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Jesus Maria Rojas Alou
San Francisco Giants
Outfield
Born: March 24, 1942, Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic
Signed: Signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent, August 25, 1958
Major League Teams: San Francisco Giants 1963-1968; Houston Astros 1969-1973; Oakland Athletics 1973-1974; New York Mets 1975; Houston Astros 1978-1979
The youngest of the three Alou brothers, Jesus Alou enjoyed a 15-year big league career, playing primarily with the Giants and Astros. Alou made his major league debut on September 10, 1963 and on September 15, 1963, the three Alou brothers played in the Giants' outfield for the first time together with Felipe (#383) in center, Jesus in right and Matty (#318) in left. Jesus Alou's best season came in 1965 when he batted .298 as the Giants' regular right fielder, while hitting a career high nine homes and 52 RBIs. Left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, he was selected by the Expos and then traded to the Astros. A steady hitter for several seasons with the Astros, he was sold to the Athletics in July 1973 and he'd win two World Series rings with the club as a key bat off the bench and occasional designated hitter. After a year in the Mexican League and having spent all of 1977 out of baseball, Alou made a comeback with the Astros in 1978, batting .324 as one of the league's top pinch-hitters. He served as a player-coach in 1979 before retiring.
In 1,380 major league games, Alou collected 1,216 hits with 32 home runs and 377 RBIs. He'd go on to work in the front offices and scouting departments for the Expos, Marlins and Red Sox.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #532
The Card / Giants Team Set
Alou first appeared in the 1964 Topps set, sharing a Rookie Stars card with pitcher Ron Herbel (#84) and this is his first solo card. The cartoon on the back highlights his .545 average against the Cubs in 1964. Confirming this with the splits from his Baseball Reference page, Alou was 18 for 33 against the Cubs and an also impressive 18 for 45 (.400) against his future team in Houston.
1965 Season
As mentioned above, this was Alou's best season statistically. Just 23 years old, he was the Giants' opening day right fielder and he'd make 132 starts at all three outfield positions. The Giants used nine different players for starts in left field, with Alou in right and Willie Mays (#250) in center a steady presence in the line-up.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #47
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1964-1976, 1979-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #67
71 - Alou non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/25/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #532
This is the 48th of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders. Much to my pleasant surprise, they had. This Alou card was the most expensive of the lot and was one of 49 commons and semi-stars purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.
Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October. It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.
The Card / Giants Team Set
Alou first appeared in the 1964 Topps set, sharing a Rookie Stars card with pitcher Ron Herbel (#84) and this is his first solo card. The cartoon on the back highlights his .545 average against the Cubs in 1964. Confirming this with the splits from his Baseball Reference page, Alou was 18 for 33 against the Cubs and an also impressive 18 for 45 (.400) against his future team in Houston.
1965 Season
As mentioned above, this was Alou's best season statistically. Just 23 years old, he was the Giants' opening day right fielder and he'd make 132 starts at all three outfield positions. The Giants used nine different players for starts in left field, with Alou in right and Willie Mays (#250) in center a steady presence in the line-up.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #47
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1964-1976, 1979-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #67
71 - Alou non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/25/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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