Background and career
Moisés Alou (; Spanish: [mojˈses aˈlow]; born July 3, 1966) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who has played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1990 to 2008. He played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and New York Mets. He is a member of one of the sport's most notable families of the late 20th century, being the son of famed first baseman and manager Felipe Alou. Known mainly for his offensive abilities, Alou was a six-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and a 1997 World Series champion.
Alou was more interested in playing basketball during his youth and did not play organized baseball until he attended Cañada College in Redwood City, California, at the age of 18. It was there that baseball scouts noticed his bat speed and speed on the base paths. In 1986, Alou was the second overall pick in the MLB January Draft, chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alou is one of the few modern baseball players who hit without batting gloves. Instead, he would urinate on his hands to toughen them up.
In 1990, he was traded to the Montreal Expos where he would later play under his father while he managed the Expos.
Alou suffered a severe ankle injury in 1993 that would rob him of his speed and force him to become strictly a corner outfielder. He recovered in 1994, hitting .339 and had the game-winning hit in that year's All-Star Game. For the next two seasons, he would enjoy success at the plate in Montreal, although surgery to both shoulders prematurely ended his 1995 season.
Prior to the 1997 season, Alou signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins, where he led the team with 23 home runs and 115 RBIs. The Marlins made the playoffs as a wild card team and defeated the San Francisco Giants in the National League Divisional Series. The Marlins then defeated the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series before going to the World Series, which Florida won in seven games over the then Cleveland Indians. Alou led the team by hitting .321 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI in the World Series (although, pitcher Liván Hernández, by virtue of his wins in Games 1 and 5, was named the Series Most Valuable Player instead).
Before the 1998 season, the Marlins traded Alou to the Houston Astros. In his first season with the team, Alou hit a career-high 38 home runs and drove in 124 runs while leading the Astros to a then-franchise record 102 wins. However, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a treadmill accident in the offseason and missed the entire 1999 season. Once recovered, he returned to the Astros lineup to hit .355 in 2000 and .331 in 2001, while driving in at least 108 runs in each season. After the 2001 season, the Astros did not offer Alou a new contract due to budget constraints, making him a free agent.
