Sandy Alomar Sr., the father of Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar and six-time All-Star Sandy Alomar Jr., passed away in his native Puerto Rico on Monday. He was 81.
Alomar Sr. was a speedy middle infielder who played for six clubs, most notably from 1970-74 for the Angels, for whom he was an All-Star in 1970. He’s the only player in Angels history to play in 162 games twice, doing it in both in 1970 and ’71. Alomar Sr. played parts of 15 years in the Majors and was subsequently a coach with the Padres (1986-1990), Cubs (2000-02), Rockies (2003-04) and Mets (2005-09). All told, he spent nearly 50 years involved with professional baseball.
A native of Salinas, Puerto Rico, Alomar Sr. was one of eight children. He originally signed out of Luis Muñoz Rivera High School with the Milwaukee Braves for roughly $12,000 before the start of the 1960 season. Alomar Sr. made his big league debut on Sept. 15, 1964, with the Braves at the age of 20 years old, playing in 19 games down the stretch.
Alomar Sr. remained with the Braves when they moved to Atlanta in 1966 before bouncing around to the Mets in '67 and the White Sox from '67-69. But he found a home with the Angels starting in ’69, earning his only All-Star selection the next season, and he went on to play 648 straight games with the club before breaking his leg in September of ‘73. A speedster, Alomar Sr. stole 35 bases in '70 and a career-high 39 in '71.
Alomar Sr. went on to play with the Yankees from 1974-76, helping them reach the World Series in ‘76, before finishing his career with the Rangers in 1977-78. He saw action in just one postseason series in his career, going 0-for-1 with a caught stealing in two games in the '76 AL Championship Series against the Royals.
Overall, Alomar Sr. hit .245/.290/.288 with 13 homers, 126 doubles, 19 triples, 282 RBIs and 227 stolen bases in 1,481 games. He played 1,156 games at second base, 197 at short, 43 at third, 14 at first, eight in the outfield and 43 as a designated hitter.
After his career, Alomar Sr. spent time in his native Puerto Rico and managed in both the Puerto Rican Winter League and for the Puerto Rican national team. He managed both Sandy Jr. and Roberto in the Winter Leagues and helped them hone their prodigious baseball skills.
Sandy Jr. played 20 seasons in the Majors as a catcher; he was the 1990 AL Rookie of the Year and a six-time All-Star. Roberto was a 12-time All-star, won 10 Gold Gloves at second base and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. Alomar Sr. and his wife, Maria, also had a daughter named Sandia.