1971 Profile: Felipe Alou

"Although outfielder Felipe Alou had the poorest season of the three Alou brothers in 1970, his record is nothing to be ashamed of. Felipe batted .271 and drove in 55 runs in his thirteenth year in the majors.
The eldest of the Alou siblings (he'll be 36 in May), Felipe broke in with San Francisco in 1958. He paved the way for the younger Alous, Matty and Jesus, who also got their starts with the Giants. They all went their separate ways, though. Felipe was traded to the Braves in 1964 and spent five years with them before being returned to the West Coast last year.
He's hit over .300 three times in his career, most recently in 1968 when he batted .317 and led the NL in at-bats with 662."

-Brenda Zanger and Dick Kaplan, Major League Baseball 1971

"Consistent and totally dependable. Alou has hit .270 or better in all but three of 13 major league seasons. He has never stopped hustling.
'I don't know how to take it easy,' he once said. His has been called the perfect temperament for baseball. Felipe has never been thrown out of a game and has never given less than his best effort.
'He's one of the greatest men I've ever met,' Sal Bando says. Alou is extremely popular among players and a national hero back home in the Dominican Republic. Born in Haina, just outside of Santo Domingo, he was a great high school athlete and still holds the national javelin record (214 feet). He was a pre-med student at the University of Santo Domingo when signed by the Giants.
'My bonus was so small,' Felipe says, 'it couldn't even pay the grocery bill.' He was followed to the majors by his brothers Matty and Jesus."

-Joe Gergen, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1971 Edition

"To bolster both the outfield and the right hand hitting strength of the Yankees, Felipe Alou was obtained from Oakland on April 9. Carrying the ninth highest lifetime average of any active American Leaguer, Alou entered 1971 - his 14th major league season - with a .290 mark. Three times a National League All-Star, Felipe opposed the Yankees as a Giant in the 1962 World Series. In 1966 at Atlanta, he led the league in runs scored with 122 and in hits with 218. Two years later his 210 hits tied for the league lead in that category.
The oldest of the three Alou brothers in the major leagues, Felipe is a 'young 36.' An excellently conditioned athlete with a fine attitude toward the game and the fans, he has averaged better than 580 times at bat in the last six years.
When he learned of his trade to the Yankees, he determined to continue playing, 'so that I could wear the famed pinstripes at Yankee Stadium where so many great baseball players have performed.'"

-The New York Yankees Official 1971 Yearbook