 04/07/2003 6:14 PM ET
Notes: The gang's Alou here
Matty and Jesus join brother Felipe for Opening Day
By John Schlegel / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- This time, Felipe Alou didn't have to worry so much about what his little brothers, Matty and Jesus, would do as they flanked him on the baseball field.
The three Alou brothers threw out the ceremonial first pitches before Monday's home opener for the Giants, which also marked Felipe Alou's first home game as manager of the Giants. With Matty wearing a No. 14 jersey and Jesus wearing No. 41, they joined Felipe for the pregame honor -- and all three were all smiles.
Back on Sept. 15, 1963, big brother Felipe wasn't so relaxed. That was the day the Alou brothers made history by playing in the same outfield together for the final two innings of a game at Pittsburgh, with Felipe in center, Matty in left and Jesus in right.
"The responsibility was on me," Felipe Alou said. "I felt I was responsible for the other two, I'm not sure for what reason. Maybe because I was the oldest."
Ah, the travails of being the big brother. It's a lifelong burden.
"Whenever something went wrong with anybody, I was the one who got the belt," said Felipe, 67.
According to Matty Alou, now 64 and a scout in the Dominican Republic for the Giants, Felipe was always the quintessential big brother.
"Felipe was tough," said Matty. "He never wanted me to follow him everywhere he goes. He'd throw rocks at me and tell me to go back home."
The rocks didn't work. After Felipe began a career in 1958 that would last 17 seasons and earn him three All-Star nods, Matty followed in 1960 and went on to play 15 seasons and earn two All-Star bids. Jesus came along in 1963 and also lasted 15 years.
But more players than just the other two Alou brothers followed in Felipe's footsteps -- many more. As a Latin player coming up in the late 1950s, Felipe Alou was a pioneer in the game.
"I know Felipe went through a lot of trouble not only for Matty and me, but for a lot of Dominican players," said Jesus Alou, now 61. "Being a black Latin who came to the South in those days, he went through a lot, not only for himself but for everybody."
More than 40 years later, the Alou brothers were one, big happy family on the field Monday, reunited as Giants.
A real save: The three innings Jim Brower pitched for the Giants on Sunday registered as a save on the stats sheet. But it was a bigger save than that, because he ate up innings that simply couldn't be taken up by anyone else in the Giants' bullpen after a busy first week.
"It was him or air -- hot air," Felipe Alou said.
And Brower did more than just fill some air at Miller Park. Acquired from Montreal in the Livan Hernandez trade and recalled from Triple-A to start the season with Robb Nen on the DL, Brower tossed three shutout innings, allowing two hits and walking two while striking out two.
"I think I showed them that I can get people out, hopefully for longer than just one inning," Brower said. "We have a lot of guys who can go one inning. Yesterday was a break for the rest of the bullpen. I think I can give them that kind of effort any time I'm asked."
Robb Nen
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Waiting for Nen: Nen is eligible to come off the disabled list on April 14, and Alou said the team hasn't really discussed exactly what will happen when the time comes.
One thing he does know is that he can't expect to go to Nen day after day right off the bat. After the first week, the Giants had five saves -- not even a healthy Nen could have done that.
"I don't see how Nen could have had all five saves, not coming back from surgery," Alou said. "Even if he didn't have to go on the DL, there's no way we would have used him. So we had three guys get the five saves.
"Whenever Robb is back, of course he'll be the stopper. But we have to be conservative with him."
Alfonzo fine: After coming out of Sunday's game in the seventh inning with a groin strain, third baseman and No. 5 hitter Edgardo Alfonzo was in the starting lineup Monday.
"He said he's OK," said Alou, who prepared a lineup with Alfonzo and without him prior to Monday's game. "He's 99 percent. He didn't want to miss the opener."
Coming up: Lefty Damian Moss (1-0, 3.60 ERA) will make his second start with the Giants and his first at home when he takes on San Diego's Jake Peavy (1-0, 1.80) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at Pacific Bell Park.
John Schlegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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