Where Are They Now
Gene Alley
By Doug Kennedy

Signed as a free agent in 1959, Leonard Eugene Alley spent his entire 11 year major league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a player known for doing all the little things extremely well, like bunting, executing the hit-and-run, moving runners from second to third and- perhaps his greatest asset-fielding.

"I think [fielding] is overlooked a lot of times during games," said the 67-year old Alley. "But if you add it up, it amounts to a number of wins during the season."

Gene Alley's major league career began back in 1965 when then-second baseman Bill Mazeroski had a serious ankle injury coming out of spring training. With Dick Schofield the team's shortstop, Alley was moved to second base to replace Mazeroski. When Maz returned, Schofield was traded to the Giants for Jose Pagan, and Alley was inserted as the Bucs' starting shortstop.

His best season was in 1966, when he batted a career high .299, recorded career-highs in at bats, runs, doubles and triples; and, perhaps the most important to Alley, set the all-time double play mark with 161. The record that still stands over 40 years later.

Alley was able to accomplish that with the assistance of a pretty fair second baseman by the name of Bill Mazeroski. Maz and Alley combined for 215 double plays in 1966. For the next two seasons, Alley and Maz each won Gold Gloves, making them one of eight all-time double-play combos to win the award for two or more seasons while playing together.

Alley, who played in the 1967 and 1968 All Star Games, held the record for a Pirates' shortstop with 128 twin killings until current Bucco Jack Wilson broke it in 2004.

"Going out and trying to turn double plays was something that Maz and I both took pride in," said Alley, who roomed with Maz for seven seasons. "He could probably turn a double play today as good as anybody. "Everybody thought he was real quiet, but believe me, he talked a lot," Alley said about his old roommate, "But we were both fairly quiet on the field."

Another of Alley's accomplishments includes a World Series ring from the 1971 championship team.

"It was the best feeling of anything I ever did in baseball," he said, although he played in parts of just two games during that Series. "My locker was between Al Oliver and Manny Sanguillen. We spent a lot of time talking before and after games and I got to know them a lot better. Overall, there were some great players and good people on that team. It made it enjoyable to go to the ballpark."

Following the 1971 World Series season and again in 1972, Alley had surgery on a knee that he had injured back in the 1968 season.

"Going into 1973, I knew that I had lost a step or two and I pretty much knew that it was time to do something else," said Alley, who still resides in the Richmond area with his wife of 45 years, Beth. Following every baseball season, the couple would return home to Gene's birthplace, Richmond. Since his retirement in 1973 and even prior to that, Alley has been in sales for a couple of different printing businesses. Even though he has been virtually retired for the last five years, he still works a few days a week, helping out in sales.

Ironically, during his Pirate career, Gene totaled 999 hits.

"I found out about that when I was at the Old-Timer's game in 1994," he laughs. "Robin Roberts was sitting next to me on the bench when he read the scoreboard and my bio and said to me, 'Did you realize you had 999 hits?' I said, 'No, but now I do.'"

Besides that 1971 team, Alley claims that the 1966 team, which included guys like Matty Alou, Bob Bailey and Bob Veale, was a pretty good one as well.

"We finished third and it went down to the last weekend of the season," recalled Alley. "We were battling the Dodgers and Giants and played the Giants in the final three games of the season. I think we lost all three."

That team included a couple of pranksters as well, mainly relief ace, ElRoy Face and catcher Jim Pagliaroni. During that summer, a couple of clubhouse gags-the Black Max Club and the initiation of the Danny Whelan "Green Weenie"-were formed.

"It was a funny group of guys," said Alley. "I would kind of stand back and watch those guys." On the plight of the current Pirates, who just completed their fifteenth straight losing season, Alley empathizes with the fans of the team.

"I kind of know the reasons why. That's the way it is when some teams have money to spend and others don't," he said. "I guess it makes it pretty tough to go through spells like that, but someday it will change." Being in the Richmond area, Alley gets his dose of Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals and Richmond Braves (Atlanta's Triple-A team) games; however, he still remains loyal to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"I will always pull for the Pirates, but it's kind of sad to see some of the things that are going on."