ADVERTISEMENT

OT: Jesus Alou dead at 80

R

RUhasarrived

All American
May 7, 2007
7,766
1,857
113
Another MLB outfielder has gone into the cornfield.
The last of the three Alous to hit the bigs has become the second to pass away,following brother Matty in 2011.
Felipe at 85 is the last surviving brother.
Six months from today,it'll be the 60th anniversary of all three batting in the eighth inning at the Polo Grounds vs the Mets and Carlton Willey.
They all made out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 50 yd line RR, satnom, bethlehemfan and 2 others
RUhasarrived said:
Another MLB outfielder has gone into the cornfield.
The last of the three Alous to hit the bigs has become the second to pass away,following brother Matty in 2011.
Felipe at 85 is the last surviving brother.
Six months from today,it'll be the 60th anniversary of all three batting in the eighth inning at the Polo Grounds vs the Mets and Carlton Willey.
They all made out.
Click to expand...
I guess the all three batting all three making out record will never be broken, plus Desantis will probably make a law against it
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riderbronc
None of you are going to believe this, but when Jesus Alou came up to the big leagues, a sports columnist (I wish I could remember who or at least the publication -- probably Sport Magazine, which I read avidly) expressed great concern. The columnist was afraid, he wrote,, that if Alou hit, say, a game-winning homer, the headlines would read "Jesus Saves Giants," which the columnist regarded as blasphemous. So he suggested Jesus Alou be referred to as "Chi Chi," a common nickname for "Jesus." This was at a time when Hispanics were rare in American sports; the Giants, in fact, were one of the first teams to actively recruit in Latin America.
 
  • Like
Reactions: satnom and beaced
RUhasarrived said:
Another MLB outfielder has gone into the cornfield.
The last of the three Alous to hit the bigs has become the second to pass away,following brother Matty in 2011.
Felipe at 85 is the last surviving brother.
Six months from today,it'll be the 60th anniversary of all three batting in the eighth inning at the Polo Grounds vs the Mets and Carlton Willey.
They all made out.
Click to expand...
Did they make OUT or did they make OUTS?
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: rubigtimenow, Knight Shift, ldwnmas and 1 other person
retired711 said:
None of you are going to believe this, but when Jesus Alou came up to the big leagues, a sports columnist (I wish I could remember who or at least the publication -- probably Sport Magazine, which I read avidly) expressed great concern. The columnist was afraid, he wrote,, that if Alou hit, say, a game-winning homer, the headlines would read "Jesus Saves Giants," which the columnist regarded as blasphemous. So he suggested Jesus Alou be referred to as "Chi Chi," a common nickname for "Jesus." This was at a time when Hispanics were rare in American sports; the Giants, in fact, were one of the first teams to actively recruit in Latin America.
Click to expand...
Why not just say “Alou Saves Giants” in the first place?

And I still read his name as Gee-zus and not Hey-sous. 🤷‍♂️
 
  • Like
Reactions: satnom and Scarlet1984
e5fdny said:
Why not just say “Alou Saves Giants” in the first place?

And I still read his name as Gee-zus and not Hey-sous. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
The problem with "Alou Saves Giants" was that there was more than one Alou, so, in the columnist's mind ,"Jesus" would have been necessary. I don't know if the columnist knew that "Jesus" is pronounced "Hey-zous" in Spanish, but I think the mere use of "Jesus" in the headline offended him. Like I say, it's hard to believe that things could be like that 60 years ago.

P.S. (added later) There was no guarantee that "Jesus" would be pronounced as it is in Spanish. In those days, a lot of Hispanic names got anglicized. Willie McCovey's name was properly pronounced "Mc-COV-ey" (with an "o" like "oh.) Consider also Jorge Orta, whose first name was pronounced "George," although it never would be in Spanish. So one could envision an announcer talking about "Jesus" saving the day.
 
Last edited:
retired711 said:
None of you are going to believe this, but when Jesus Alou came up to the big leagues, a sports columnist (I wish I could remember who or at least the publication -- probably Sport Magazine, which I read avidly) expressed great concern. The columnist was afraid, he wrote,, that if Alou hit, say, a game-winning homer, the headlines would read "Jesus Saves Giants," which the columnist regarded as blasphemous. So he suggested Jesus Alou be referred to as "Chi Chi," a common nickname for "Jesus." This was at a time when Hispanics were rare in American sports; the Giants, in fact, were one of the first teams to actively recruit in Latin America.
Click to expand...
And the Pirates broadcaster referred to Roberto Clemente as Bob or Bobby Clemente.
 
  • Like
Reactions: satnom and colbert17
Unionst said:
And the Pirates broadcaster referred to Roberto Clemente as Bob or Bobby Clemente.
Click to expand...
The Pirates broadcaster was Bob Prince, who was considered to be outstanding. But I do remember the 1960 World Series, and my recollection is that Clemente was referred to as Roberto. (In those days, the teams' regular broadcasters did the series, I think.)
 
zappaa said:
I imitated his neck and body gyrations as a kid.
Then I played against him….all class
RIP Jesus
Click to expand...
Class comment Dale but I also think most major league players just loved and respected this family.
Your comment put a smile to my face- I would wonder why you did not copy your father when you were playing as a youngster or another Yankee great.
I loved all of the unique players that we had back then rather than robots of today.
 
yesrutgers01 said:
Class comment Dale but I also think most major league players just loved and respected this family.
Your comment put a smile to my face- I would wonder why you did not copy your father when you were playing as a youngster or another Yankee great.
I loved all of the unique players that we had back then rather than robots of today.
Click to expand...
I think we'd all agree that @zappaa 's father was one of a kind -- there's no way anyone could successfully imitate him. Just to take one example, the father was the best bad-ball hitter around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: beaced
retired711 said:
I think we'd all agree that @zappaa 's father was one of a kind -- there's no way anyone could successfully imitate him. Just to take one example, the father was the best bad-ball hitter around.
Click to expand...
Agree but also a guy many of us kids tried to copy back then.
 
retired711 said:
I think we'd all agree that @zappaa 's father was one of a kind -- there's no way anyone could successfully imitate him. Just to take one example, the father was the best bad-ball hitter around.
Click to expand...
😀
Dad always said it wasn’t a bad ball because it looked good to him.
But you better not throw it down the middle either…those go a long way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yesrutgers01
yesrutgers01 said:
Class comment Dale but I also think most major league players just loved and respected this family.
Your comment put a smile to my face- I would wonder why you did not copy your father when you were playing as a youngster or another Yankee great.
I loved all of the unique players that we had back then rather than robots of today.
Click to expand...
Truthfully Yes, one of my biggest regrets was never seeing my father play, both of my brothers got to see him, but I was to young.
I watched every Met game on TV, I imitated Cleon, Milan, Agee, Rusty and all the unique players I saw.
I loved throwing the ball against our roof and snatching them like Willie Montanez.

And your comment about the Alou’s is so true, no one was more respected than Felipe Alou
 
retired711 said:
The problem with "Alou Saves Giants" was that there was more than one Alou, so, in the columnist's mind ,"Jesus" would have been necessary. I don't know if the columnist knew that "Jesus" is pronounced "Hey-zous" in Spanish, but I think the mere use of "Jesus" in the headline offended him. Like I say, it's hard to believe that things could be like that 60 years ago.

P.S. (added later) There was no guarantee that "Jesus" would be pronounced as it is in Spanish. In those days, a lot of Hispanic names got anglicized. Willie McCovey's name was properly pronounced "Mc-COV-ey" (with an "o" like "oh.) Consider also Jorge Orta, whose first name was pronounced "George," although it never would be in Spanish. So one could envision an announcer talkingJe"Jesus" saving the day.
Click to expand...

I'm old enough to have watched and listened to those games. Sometimes, based on the announcer Orta was George but Alou was ALWAYS
Hey-sus or Felipe.
 
zappaa said:
😀
Dad always said it wasn’t a bad ball because it looked good to him.
But you better not throw it down the middle either…those go a long way.
Click to expand...
Yes, they did. I believe you told the story of how players would try to hit bad pitches and say to your dad, "Well, you did it!" And your dad would reply, "yeah, but I could hit them!"
 
  • Like
Reactions: mdk01 and zappaa
zappaa said:
Truthfully Yes, one of my biggest regrets was never seeing my father play, both of my brothers got to see him, but I was to young.
I watched every Met game on TV, I imitated Cleon, Milan, Agee, Rusty and all the unique players I saw.
I loved throwing the ball against our roof and snatching them like Willie Montanez.

And your comment about the Alou’s is so true, no one was more respected than Felipe Alou
Click to expand...
Willie M was maybe the best 70’s wiffleball imitation ever. Stargell up with him and of course, the elbow flap of Morgan.
And you get a kid with nasty WB stuff- Milan was the guy we copied then.
I have to say it is a shame you never saw Dad play where you could remember it. I didn’t see him either. But wow- if it came to sports- hard not to listen…I also think having you and your brother playing as he was coaching- may have helped him understand @modern@ players better than many.
 
retired711 said:
The Pirates broadcaster was Bob Prince, who was considered to be outstanding. But I do remember the 1960 World Series, and my recollection is that Clemente was referred to as Roberto. (In those days, the teams' regular broadcasters did the series, I think.)
Click to expand...
I’ve seen tapes with the Bob Clemente reference and Remember it that way. Maybe he did both.
 
I Googled it to make sure my memory wasn’t wrong - Bob Clemente was what was written on his Topps cards for years.
 
zappaa said:
Truthfully Yes, one of my biggest regrets was never seeing my father play, both of my brothers got to see him, but I was to young.
I watched every Met game on TV, I imitated Cleon, Milan, Agee, Rusty and all the unique players I saw.
I loved throwing the ball against our roof and snatching them like Willie Montanez.

And your comment about the Alou’s is so true, no one was more respected than Felipe Alou
Click to expand...
I had high hopes when the Mets acquired Montanez. Think they traded Matlack to Texas to get him. A real "hot dog" with the snatches.
 
beaced said:
That WAS indeed his reputation
Click to expand...
As a kid growing up in NYC, I can tell you that another part of Berra's reputation was his ability (and willingness) to play multiple positions. Because of the sun and the configuration of the stands, it was very difficult to play left field during the day at Yankee Stadium -- a lot of guys tried and failed to play. Berra could do it. That was the origin of his quote, "It gets late early out there." (Of course, there were a lot more day games then.)
 
RIP always wished for a all Alou starting Giant outfield
but same game did happen
>The three Alous played together in eight games in 1963. Felipe, then 28, was a regular outfielder for the Giants; Matty, 24, was a defensive replacement and pinch hitter who started only six games; and Jesus, 21, was a September call-up. They played in the same outfield for a few innings in three games in September. In spite of some lingering baseball mythology, they never all started a game together.<
https://www.baseballhistorycomesali...-make-history-all-three-in-the-same-outfield/
 
I remember the Alous as Met-killers.. like a few others of that era.. like the Cardinals' Brock and Flood. Just killed "us".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R

OT: Cotton Nash dead at 80

Replies
0
Views
157
Rutgers Football
RUhasarrived
R
R

OT: Jack Reed Dead at 89

Replies
11
Views
607
Rutgers Football
RUhasarrived
R
R

OT: Ed Bauta dead at 87

Replies
2
Views
643
Rutgers Football
angmo
angmo
R

OT: George Elder dead at 101

Replies
2
Views
670
Rutgers Football
MADHAT1
MADHAT1
R

OT: Eddie Robinson Dead at 100

Replies
10
Views
978
Rutgers Football
beaced
B
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back