Alou was a good player and was a top centerfielder in the game from 1966 to 1969 when he had a slash line of .335/.369/.410, good for a 124 OPS+.
He was a .307 hitter for his career, but check out the players with the most career plate appearances, a batting average of at least .300, and an OPS+ no better than 105:
Rk | Player | PA | From | To | G | AB | R | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | Pos | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Stuffy McInnis | 8623 | .307 | 105 | 1909 | 1927 | 2129 | 7822 | 872 | 312 | 101 | 20 | 1062 | .343 | .381 | .723 | *3/6547 |
2 | Lloyd Waner | 8326 | .316 | 99 | 1927 | 1945 | 1993 | 7772 | 1201 | 281 | 118 | 27 | 598 | .353 | .393 | .747 | *87/945 |
3 | Charlie Jamieson | 7488 | .303 | 101 | 1915 | 1932 | 1783 | 6560 | 1062 | 322 | 80 | 18 | 552 | .378 | .385 | .763 | *79/813 |
4 | Placido Polanco | 7142 | .301 | 97 | 1998 | 2011 | 1719 | 6534 | 948 | 320 | 32 | 101 | 681 | .346 | .406 | .752 | *456/7D3 |
5 | Billy Goodman | 6446 | .300 | 99 | 1947 | 1962 | 1623 | 5644 | 807 | 299 | 44 | 19 | 591 | .376 | .378 | .754 | 435/796 |
6 | Matty Alou | 6220 | .307 | 105 | 1960 | 1974 | 1667 | 5789 | 780 | 236 | 50 | 31 | 427 | .345 | .381 | .726 | *8973/1D |
7 | Joe Vosmik | 6084 | .307 | 104 | 1930 | 1944 | 1414 | 5472 | 818 | 335 | 92 | 65 | 874 | .369 | .438 | .807 | *7/98 |
8 | Earl Sheely | 5263 | .300 | 104 | 1921 | 1931 | 1235 | 4471 | 572 | 244 | 27 | 48 | 747 | .383 | .399 | .782 | *3 |
9 | Ethan Allen | 4765 | .300 | 93 | 1926 | 1938 | 1281 | 4418 | 623 | 255 | 45 | 47 | 501 | .336 | .410 | .745 | *879 |
10 | Rip Radcliff | 4436 | .311 | 97 | 1934 | 1943 | 1081 | 4074 | 598 | 205 | 50 | 42 | 533 | .362 | .417 | .779 | *79/3 |
11 | Freddy Leach | 3996 | .307 | 102 | 1923 | 1932 | 991 | 3733 | 543 | 196 | 53 | 72 | 509 | .341 | .446 | .787 | *78/93 |
12 | Lew Fonseca | 3724 | .316 | 103 | 1921 | 1933 | 937 | 3404 | 518 | 203 | 50 | 31 | 485 | .355 | .432 | .788 | 34/75961 |
13 | Homer Summa | 3318 | .302 | 92 | 1920 | 1930 | 840 | 3001 | 413 | 166 | 34 | 18 | 361 | .346 | .398 | .743 | *9/785 |
14 | Bob Dillinger | 3201 | .306 | 100 | 1946 | 1951 | 753 | 2904 | 401 | 123 | 47 | 10 | 213 | .363 | .391 | .754 | *5/6 |
15 | Sammy Hale | 3185 | .302 | 93 | 1920 | 1930 | 883 | 2915 | 422 | 157 | 54 | 30 | 392 | .336 | .424 | .760 | *5/87496 |
These are all guys who tend to be a bit overrated thanks to the flashy batting average without a lot of on-base or extra-base ability beyond that.
Notice that most of these guys played a long time ago. If we limit it to players from 1960 on, the list gets a lot shorter:
Rk | Player | PA | From | To | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | Pos | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Placido Polanco | 7142 | .301 | 97 | 1998 | 2011 | 1719 | 6534 | 948 | 1966 | 320 | 32 | 101 | 681 | .346 | .406 | .752 | *456/7D3 |
2 | Matty Alou | 6220 | .307 | 105 | 1960 | 1974 | 1667 | 5789 | 780 | 1777 | 236 | 50 | 31 | 427 | .345 | .381 | .726 | *8973/1D |
3 | Starlin Castro | 1221 | .304 | 105 | 2010 | 2011 | 283 | 1137 | 144 | 346 | 67 | 14 | 13 | 107 | .343 | .422 | .766 | *6 |
4 | Norris Hopper | 440 | .316 | 90 | 2006 | 2008 | 168 | 396 | 60 | 125 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 20 | .367 | .371 | .738 | /879 |
5 | Dee Gordon | 233 | .304 | 92 | 2011 | 2011 | 56 | 224 | 34 | 68 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 11 | .325 | .362 | .686 | /*6 |
6 | Lorenzo Cain | 181 | .302 | 103 | 2010 | 2011 | 49 | 169 | 21 | 51 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 14 | .343 | .402 | .745 | /*897 |
7 | Jose Ortiz | 136 | .301 | 103 | 1969 | 1971 | 67 | 123 | 14 | 37 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .358 | .390 | .748 | /*897 |
8 | Jose Constanza | 119 | .303 | 100 | 2011 | 2011 | 42 | 109 | 21 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | .339 | .385 | .724 | /798 |
9 | Eddy Garabito | 102 | .307 | 97 | 2005 | 2005 | 42 | 88 | 15 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 | .384 | .398 | .782 | /46 |
Those are the only guys to do it with at least 100 career plate appearances.
I think Placido Polanco is a pretty good comp for Alou, actually--at least offensively. Polanco's oWAR is 23.4 while Alou's was 24.5. Polanco has a pretty big edge defensively.