Oh, brother
The Alou brothers, from left, Jesus, Matty and Felipe
The Alou brothers appear together in a major league game for the first time 61 years ago today and they do so in a remarkable manner as San Francisco Giants manager Al Dark uses the three brothers in consecutive at-bats.
The moment – or three moments, if you will – comes in the eighth inning of the Giants’ road game against the New York Mets at the Polo Grounds.
With the Mets already leading 3-0, Dark dusts off the 21-year-old Jesus Alou as a pinch-hitter to lead off the top of the eighth against Mets starter Carl Willey.
Alou, in his major league debut and batting for Giants shortstop Jose Pagan, promptly grounds out to Mets shortstop Al Moran.
Matty Alou, 24, also pinch-hitting and in this case for Giants relief pitcher Bob Garibaldi, then strikes out before the eldest brother, 28-year-old Felipe, bounces out to Willey to end the inning.
And, just like that, this moment in history is over.
Historians later note that the Mets go on to win the game 4-2 before a Tuesday night crowd of 14,945 in their second and final season at the Polo Grounds, the longtime and former home of the Giants.
Five days later, the three brothers find themselves in the outfield at the same time, playing together over the final two innings of the Giants’ 13-5 victory over the Pirates at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.
This is made possible when Matty enters the game in the bottom of the eighth inning to play left field with Felipe moving from left to center and Jesus already in right.
The Alou brothers end up doing quite well during their careers.
The trio totals for 47 seasons in the majors, playing in 5,129 games and combining for a batting average of .292 with three World Series titles, five All-Star Game appearances and one batting title (belonging to Matty in 1966).
The 1963 season, though, is the only one in which the three brothers play on the same team with Felipe the first to move on following a December 1963 trade to the Milwaukee Braves.
Felipe and Matty eventually reunite, albeit briefly, with the 1973 New York Yankees.
Alas, Jesus never again plays in the majors with either of his brothers.