in the front offices and scouting departments for the Expos, Marlins and Red Sox.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #84
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Expos Team Set / Accuracy Index -16
1969 Season
Alou was the 13th pick by the Expos in the 1968 expansion draft, left unprotected by the Giants. He'd never suit up in Montreal, as on January 22, 1969, he was dealt with Donn Clendenon (#208) to Houston for Staub. Alou was the opening day right fielder for the Astros, and he'd make 56 starts in left field and 52 starts in right field. He started off well, but endured a season-long slump. On June 10th, in a game against the Pirates, Alou and shortstop Hector Torres (#526) were involved in a scary on-field collision, resulting in both players suffering concussions. Alou was unconscious on the field and the quick thinking of Pirates trainer Tony Bartirome may have saved Alou's life when Baritrome inserted a tube into his mouth to aid with his breathing. Alou would miss six weeks with concussion-related side effects and a fractured jaw.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #47
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1964-1976, 1979-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #67
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 71 in the Beckett online database as of 5/1/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the seventh of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me $1.25. If I stick to composing posts five times a week, which may slip through the summer months, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!
(I was aware Alou had passed away a few days before this show, and I made it a point to definitely add this card at the show in his memory.)
The Card / Expos Team Set / Accuracy Index -16
Alou would never actually play for the Expos (see below) and he's wearing a Giants jersey here in a photo taken from an older Topps photo session. The back notes how the "Expos were fortunate to have secured Jesus" in the expansion draft. This is technically true, as it would net them Rusty Staub (#230), one of the first early superstars in Montreal.
Accuracy Index: Alou earns several demerits with this card, so far only matched by the Bo Belinsky card - not his 1969 team (-2), former team uniform (-5), hatless (-3) and never played for team (-6).
1969 Season
Alou was the 13th pick by the Expos in the 1968 expansion draft, left unprotected by the Giants. He'd never suit up in Montreal, as on January 22, 1969, he was dealt with Donn Clendenon (#208) to Houston for Staub. Alou was the opening day right fielder for the Astros, and he'd make 56 starts in left field and 52 starts in right field. He started off well, but endured a season-long slump. On June 10th, in a game against the Pirates, Alou and shortstop Hector Torres (#526) were involved in a scary on-field collision, resulting in both players suffering concussions. Alou was unconscious on the field and the quick thinking of Pirates trainer Tony Bartirome may have saved Alou's life when Baritrome inserted a tube into his mouth to aid with his breathing. Alou would miss six weeks with concussion-related side effects and a fractured jaw.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #47
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1964-1976, 1979-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #67
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 71 in the Beckett online database as of 5/1/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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