Left to right: Matty, Felipe and Jesús Alou
September 15, 1963: For the 1st time, a major league outfield is made up entirely of three brothers.
All 3 brothers were from Haina, in the Dominican Republic. Felipe Rojas Alou was born on May 12, 1935. He arrived in the major leagues in 1958, with the San Francisco Giants, who were in their 1st season in San Francisco, after moving from New York. Mateo Rojas Alou was born on December 22, 1938. He debuted with the Giants in 1960. Jesús María Rojas Alou was born on March 24, 1942. He debuted with the Giants on September 10, 1963.
Five days later, the Giants played the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning, thanks to a home run by Willie Mays, who, as would be expected, was playing center field. Willie McCovey, whose preferred position was 1st base, was playing left field, because Orlando Cepeda was a 1st baseman and he had seniority, if only by 1 year. And the starting right fielder was Felipe Alou.
The Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the 5th. But the Giants scored 5 runs in the 7th inning, including Felipe, having drawn a walk, scoring on a McCovey single; and 4 runs in the 8th, including Felipe, having singled and driven in shortstop José Pagán, scoring on a single by Mays.
For the bottom of the 7th, Giant manager Alvin Dark moved Felipe to left field replacing McCovey in the field; and Jesús Alou was brought in to play right field, replacing McCovey in the batting order. For the bottom of the 8th, Dark rearranged the chessboard some more: He replaced Cepeda at 1st base with Norm Larker, took Mays out, moved Felipe Alou to center field, and put Matty Alou in left field.
Thus, the outfield now consisted of Matty Alou in left, Felipe Alou in center, and Jesús Alou in right. This game became one of the great baseball trivia questions: "What was the only all-brother outfield in Major League Baseball history?" Years later, a question occurred to me: "What happened to Willie Mays? Why wasn't he playing center field for the Giants that day? Was he injured? Did he simply get the day off?"
Nothing of the kind. Indeed, Mays started in center field, and was the big hitting star of the game, going 2-for-4, with a home run, driving in 4 runs and scoring 3. It was only in the 8th inning that he was replaced, with Felipe moving from left field to center field, and Matty going into left field. So the great trivia question is flawed: The 3 brothers didn't all start the game together, and were only in the field together for 2 innings.
For the record: Felipe went 1-for-5 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored, and had 2 putouts in the field; Jesús went 0-for-2, and had no fielding chances; and Matty had neither a plate appearance nor a fielding chance.
The Giants won the game, 13-5. Billy O'Dell went the distance, and was the winning pitcher. For the Pirates, Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4, although Willie Stargell went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Felipe would be traded to the Milwaukee Braves, and was with them when they moved to Atlanta in 1966. He returned to the postseason in 1969, when the Braves won the National League Western Division title. He made 3 All-Star Games, and last played in 1974 with the Milwaukee Brewers.
He later managed the Montreal Expos, being named NL Manager of the Year in 1994, when the Strike of '94 cut short the Expos' fine chance at a title. In 2003, he managed the Giants to an NL West title. The Giants have elected him to their Wall of Fame. As of September 15, 2002, he is still alive, at age 87.
His son Moisés played for him in Montreal and San Francisco, and was arguably the best player in the family. Another son, who goes by "Luis Rojas" instead of "Luis Alou," due to a clerical error at the start of his playing career, never played in the major leagues, but has managed the New York Mets, and has coached for both them and the New York Yankees. (Felipe and Matty both played for the Yankees. Jesús did not, but did play in New York, for the Mets.)
Matty won the NL batting title in 1966, while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1969, he led the major leagues in hits and doubles. He made 2 All-Star Games, and won a World Series with the Oakland Athletics in 1972. He last played in the majors in 1974, with the San Diego Padres, before playing 2 more seasons in Japan. He died on November 3, 2011, at the age of 72.
Jesús was the last to leave the Giants, in 1968. With Matty having been traded by then, he was acquired by the A's, and was a member of their 1973 and 1974 World Series winners. Having been with the Houston Astros during their Ball Four season of 1969, he returned to them, and last played in the majors with them in 1979. He later scouted for major league teams, including the Expos under Felipe. As of September 15, 2022, he is still alive, at age 80. (UPDATE: He died on March 10, 2023.)
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September 15, 1963 was a Sunday. This was also the day a church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed, killing 4 girls. I have a separate entry for that event.
These other MLB games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Whitey Ford went the distance, allowing only 2 hits. Harmon Killebrew brought the Twins' only run home, with a groundout. Neither Mickey Mantle, nor Roger Maris, nor Yogi Berra, in his last month as a Yankee player, played. The Yankees had clinched the American League Pennant by beating the Twins at The Met, 2 days earlier.
* The New York Mets were swept in a doubleheader by the Houston Colt .45s, 5-4 and 5-0 at the Polo Grounds. In the nightcap, Chris Zachary pitched 6 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Hal Woodshick pitched 3 hitless innings. Duke Snider appeared as a pinch-hitter in this game, but did not reach base. The Colts became the Astros in 1965.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Frank Robinson of the Reds and Ernie Banks of the Cubs did not play. Pete Rose, soon to be the NL Rookie of the Year, did, going 0-for-4 with a walk for the Reds.
* The St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Milwaukee Braves, 3-2 and 5-0 at the original Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. In the opener, the winning pitcher for the Cards was former Brave Lew Burdette. In the nightcap, Ray Sadecki pitched a 5-hit shutout. Over the 2 games, Stan Musial, in his last month as an active player, went 0-for-3 in the 1st game, but appeared only as a pinch-hitter in the 2nd game, not reaching base. Hank Aaron went 2-for-7 with a walk and 2 RBI, including a home run in the 1st game.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels groundshared until their Anaheim stadium was built.
* And the Chicago White Sox and the Washington Senators were rained out at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) The game was not only postponed, but moved to the other team's home field. On September 27, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the White Sox swept, 11-2 and 7-1.
The entire NFL was in action:
* The New York Giants beat the Baltimore Colts, 37-28 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers played to a tie, 21-21 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Washington Redskins, 37-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Chicago Bears beat their arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, 10-3 at the new Green Bay City Stadium. (It was renamed Lambeau Field in 1965.) This was key to the Bears winning the Western Division title, and to their only NFL Championship between 1946 and 1985.
* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys, 34-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Los Angeles Rams, 23-2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* And the Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 24-20 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
Despite it being a Sunday, only 1 game was played in the American Football League: The Oakland Raiders beat the Buffalo Bills, 35-17 at Frank Youell Field in Oakland.
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