Felipe Alou - A Player In The Major Leagues

Alou made his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants in 1958. Through a 17-year major league playing career, he played as both an outfielder and first-baseman with the Giants (1958-63), the Braves (1964-69), the Althetics (1970-71), the Yankees (1971-73), the Expos (1973), and finally the Brewers for one year before retiring as a player in 1974. At the end of his playing career, Alou had a%. 286 career batting average, 206 home runs to his credit, along with 852 runs batted in, over a career that including 2,082 games. Named to the National League All-Star team three times, Alou also made it to the World Series with the Giants in 1962 (his team lost the to Yankees). While playing for the Giants, Alou played on the same team as his younger brothers, Matty and Jesus.

Alou's best year as a player came in 1966. That year, he hit 31 home runs, batting%. 327 with the Braves. His 218 hits and 122 runs gave him the best record in the league that year. Also in this year, his brother, fellow major leaguer Matty Alou, averaged%. 342, the year's best batting average.

As a player, Alou often spoke out against what he felt were below-standard working conditions for Latin American baseball players. He held that he and his fellow Latino players were not paid as much as white players, and that they were more often subjected to criticism. As he later told Ebony, "It was not until I managed my first game that I realized the responsibility that goes with being a manager. As a minority, I have to be a good example. Those of us [minority managers] who are in eminence now have to show people that we are capable of controlling a game, handling players and the media, and can have a [good] relationship with the fans and the city in which we manage. If we don't manage well or mix well with the fans, the next minority guy isn't going to have much of a chance." Alou retired as a player in 1974, and moved on to managing and coaching. He started his managing career in the minor leagues with the Expos organization.