From the Post Gazette- (The center field wall at Forbes Field was so deep (456ft.) that they used to push the batting cage out there. I can remember watching Alou climb it to catch along fly ball)
Matty Alou, once part of the all-Alou outfield for the San Francisco Giants with older brother Felipe and younger brother Jesus and who won a National League batting championship in one of his five seasons with the Pirates, died Thursday in his native Dominican Republic. He was 72.
He died of complications from diabetes, according to his former Dominican team, Leones del Escogido. The Giants also confirmed his death and said Alou had been sick for several years.
"Matty was a special ball player and a special human being," said Manny Sanguillen, a catcher who joined Alou on the 1967 Pirates, one year after Alou won the National League batting title with a .342 average.
"When I came in to the big leagues, he made sure I could understand the big leagues and get ready to play. He took me to lunch a couple times. He loved the Pittsburgh Pirates."
Alou spent the first six of his 15 major league seasons with San Francisco from 1960-65, the next five seasons with the Pirates. He also played for St. Louis, Oakland, the New York Yankees and San Diego.
The Alou brothers made history in 1963 when they appeared in the same outfield for several games.
Read more:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11308/1187373-63-0.stm#ixzz1crviYPtd
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