Moisés Alou

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Moisés Alou

|image=Moises Alou standing.jpg

|caption=Alou with the San Francisco Giants in 2005

|position=Outfielder

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1966|7|3}}

|birth_place=Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=July 26

|debutyear=1990

|debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=June 10

|finalyear=2008

|finalteam=New York Mets

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.303

|stat2label=Hits

|stat2value=2,134

|stat3label=Home runs

|stat3value=332

|stat4label=Runs batted in

|stat4value=1,287

|teams=

Pittsburgh Pirates ({{mlby|1990}})
Montreal Expos ({{mlby|1990}}, {{mlby|1992}}–{{mlby|1996}})
Florida Marlins ({{mlby|1997}})
Houston Astros ({{mlby|1998}}, {{mlby|2000}}–{{mlby|2001}})
Chicago Cubs ({{mlby|2002}}–{{mlby|2004}})
San Francisco Giants ({{mlby|2005}}–{{mlby|2006}})
New York Mets ({{mlby|2007}}–{{mlby|2008}})

|highlights=

6× All-Star (1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2005)
World Series champion ({{wsy|1997}})
2× Silver Slugger Award (1994, 1998)

}}

Moisés Rojas-Alou Beltré ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɔɪ|z|ᵻ|s|_|ə|ˈ|l|uː}}; {{IPA|es|mojˈses aˈlow|lang}}; born July 3, 1966) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who has played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1990 to 2008. He played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and New York Mets.

He is a member of one of the sport's most notable families of the late 20th century, being the son of famed first baseman and manager Felipe Alou. A mainly offensive player who admitted himself that he was not particularly strong on defense, Alou was never a serious Hall of Fame contender, but his career was noteworthy in several respects nevertheless. He was a six-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a 1997 World Series champion.

Baseball career

Alou was more interested in playing basketball during his youth and did not play organized baseball until he attended Cañada College in Redwood City, California, at the age of 18. It was there that baseball scouts noticed his bat speed and speed on the base paths. In {{baseball year|1986}}, Alou was the second overall pick in the MLB January Draft, chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Alou is one of the few modern baseball players who batted without the use of batting gloves. Instead, Moisés Alou revealed that during the baseball season, he'd urinate on his hands to toughen them up.{{cite web|last=Haglund |first=David |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2100652 |title=Can peeing on your hands make them tough?|work=Slate Magazine |date=17 May 2004 |access-date=2012-11-27}}

=Montreal Expos=

In {{baseball year|1990}}, he was traded to the Montreal Expos where he would later play under his father while he managed the Expos.

Image:MoisesAlouBatting.jpg

Alou suffered a severe ankle injury in {{baseball year|1993}} that would rob him of his speed and force him to become strictly a corner outfielder. He recovered in {{baseball year|1994}}, hitting .339 and had the game-winning hit in that year's All-Star Game. For the next two seasons, he would enjoy success at the plate in Montreal, although surgery to both shoulders prematurely ended his {{baseball year|1995}} season.{{cite web |url=https://baseballbiography.com/moises-alou-1966 |title=Moisés Alou |publisher=baseballbiography.com |access-date=2012-11-27 }}

=Florida Marlins=

Prior to the {{baseball year|1997}} season, Alou signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins, where he led the team with 23 home runs and 115 RBIs. The Marlins made the playoffs as a wild card team and defeated the San Francisco Giants in the National League Divisional Series. The Marlins then defeated the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series before going to the World Series, which Florida won in seven games. Alou led the team by hitting .321 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI in the World Series (although, pitcher Liván Hernández, by virtue of his wins in Games 1 and 5, was named the Series Most Valuable Player instead).

=Houston Astros=

Before the {{baseball year|1998}} season, the Marlins traded Alou to the Houston Astros. In his first season with the team, Alou hit a career-high 38 home runs and drove in 124 runs while leading the Astros to a (then) franchise-record 102 wins. However, he tore his ACL in a treadmill accident in the offseason and missed the entire {{baseball year|1999}} season. Once recovered, he returned to the Astros lineup to hit .355 in {{baseball year|2000}} and .331 in {{baseball year|2001}}, while driving in at least 108 runs in each season. After the 2001 season, the Astros did not offer Alou a new contract due to budget constraints, making him a free agent.{{cite news |last1=Duarte |first1=Joseph |title=Astros pass on pursuing veterans Alou, Castilla |url=https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-pass-on-pursuing-veterans-Alou-Castilla-2072441.php |access-date=13 October 2022 |work=Chron |date=16 November 2001}}

=Chicago Cubs=

In December 2001, he signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.

At the start of the 2002 season Alou again ended up on the disabled list, and once healthy, he hit .275 and 15 home runs. After the 2002 season, Alou hired a personal trainer and dedicated himself{{Vague|date=January 2009}} to returning to his old form. In the {{baseball year|2003}} season, Alou batted over .300 for most of the season before a late-season slump dropped his season batting average to .280, with 22 home runs and 91 RBI. Alou went on to lead the team in batting average in its two series against the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins.

In Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins that year, Alou was involved in the Steve Bartman incident, in which Cubs fan Steve Bartman deflected a foul ball landing one row into the stands. Bartman's deflection prevented Alou, who reached into the stands, from attempting to catch the ball for an out that could have been the second out of the 8th Inning. However, the Marlins went on to score eight runs in the inning, in which the Cubs had been ahead 3–0. The Cubs, who had led the series 3–2, lost the game 8–3 and eventually lost the series in 7 games. Alou openly admitted later in interviews that while he was frustrated at the moment, he could not have made the catch anyway.{{cite news|title=Alou says he wouldn't have caught Bartman ball in 2003 NLCS|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=3324343&type=story|work=ESPN.com|date=April 1, 2008|access-date=July 9, 2008}} Later, Alou denied making such a statement and said if he had, it was only to make Bartman feel better.{{Cite web |date=2008-06-03 |title=Bartman on hook again? Alou says he had '03 ball |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3423732 |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=ESPN.com|agency=Associated Press |language=en}}

In {{baseball year|2004}}, Alou set new career highs in home runs (39) and doubles (36), while driving in 106 runs. However, the Cubs missed the playoffs after losing seven of their last nine games. The Cubs refused to offer arbitration and let him go, citing numerous fights with umpires who, he claimed, had a vendetta against him.[http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20040927&content_id=872737&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp Notes: Fallout from Alou's anger | Cubs.com: News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324221246/http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news.jsp?ymd=20040927&content_id=872737&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp |date=2005-03-24 }}

=San Francisco Giants and New York Mets=

In October 2004, Alou announced that he had talked to his father, Felipe, about possibly playing for him and the Giants next season. In December 2004, he signed a one-year deal with the Giants worth $13.5 million, with a player option for a second year. Alou was expected to regularly play in right field for the first time since 2001, but because of injuries to left fielder Barry Bonds, he started most games in left field. Alou had stated that he would retire if the Giants won the World Series in {{baseball year|2005}}. They did not, and Alou exercised his option to stay with San Francisco in the {{baseball year|2006}} season, hitting 22 home runs and 74 RBI.

On November 20, 2006, the New York Mets signed Alou to a one-year contract worth $7.5 million with a club option for {{baseball year|2008}}. After hitting .318 in his first month as the regular left fielder, Alou suffered a torn quadriceps muscle and was forced out until August. Upon his return, Alou led the Mets with a .345 batting average and had a 30-game hitting streak. The streak was the longest streak of the {{baseball year|2007}} season, was the longest hitting streak by a player over age 40, and broke the Mets' overall and single-season hitting streak records. On October 31, 2007, the Mets exercised their option on Alou's contract for the 2008 season.

On March 5, 2008, Alou underwent hernia surgery and missed the start of the 2008 season. On July 9, Alou suffered a torn right hamstring playing in the outfield for AA Binghamton in Norwich, Connecticut. Mets general manager Omar Minaya stated in a press conference the following day that Alou would likely need surgery and miss the remainder of the 2008 season, which ended his career.{{cite news | url=http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/mets/archives/2008/07/alou_likely_don.html | work=New York Post | title=Alou out with torn hamstring | first=Bart | last=Hubbuch | date=July 10, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924204825/http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/mets/archives/2008/07/alou_likely_don.html | archive-date=September 24, 2008 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/sports/baseball/29mets.html?_r=2&ex=1362027600&en=969d3c660fd5eb31&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin | work=The New York Times | title=Mets Unveil Their Own Health Plan: Keep Alou on the Field | first=Ben | last=Shpigel | date=February 29, 2008 | access-date=May 13, 2010}}

On March 5, 2009, Alou announced that he would retire after the World Baseball Classic.{{cite web|author=Goold, Derrick|url=http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bird-land/bird-land/2009/03/moise-alou-sees-wbc-as-likely-his-last-rodeo|archive-url=https://archive.today/20090306235624/http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bird-land/bird-land/2009/03/moise-alou-sees-wbc-as-likely-his-last-rodeo|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-03-06|title=Alou set to call it a career|work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=2009-03-05|access-date=2009-10-21}}

= Post playing career =

In 2014, in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, Alou received six votes (1.1%) and was dropped from subsequent ballots.{{Cite web|url=https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/news/2014-bbwaa-results|title=2014 BBWAA Voting Results|website=Baseball Hall of Fame|language=en|access-date=2019-06-02}}

Personal life

He is the youngest of three sons born to Felipe and his first wife Maria Beltre, who raised him in the Dominican Republic after his parents divorced when he was two.Feinstein, John. (1993) Play Ball: The Life and Troubled Times of Major League Baseball{{cite web |last=O'Brien |first=David |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1997-03-15/sports/9703140724_1_father-and-son-montreal-expos-manager-dad |title=The Son Moves On |work=Sun-Sentinel |date=March 15, 1997 |access-date=2018-01-25 |archive-date=2018-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125134523/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1997-03-15/sports/9703140724_1_father-and-son-montreal-expos-manager-dad |url-status=dead }}

His father Felipe, who managed Moises with the Expos from 1992 to 1996 and the Giants from 2005 to 2006, as well as uncles Matty and Jesús, and cousin Mel Rojas, all had long careers in Major League Baseball. In 2008, he was one of four active major leaguers (along with Prince Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr., and Daryle Ward) to hit 20 home runs in a season whose fathers had also hit 20 home runs in an MLB season.

His half-brother, Luis Rojas, was the manager of the New York Mets in 2020 and 2021.

References

External links

{{Baseballstats | mlb=110189 | espn=2360|br=a/aloumo01|fangraphs=261|brm=alou--001moi}}, or [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/A/Paloum001.htm Retrosheet]

Category:1966 births

Category:Living people

Category:Águilas Cibaeñas players

Moises

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada

Category:American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent

Category:Augusta Pirates players

Category:Baseball players from Atlanta

Category:Binghamton Mets players

Category:Brooklyn Cyclones players

Category:21st-century American sportsmen

Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players