Jesús María Rojas Alou (born March 24, 1942 in Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic) is a former professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets. He was the youngest of the trio of ballplaying brothers that included Felipe and Matty.

Alou was considered a better prospect than either of his brothers and received a $4,000 signing bonus. He tore up all the minor leagues he played in, never hitting below .324. He made his debut at the end of 1963, and his first game on September 10 was notable in that all three Alou brothers batted in the same inning (they were retired in order). In his first full year of Major League action in 1964, Alou failed to live up to expectations, hitting only .274 with little power, but he did have a great day on July 10 when he went 6-6 with five singles and a home run. Alou was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 1968 MLB expansion draft and then was dealt to Houston. He had his best season there in 1970, hitting .306, but he never in his career lived up to his potential and was always overshadowed by his older brothers. He was traded to the Athletics midway through the 1973 season, and served as a bench player on two World Series championship teams. Alou was released by the A's before the 1975 season, failed to catch on with the Mets and Cordoba of the Mexican League in short stints, and did not return to the Majors until Houston took a chance on him in 1978. He responded by hitting .324 in part-time action and became a player-coach the following year before retiring. Alou later served as a scout for the Expos.

Jesus Alou was awarded with the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame Pioneer Award at a pre-game ceremony at Minute Maid Park, Houston Texas on 9/23/08.

[edit] See also

• Players from Dominican Republic in MLB

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube