Mr. Tiger

The baseball world was saddened this week by the death of Al Kaline at age 85, but it was particularly hard on fans of the Detroit Tigers, of whom I am a die-hard. Kaline spent his entire career in Detroit, and as a player, broadcaster, and assistant to the general manager, spent 67 years with the organization.

Kaline was a great player, who was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He had 3007 hits and 399 home runs (oh if he could have only squeezed out one more), the latter of which is still a Tiger record (it will probably be broken by Miguel Cabrera). He is behind Ty Cobb in hits for the Tigers, of course, but where Kaline has Cobb beat is that he was liked by all--I've never heard a bad word said about him. He was gracious and humble, attached to no scandals or beefs.

Kaline signed with Detroit right out of high school and never spent a day in the minors. In 1955, at the age of 20, he became (and remains) the youngest player ever to win a batting title, hitting .340. But the Tigers, even though they had some good teams (the 1961 squad especially) were always looking up at the Yankees. But when that dynasty ended, the Tigers were poised to win with a good team. In 1967, they lost the pennant on the last day of the season to the Miracle Red Sox.

In '68, they couldn't be beat. With Denny McLain winning 31 games, the Tigers won 103 all told. Kaline, however, wasn't a big part of that season. He had broken his arm, and the Tigers outfield of Willie Horton, Mickey Stanley, and Jim Northrup did the job. Kaline told manager Mayo Smith that he didn't deserve to be in the staring lineup in the World Series. Smith made a daring gambit, inserting centerfielder Stanley at short, where he had only played nine games, replacing the light-hitting Ray Oyler. This made room for Kaline, who ended up hitting .372 for the series, including perhaps the biggest hit of his career. In Game Five, facing elimination, the Tigers were down a run in the seventh inning. Kaline smacked a two-run single, and the Tigers never trailed in the series again, winning in seven games. Stanley made no errors at short.

Kaline was also a great defender. He is one of six players depicted in statuary on the concourse at Comerica Park, and instead of holding a bat he is stretching out to snag a fly ball. In one game early in his career he threw out runners at second, third, and home in successive innings.

He got his 3000th hit not at home, but in the next best place, his home town of Baltimore. He retired at the end of that season, 1974, and was elected to the Hall Of Fame in 1980. After his retirement he partnered with George Kell for many years on Tiger telecasts. I'll always remember how my grandmother loved to hear him call a game.

I imagine this is a big story in Detroit, but the current health crisis will preclude any kind of mass viewing, as occurred with the death of long-time radio announcer Ernie Harwell. Kaline, who for all appearances never sought the spotlight, might have wanted it that way.