Alberto Lois

Alberto Lois Pie
born Alberto Louis Pie

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut September 8, 1978
• Final Game September 29, 1979
• Born May 6, 1956 in Hato Mayor del Rey, Hato Mayor, D.R.
• Died March 12, 2019 in Consuelo, San Pedro de Macoris D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Alberto Lois had a brief major league career, mainly as a pinch runner, but was once a top-notch prospect who had been compared to "a young Roberto Clemente".

Born in the Dominican Republic, he led the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games with 20 hits (6 more than anyone else) and 13 runs (tied with Rafael Vega) while the Dominicans won the Silver Medal. He hit .444/.457/.609 and had 7 putouts and 3 assists in 10 games in left. He also drove in 11, good for third place behind Cuban sluggers Armando Capiró and Agustín Marquetti. He led in slugging (.041 over Capiró), was second in average (behind Rodolfo Puente) and tied for first with one homer.

He was signed by scout Howie Haak of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1974. He started his professional career with the Charleston Pirates of the Western Carolinas League that year, hitting .260 in 119 games as an outfielder. He showed good speed by stealing 37 bases in 49 attempts that first season. Unfortunately, it would be the only time in his career that he would play as many as 100 games in a season, as injuries would take their toll. The injuries were so frequent that the Pirates thought Lois was a chronic malingerer. It also did not help his reputation that he would regularly show up late for spring training.

But there was no doubting Lois's natural talent. Former teammate and long-time minor league coach Nelson Norman said he would sometimes show up drunk at the ballpark and still collect a pair of hits. As a result of his hitting, he advanced rapidly through the Pirates' system. He hit .302 for the Salem Pirates of the Carolina League in 1975, then at Double A Shreveport of the Texas League in 1976, he hit .323 with 12 triples and 24 stolen bases in 65 games, earning a promotion to the Charleston Charlies of the Triple A International League only a few weeks after turning 20. He held his own at that level, hitting at a .300 clip with 13 runs scored and 9 RBI in 31 games.

He encountered his first major setback in 1977, when he started the year hitting .282 in 42 games for the Columbus Clippers but went down for the season with an injury. He started 1978 back at Salem to get his rhythm back, and was back in Triple A after 24 games, hitting only .254 with an OBP under .300 in 49 games. He got his first taste of big league action with the Pirates late in 1978, going 1 for 4 with his lone hit a triple. 1979 was a similar story: he only played 18 games in the minor leagues, spread among three teams, but did go 4 for 9 for Triple A Portland. The Pirates called him up for a week in mid-August and for the September stretch run, where they were locked in a tight race with the Montreal Expos. Lois got into 11 games, all as a pinch runner, scoring 6 runs and stealing a base while being caught stealing once. The Pirates won the NL East title, but Lois was not on the postseason roster as the team went all the way to a World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Lois played in the Dominican League that winter, but tragedy brought his career to an untimely end. He was driving a truck loaded with friends on the way back from a game. He tried to beat a train across some railroad tracks and failed. The collision killed six of his passengers and he was in a coma for six days. He severely damaged his right eye, rendering him unable to play again.

He passed away at his home in San Pedro de Macoris in 2019.

Further Reading

• Clifford Blau: "Leg Men: Career Pinch-Runners in Major League Baseball", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 38, Number 1 (Summer 2009), pp. 70-81.

Related Sites

• Alberto Lois at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Minors page
• Obituary