Sad news: Matty Alou has died. He was 72. No cause of death was given. An overdose of being a really awesome and underrated contact hitter is being investigated.
Alou, as most folks know, was part of what -- with a nod to the DiMaggios -- was arguably the most successful trio of brothers in baseball history. The Alous had more hits, actually, for what that’s worth. In 1966 Matty won the batting title and his brother Felipe came in second. NL pitchers of the 1960s probably had Alou nightmares on a regular basis.
In 1969 he led the NL in at bats, hits and doubles, but Alou’s best season may have actually been 1968. He didn’t win the batting crown or lead the league in anything that year, but he posted an OPS+ of 130 and hit .332 in the worst overall offensive season since the dead ball era. A lot of guys were amazing that year without anyone really knowing it due to the extreme pitcher-friendly context.
Adios Matty. Hopefully your passing inspires some people who don’t know much about the very good players of the 1960s to read up.
