Giants great Matty Alou dies

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Giants legend Mateo Rojas "Matty" Alou, who made history with Jesus and Felipe as the first trio of brothers to play the outfield together in the majors, passed away in Miami Thursday at the age of 72.

Alou made his debut with the Giants in 1960. The Alou brothers finished their careers with 5,094 hits, the highest total for brothers in big-league history.

Alou played for six teams in a 15-year career, and starred for San Francisco from 1960-65.

He won the 1969 National League Batting title with an average of .342 while with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2007 with a ceremony at AT&T Park before a game between the Giants and the New York Yankees.

Alou retired with a career batting average of .307, 1,777 hits and 427 RBIs. He is regarded as one of the greatest players to come out of the Dominican Republic.

He was a two-time All-Star (1968, '69) and was a member of the 1972 World Series champion Oakland A's.

Dominican Olympic Committee president Luisin Mejia made the announcement of Alou's passing on Thursday morning.

The Giants released the following statement Thursday morning:

The Giants were deeply saddened to learn about the passing of former Giants outfielder Matty Alou. Matty, who was a formidable player during his career, was a lifetime .307 hitter who collected 1,777 hits over 15 seasons, six with the Giants from 1960-65. He was a two-time All-Star and won the 1966 National League batting title with a .342 average while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although he played for six different teams, Matty remained a part of the Giants family as a long time employee and will be forever linked with his brothersFelipe and Jesusas the first all-brother Major League outfield. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Alou Family during this difficult time.

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