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Mateo Rojas Alou
Pittsburgh Pirates
Outfield
Born: December 22, 1938, Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic
Signed: Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams: San Francisco Giants 1960-65; Pittsburgh Pirates 1966-70; St. Louis Cardinals 1971-72; Oakland Athletics 1972; New York Yankees 1973; St. Louis Cardinals 1973; San Diego Padres 1974
World Series Appearances: San Francisco Giants 1962; Oakland Athletics 1972
Died: November 3, 2011, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (age 72)
The middle brother among the three Alou brothers, Matty Alou enjoyed a 15-year big league career, playing primarily with the Giants and Pirates. Alou came up with the Giants in 1960 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 (#22) in right and Matty in left. Matty Alou was traded to the Pirates following the 1965 season, and he'd enjoy his best years in Pittsburgh. He won the league's batting title in 1966 with a .342 mark, beating out his brother Felipe who batted .327 for the Braves. As the starting center fielder for the Pirates, Alou batted over .330 in four consecutive seasons between 1966 and 1969, making the National League All-Star team in both 1968 and 1969. In the latter season, he led the league in hits (231) and doubles (41).
Alou wrapped up his major league career as a reserve and pinch-hitter in the early 1970s, winning a World Series ring with the Athletics in 1972. After beginning the 1974 season with the Padres, Alou moved to Japan where he'd play two and a half seasons with the Taiheiyo Club Lions. For his major league career, Alou appeared in 1,667 games, collecting 1,777 hits while batting .307. He clubbed 236 doubles, 31 home runs and 427 RBIs.
Died: November 3, 2011, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (age 72)
The middle brother among the three Alou brothers, Matty Alou enjoyed a 15-year big league career, playing primarily with the Giants and Pirates. Alou came up with the Giants in 1960 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 (#22) in right and Matty in left. Matty Alou was traded to the Pirates following the 1965 season, and he'd enjoy his best years in Pittsburgh. He won the league's batting title in 1966 with a .342 mark, beating out his brother Felipe who batted .327 for the Braves. As the starting center fielder for the Pirates, Alou batted over .330 in four consecutive seasons between 1966 and 1969, making the National League All-Star team in both 1968 and 1969. In the latter season, he led the league in hits (231) and doubles (41).
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Building the Set / Card #428
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 136th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than $2.
This is Alou's second appearance in the set, as he appeared way back in the first series on a 1968 Batting Leaders (#2) card. The write-up on the back highlights his batting title crown in 1966, and the cartoon mentions his brief pitching career. On August 26, 1965, in the first game of a double header against the Pirates, Alou tossed two scoreless innings in an 8-0 victory by the Giants. He allowed three hits and a walk, while striking out three Pirates batters, including future teammate Willie Stargell (#545) twice!
Accuracy Index: Alou's card scores a +5.
Inserts: Alou is included as one of the 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.
1969 Season
1968 was perhaps Alou's best season and he followed that up in 1969 with another All-Star worthy showing. In 162 games as the Pirates' regular center fielder, he batted .331 with a league-leading 41 doubles and 48 RBIs. He led the league in plate appearances (746), at-bats (698) and hits (231), and was still overshadowed on the Pirates offensively by Roberto Clemente (#50) and Stargell. His 698 at-bats set a single-season record, since surpassed. Alou played center field for all nine innings of the All-Star Game, collecting a pair of hits and a walk.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #327
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1961-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #41
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 118 in the Beckett online database as of 11/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
1969 Season
1968 was perhaps Alou's best season and he followed that up in 1969 with another All-Star worthy showing. In 162 games as the Pirates' regular center fielder, he batted .331 with a league-leading 41 doubles and 48 RBIs. He led the league in plate appearances (746), at-bats (698) and hits (231), and was still overshadowed on the Pirates offensively by Roberto Clemente (#50) and Stargell. His 698 at-bats set a single-season record, since surpassed. Alou played center field for all nine innings of the All-Star Game, collecting a pair of hits and a walk.
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First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #327
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1961-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #41
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 118 in the Beckett online database as of 11/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#489 Clete Boyer - Atlanta Braves / #491 Twins Rookie Stars
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