By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

On March 22, 1976 at Tinker Field in Orlando, Fla., Felipe Alou was a guest coach of the Expos during a Spring Training game against the Minnesota Twins when someone asked him over the loudspeaker to report to the Twins office.

Alou met up with Twins owner Calvin Griffith and immediately sensed dread in Griffith's eyes.

"I have bad news. Your son died in a swimming pool accident,'' Griffith told Alou.

Alou fainted but Griffith caught him before he hit the floor. It was the worst moment, the “biggest event’’ of Alou's life. His son Felipe, 16, had dove into a shallow pool, broke his neck and drowned.

The details are found in Alou's dynamic, eloquent book Alou: My Baseball Journey as told to award-winning U.S. writer Peter Kerasotis.

When Alou flew back to his native Dominican Republic for his son's funeral, he saw Moisés, another one of his sons, sitting next to the casket. Moisés was only nine years old.

"I will never forget the look on Moisés face,’’ Alou said of his son, who would eventually play close to five seasons for him with the Expos. “He pulsated anger, anger at the fate of his big brother. Moisés hated what happened. Hated death. My tears fell heavier when I saw that.’’

Alou revealed that when he couldn’t get a job in baseball immediately following his exit as a player that he raised goats and did some part-time work as a broadcaster.

“I struggled to make ends meet during my career and especially after my career ended. There was no income. Very little savings. Mouths to fee. What was I going to do?’’ Alou wrote.

One day, he told his brother Matty that he had too many goats in his possession so what did Matty do?

He promptly took one of the goats away for himself, the best goat his brother possessed. In the book, Felipe said he was livid at Matty.

“Hey, what are you doing’’ he shouted at Matty.

“It’s one less goat for you to think about,’’ Matty shot back.

“I wanted to kill him,’’ Alou wrote.

In early 1977, Alou picked up the phone and called Expos executive Jim Fanning to see if there was a job for him in the organization. He soon got a job as manager of the Class-A West Palm Beach Expos. But years would pass by before Alou would get his chance to manage the big-league club.

That opportunity came May 22, 1992. It was an off-day for the Expos bench coach so he went fishing on Lake Saint Pierre northeast of Montreal with a group that included Expos broadcaster Jacques Doucet.
Expos general manager Dan Duquette decided to fire controversial manager Tom Runnells. Duquette first went to Runnells’ residence on the western outskirts of Montreal to tell Runnells he had been fired. Then somehow Duquette found out Alou was fishing.

Alou went to Duquette’s office at Olympic Stadium and started pleading to Duquette to keep Runnells and give him more time. But Duquette told Alou that if he didn’t take the job, he was going to give it to Kevin Kennedy. So Alou took the job.

Alou will be signing copies of his book prior to a sold-out Exposfest gala March 24 in Laval, Quebec. Doucet will be autographing the French version of the book called Felipe: Une Légende Dominicaine. I will also be there signing copies of my book Blue Monday.

In his fascinating autobiography, Alou serves up some real dingers and nuggets and unlocks many secrets. He even takes shots at long-time Expos managing general partner Claude Brochu on a number of issues, especially for not keeping some of the star players following the disastrous strike that forced cancellation of the 1994 season.

“Brochu was heavily involved in the negotiations from the ownership side. And I never felt he had the Expos' best interests at heart,’’ Alou said. “We’re the most famous team that didn’t get to the World Series. Famous for being denied.’’

Alou proceeded to stay with the Expos until mid-way through the 2001 season when he was fired by owner Jeffrey Loria.

Alou found out about the firing from other people, including pitcher Javier Vasquez, not from general manager Jim Beattie or Loria. It was believed that Loria leaked the news to the New York Times.

Beattie got a hold of Alou and asked him to come to the office but Alou declined, saying he was headed out to do some fishing.

Alou revealed that he had been a rock miner and a blacksmith in his youth, lifting boulders with friend Carlos Rojas almost non-stop during every shift.

Alou talked about the horrors and atrocities inflicted on his fellow countrymen by the cruel, barbaric Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. When Trujillo was assassinated in a hail of gunfire May 30, 1961, Alou privately celebrated but he was more concerned about the thunderclap that took place in the aftermath.

Alou told the yarn of how one of his brothers never reached the majors to play with him and two other brothers, Matty and Jésus. His name was Juan, a barrel-chested, muscular infielder, who flew under the radar because his mother wanted him to get an education. He ended up as a highly respected civil engineer in Puerto Rico.

This book is as much about Alou’s philosophies in life as it is about baseball. He talked about poverty and growing up in a 15x15 shack and playing with coconuts that stood in for baseballs.

He talked about the humiliating racism that he endured many times in the minor leagues. There were separate washrooms for blacks and Latinos and many times, he was barred from eating in restaurants with his white teammates.

Pedro Martinez wrote the Foreword for the 295-page book and producing endorsements for the back cover were Joe Torre, Bob Costas, Reggie Jackson, Tony La Russa and Buck Showalter.

"I had Felipe for four years in Montreal. It was like getting a college degree. I'm so glad I was able to pass through the school of Felipe Alou,'' Pedro Martinez wrote in his Foreword.

There were many times when Alou’s book project was stalled, according to Kerasotis, but in the end, Alou agreed to complete it, especially when his friend and San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy intervened.

The result is a masterpiece of a hardcover book published by the University of Nebraska Press. It retails in Canada for $44.95 and $29.95 U.S.