The Unfinished Season; Part Two: Moises and Felipe Alou form a bond together in Montreal
“The Unfinished Season” is an article series where we take you back in time and look the 1994 Montreal Expos. Part Two looks at the how the father and son combo of Felipe and Moises Alou bonded during their time in Montreal.
The 1994 Montreal Expos was one of the best teams in all of baseball during that strike-shortened season. Montreal had one of the games brightest and youngest pitching stars in Pedro Martinez. They also had a father and son combo in manager Moises Alou and outfielder Felipe Alou.
The Expos hired the elder Alou in 1992, becoming the first Dominican major league manager for the club. Alou had his work cut out for himself as he was charged with developing a younger roster.
That roster was loaded with future Major League Baseball stars like Marquis Grissom, Cliff Floyd, Larry Walker and Alou’s son Moises.
The Expos acquire Moises Alou from the Pirates in 1990
The younger Alou was acquired by the Expos from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the summer of 1990. Pittsburgh was one of the game’s top teams and flush with talent. Part of the reason that the Pirates traded Alou was because they had budding superstar Barry Bonds on the roster.
Montreal acquired Alou along side Willie Greene and Scott Ruskin for right-hander hurler Zane Smith.
The acquisition of the younger Alou would lead the two family members together. Prior to the trade and the eventually hiring of Alou, the two weren’t close.
The trade would allow the Alou’s to form a new bond
Moises would say that during the spring of 1992, that he and his father spent more time together than they had in their whole life. “I may have spent more time with my dad in Spring Training of ’92 than I did in my whole life,” said Moises.
“I didn’t really know my dad when I was young,” Moises said, to the South Florida Sun Sentinel back in 1997. “At one point, I really felt bitter at the guy growing up. I was jealous of my dad’s friends. I was jealous of people who spent a lot of time with my dad.”
That jealousy would go away due to their time together with the Expos.
“Really, I’m pretty thankful for the opportunity I had in Montreal, to be back together for five years. And I learned a lot. I got to love my dad more than before. It was a beautiful experience. I’ve got great feelings about it, great memories,” said Moises.
Conclusion
During the 1994 season, the Expos were an MLB-best 74-40. The Expos team had a chemistry that helped them during the 1994 season.
“It was pretty much like we grew up together and we had chemistry, man. I’ve been on so many good teams, but this is the only team I remember where we’d go to a visiting park, stretch somewhere before the game and you could feel the other team was afraid of us. Like, they were ready to get their ass kicked, that’s how good that team was,” Alou said to MetsMerized Online.
Alou hit .339 in 1994 with the Expos while hitting 22 home runs with 78 RBIs. He would make his first All-Star team but more importantly, create a bond with his father that would outweigh any performance on the field.