#300 Felipe Alou - Atlanta Braves

Felipe Rojas Alou
Atlanta Braves
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195
Born:  May 12, 1935, Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic
Signed:  Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent, November 14, 1955
Major League Teams:  San Francisco Giants 1958-63; Milwaukee Braves 1964-65; Atlanta Braves 1966-69; Oakland Athletics 1970-71; New York Yankees 1971-73; Montreal Expos 1973; Milwaukee Brewers 1974

World Series Appearances:  San Francisco Giants 1962
As a Manager:  Montreal Expos 1992-01; San Francisco Giants 2003-06

The oldest of the three Alou brothers, Felipe Alou enjoyed a 17-year big league career, playing primarily with the Giants and Braves, and then went on to be a successful manager for the Expos and Giants.  Alou came up with the Giants in 1958, and was named to his first of three All-Star Games in 1963.  On September 15, 1963, the three Alou brothers played in the Giants' outfield for the first time together with Felipe in center, Jesus (#22) in right and Matty (#490) in left.  The brothers' time together didn't last long, as Felipe Alou was traded to the Braves in December 1963 as part of a seven-player trade.  He'd enjoy his best seasons as a player on the Braves, making the 1966 and 1968 All-Star teams while leading the league in hits both those seasons (218 and 210, respectively.)  Alou also led the league with 122 runs scored in 1966, finished second for the batting title behind his brother Matty with a .327 average, and finished fifth in the year's MVP voting.  Alou spent the early 1970s as a reserve and pinch-hitter before retiring as a player following the 1974 season.

He joined the Expos' organization in 1976 as a minor league coach, and he'd stay with the franchise for 25 years.  Alou served as a coach for the team between 1979 and 1992 before taking over as their manager on May 22, 1992, replacing Tom Runnells.  He guided the Expos to their most successful stretch in their short franchise history, including a 74-40 record in the strike-shortened 1994 season, in which he was named National League Manager of the Year.  He'd later guide the Giants into the playoffs in 2003 when his team won 100 games.  As a player, Alou played in 2,082 games and collected 2,101 hits while batting .286 with 206 home runs and 852 RBIs.  As a manager, he oversaw 2,055 games and had a record of 1,033 and 1,021.  Alou is one of just three players in major league history to have 2,000 hits, 200 home runs and win 1,000 games a manager, along with Joe Torre (#460) and Frank Robinson (#250).

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #569
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)

On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show.  The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year.  I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova.  I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.

I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set.  The first place I stopped was a table with well-organized and well-marked binders of commons and semi-stars with 20% Off notes across the front of each binder.  

I took my time and found 32 commons and semi-stars needed before asking to see the dealer's star cards from the set.  It turned out this first purchase was also my biggest, as I spent over half my allotted budget here, America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, before moving on to my second stop.  This was the tenth of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the tenth of 91 cards for set added overall on the day, and it cost a little over $2 after the dealer discount.

The Card / Braves Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

This is Alou's second appearance in the set, as he appeared on the National League Batting Leaders card (#2) earlier.  The back of the card sums up the statistics from his strong 1968 season, and the cartoon highlights his seven hits in the 1962 World Series.  Alou went 7 for 26 (.269) in the series as the Giants fell to the Yankees in seven games.

Accuracy Index:  Alou's card earns a +5.

Inserts:  Alou is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.  He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.

1969 Season
Alou started hot as the Braves' regular center fielder, and he was batting .320 through early June when a pitch thrown by the Cardinals' Chuck Taylor broke a finger.  He'd lose playing time upon his return to the recently acquired Tony Gonzalez (#501), and his sole postseason action was limited to a pinch-hitting appearance against the Mets in Game 3 of the NLCS.  For the season, Alou batted .282 in 123 games, with 13 doubles, five home runs and 32 RBIs.  With a crowded Braves outfield, Alou was dealt to the Athletics on December 3rd for starting pitcher Jim Nash (#546).

1959 Topps #102

1965 Topps #383

1974 Topps #485

1992 Topps Traded #3T

2006 Topps #289

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1959 Topps #102
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (23):  1959-74, 1992-93, 2001, 2003-06
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2023 Topps Living #604
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  191 in the Beckett online database as of 10/4/25.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#299 Mark Belanger - Baltimore Orioles / #301 Darrell Brandon - Seattle Pilots

#2 1968 N.L. Batting Leaders - Pete Rose / Matty Alou / Felipe Alou

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1969 Topps set.  League leader cards can be found at the beginning of each Topps set issued in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Building the Set / Card #27
September 15, 2022 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards)

This card was part of a larger stress-induced purchase from Kit Young Cards in mid-September.  The stress was all work related, and while some people choose to relieve stress through less productive means, I opted to purchase several vintage baseball cards.  The centerpiece of the haul was the 1965 Topps Yaz card, which dropped the number of cards needed for that complete set down to five.  Joining Yaz were Diamond Stars cards of Joe Stripp and Lloyd Waner, along with this League Leaders card.  I've long been a fan of purchasing cards from Kit Young, and I took advantage of a mid-fall sale to add to three different set builds.  The League Leaders card was the least expensive of the quartet at a little less than $8.

September 2022 was a blur.  I travelled for work the better part of two weeks, school started, the boys' fall sports schedules (cross country and baseball) were non-stop and there was little to no time to rest or to enjoy baseball card purchases.  Taking a mental health day in early October, I was happy to have the time to catch my breath and truly appreciate the new baseball cards that helped get me through that month.  I composed posts for the Yaz and Diamond Stars cards then, and the it only took me until early January to finally compose a post for this League Leaders card.

The Card / Reds Team Set / Pirates Team Set / Braves Team Set

1968 was the first of three years in which Pete Rose (#120) won the National League batting title, as he'd repeat in 1969 and win a third time in his MVP year of 1973.  His .335 average was enough to top the .332 average of the Pirates' Matty Alou (#490).  On September 27th, Rose's average sat at .330, but he'd go 6 for 8 in the final two games of the season to bump him into the top spot, including a 5 for 5 performance on September 28th.  Matty Alou had been at .329 on September 27th, and he'd go 4 for 4 on September 28th to raise him to .334, but then 0 for 4 on September 29th.  Matty Alou had previously won the batting title in 1966 with a .342 mark.

Older brother Felipe Alou (#300) rounds out the top trio with a .317 average, and younger brother Jesus Alou (#22) makes an appearance on the back of the card with his .263 average for the year.

#1 1968 A.L. Batting Leaders / #3 1968 A.L. RBI Leaders