Alou To Manage Dominican Team

Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou is ready to manage the national baseball team for his native Dominican Republic.

"I'm pleased with the idea," Alou told the Hoy newspaper on Wednesday. "I don't like to make a lot of noise, but it would be a great honor to have the opportunity to manage my country's team. It's within the possibilities."

Alou said the offer would not interfere with his duties with the Expos. The Dominican Baseball Federation was to deliver the job offer to Alou during the Expos' series in New York with the Mets.

"We believe that the integration of Alou would be a step to revolutionize the national baseball team," federation president Hector Pereyra. "His presence would be enough to change the losing streak of the past few years. We hope he's interested in this project."

Although the Dominican Republic has produced many major league stars, the Caribbean country's national baseball team was eliminated early in recent regional tournaments and failed to qualify for the Sydney Olympics.

Alou, 65, has been manager of the Expos for nine seasons and was the NL's manager of the year in 1994. He played 17 seasons in the majors for San Francisco, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Oakland, the New York Yankees and Montreal.

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