In Pittsburgh's Forbes Field on September 15, 1963, something happened that had never happened before in major league baseball. Three brothers from the same family played in the same outfield. Felipe Alou was in right field. Matty was in charge of the center. Jesus took care of the left.

 They were from the Dominican Republic. José Rojas Alou, their father, was a blacksmith and carpenter in the town of Haina. Virginia, their mother, raised six kids in a country where baseball was more than just a sport; it was a way to get away.

It only lasted one game. The San Francisco Giants never did the same thing again. But the picture of three brothers standing together in the outfield became famous. It stood for more than just baseball. It showed that anyone could be talented. It also showed that one family could have three major league players.

Felipe: The Oldest and the First
On May 12, 1935, Felipe Rojas Alou was born in Haina, Dominican Republic. He was the oldest of the Alou brothers, so he had to deal with the pressure that comes with being the oldest.

Felipe didn't want to be a ballplayer. He wanted to be a doctor. He went to the University of Santo Domingo to study. But scouts saw that he was a good athlete. The New York Giants signed him in 1955 when he was 20 years old for $200, which was more money than his family had ever seen at once.

In 1958, Felipe played his first game in the major leagues with the San Francisco Giants. He was 23 years old. He became one of the most dependable baseball players over the next 17 seasons.

The Numbers Speak for Themselves
Felipe had a .286 batting average over the course of 2,082 games. He hit 206 home runs and drove in 852 runs. His 42.3 career WAR puts him among the best outfielders of his time.

But the numbers don't show how valuable he really is. Felipe worked hard. Every year from 1960 to 1968, he played in at least 120 games. He played in all 154 games for the Giants in 1962, hitting.316 with 25 home runs and 98 RBIs. He was 32% better than the average hitter in the league that year because his OPS+ was 132.

Felipe's best year was 1966. He hit.327/.361/.533 with 31 home runs and 74 RBIs while playing for the Atlanta Braves. He had the most hits (218), runs scored (122), and total bases (355) in the National League. He was one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball because his OPS+ was 142. He came in fifth in the MVP voting.

Felipe was chosen as an All-Star three times. In 1962, he played in the World Series with the Giants. In 1973, he played with the Yankees. He got a championship ring with Oakland in 1974, even though he only played in three games that year.

Outside of the Game
His bat wasn't what made Felipe special; it was his baseball brain. He knew more about the game than most players did. Both his teammates and his opponents respected how smart he was.

Felipe became a coach and manager after he retired in 1974. He was the manager of the Montreal Expos from 1992 to 2001, and his record was 691–717. In 1994, he was named National League Manager of the Year when the Expos had the best record in baseball before the season ended with a strike.

Felipe was the first Dominican manager in major league history when he led the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2006. He made it possible for a whole generation of Latin American coaches and managers to come after him.

Matty: The Artist
Mateo Rojas Alou was born in Haina on December 22, 1938. Matty was different from Felipe because he was three and a half years younger. Felipe was strong and steady, while Matty was graceful and exact.

Matty signed with the Giants in 1957 and made his first appearance in 1960, when he was 21. During his first five seasons, he went back and forth between the majors and minors, having trouble getting regular playing time. During those years in San Francisco, he only hit.260 with little power.nThen came the deal that changed everything.

Pittsburgh and the Batting Title
The Giants sent Matty to the Pittsburgh Pirates in December 1965. The Pirates saw something the Giants missed: a player who could hit for average if given the chance.

Harry Walker, the Pittsburgh batting coach, helped Matty improve his swing. They made it shorter, taught him to focus on making contact, and showed him how to use the whole field. Matty stopped trying to hit home runs. He began to try to hit singles. The change was amazing.

Matty led the National League in batting average in 1966, his first season with Pittsburgh, with a.342 average. In 535 at-bats, he got 183 hits. His OPS+ of 121 showed that he was 21% better than the average player in the league. He came in ninth in the voting for MVP.

Matty kept going. He got 231 hits and had a batting average of.338 in 1967,.332 in 1968, and.331 in 1969. Matty had a .336 batting average during those four years, from 1966 to 1969. He was selected to two All-Star teams and became known as one of the best contact hitters in baseball.

The Downturn
Matty's game needed him to be quick and accurate. His output went down when those tools started to wear out in his early 30s. His average dropped to.297 in 1970. He still got 201 hits, but his OPS+ fell to 87, which is below the league average.

After leaving Pittsburgh, he played for St. Louis, Oakland, the Yankees, and San Diego, among other teams. He stopped playing in 1974 at the age of 35. His final stats were great: a .307 batting average, 2,101 hits, 156 stolen bases, and a 23.0 WAR over 15 seasons.

Matty only won the batting title once, but he had a better batting average than his brothers when he retired. He showed that you didn't need power to be useful; all you had to do was put the ball in play and run.

The Youngest Jesus
On March 24, 1942, Jesus María Rojas Alou was born. He was the youngest of the three brothers and signed with the Giants when he was only 16-years-old.

In 1963, when all three brothers played in the outfield together, Jesus made his first appearance. Jesus never had a breakout season like Felipe and Matty did. He never came in first in anything in the league. He never got picked for the All-Star team.

But he stayed for 15 years.

The Professional Role Player
Jesus had a .280 batting average in 1,380 games at the end of his career. He hit 32 home runs and drove in 377 runs. His career WAR of 0.8 was just above the level of a replacement player. According to traditional standards, Jesus was the least successful of the three brothers. But that doesn't get to the point.

Jesus was the best at what he did. He could hit for average when he needed to, and he played good defense in the outfield. He only struck out 267 times in 4,345 career at-bats. That's one strikeout every 16 at-bats, which is impressive because the average player in the 1960s and 1970s struck out about once every 7 at-bats.

He played for the Giants for six years and the Houston Astros for seven years, with short stints in Oakland and New York. In 1970, he had his best season, hitting.306 in 117 games for Houston.

He wasn't a star, but he could be counted on. And in baseball, being dependable is important.

The Day That Mattered: September 15, 1963
The Pittsburgh Pirates were playing the San Francisco Giants at Forbes Field. Alvin Dark, the manager of the Giants, made a choice that would have an impact on history. He put all three Alou brothers in the outfield at once.

Felipe was 28-years-old and at the top of his game. Matty was 24 and still trying to figure things out. Jesus was only 21-years-old and had only played in 16 major league games.

They stood together for one game. Felipe is on the right. Matty is in the middle. Left is Jesus.

The Pirates won by a score of 13 to 5. The Giants lost badly. But no one remembers the score. They can picture three brothers from a small town in the Dominican Republic standing together in the
outfield of a major league stadium.

It never happened again. Two years later, Pittsburgh traded for Matty. Even though the moment was short, it was strong.

What the Alou Brothers Stood For
Before the Alou brothers, there weren't many Latin American players in major league baseball. White Americans were the best at the sport. After Jackie Robinson in 1947, a few Black Americans had made it big, but players from the Caribbean were still rare.

The Alou brothers helped change that story.

Felipe's success showed that players from the Dominican Republic could compete at the highest level. Matty's batting title showed that players from Latin America could be at the top of important statistical categories. Jesus's 15-year career showed how much talent comes from the island.

Their success as a group opened the floodgates. Scouts began to take notice of the Dominican Republic. They built academies. They signed and trained young players. About 30% of major league players today are Latino, and a lot of them are Dominican.

The Alou brothers weren't the only ones who made this change happen. Juan Marichal, who was also from the Dominican Republic, was a Hall of Fame pitcher. Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente became a famous person. But the Alou brothers were part of that important first wave. They made it possible for other people to do the same.

The Numbers Together
The Alou brothers played a total of 5,129 games in the major leagues. They got 5,094 hits, drove in 1,656 runs, and stole 294 bases.

Felipe was the best player overall because he was strong and consistent. Matty was the best hitter and won a batting title. Jesus was a reliable professional who worked for 15 years. None of them got into the Hall of Fame. Felipe came the closest; he was on the ballot for 15 years but only got 23.7% of the vote. Matty and Jesus didn't get much help.

But the Hall of Fame isn't the only way to measure impact.

The Legacy
As of this writing, Felipe Alou is still alive. He is 90-years-old and sometimes goes to baseball events to be honored for what he did for the game as a player and manager.

Matty Alou died on November 3, 2011, at the age of 72 from problems caused by diabetes.

 On March 10, 2023, Jesus Alou died at the age of 80. He had been living in the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic is a baseball powerhouse now. Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., and many other players are the best at this sport.

They all owe a lot to the people who came before them. Felipe, Matty, and Jesus Alou were three brothers from Haina who were among those pioneers.

They weren't perfect. They had flaws and limits, just like every other player. But they did come. They did their jobs. They did it. And for a short time in 1963, they stood together in an outfield and made history.

That's how the Alou brothers' story goes. Not the biggest stars. Not the players with the most awards. But is it important? Of course. They opened a door, and a whole country came through it.