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Al Kaline Stats & Facts

 

 

Al Kaline

Positions: Rightfielder and First Baseman
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
6-1, 175lb (185cm, 79kg)
Born: December 19, 1934 in Baltimore, MD
Died: April 6, 2020  in Bloomfield Hills, MI
High School: Southern HS (Baltimore, MD)
Debut: June 25, 1953 (8,634th in MLB history)
vs. PHA 1 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: October 2, 1974
vs. BAL 2 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1980. (Voted by BBWAA on 340/385 ballots)
View Al Kaline’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Albert William Kaline
Nicknames: Mr. Tiger
Pronunciation: \KAY-line\
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1953

Al Kaline
Ernie Banks
Junior Gilliam
Roy Face
Don Larsen
Johnny Podres
Bob Buhl
Bobo Holloman
Bill Bruton

 

The Al Kaline Teammate Team

C:   Bill Freehan
1B: Norm Cash
2B: Billy Martin
3B: Eddie Mathews
SS: Harvey Kuenn
LF: Mickey Stanley
CF: Ron LeFlore
RF: Rocky Colavito
DH: Willie Horton
SP: Mickey Lolich
SP: Denny McLain
SP: Jim Bunning
SP: Frank Lary
RP: John Hiller
M:   Mayo Smith

 

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Notable Events and Chronology for Al Kaline Career

The 1959 Homerun Derby

The 1959 Homerun Derby

Al Kaline was born in Baltimore on December 19, 1934 and went to Southern High School in the city.  He was a star baseball player in high school, and was signed right after graduation by Tigers scout Ed Katalinas in those days before a draft.  Katalinas told the Detroit front office that Kaline was a better player than anyone then playing outfield for them in the majors.  Since the Tigers starting outfield in 1953 was Bob Niemann, Jim Delsing, and Don Lund, he may have been right, in spite of reports that the 6’2” Kaline was but 135 pounds as he signed.

Kaline was a “bonus baby,” signed for enough money that the rules of the time required that he be carried on the major league roster.  He spent the rest of the 1953 season in Detroit, playing in 30 games and coming to the plate 30 times, pinch-hitting and coming in on defense.  He had 7 hits in 28 official at-bats for a .250 average with one home run.

The youngster was scheduled for more bench duty in 1954, but Niemann was hurt, others played poorly, and Kaline ended up as the regular right fielder.  He played 138 games and hit .276 with 4 HR and 43 RBI.  The offense was unimpressive, not surprising for a 19-year old playing every day in the American League, but he did impress with his range and arm on defense.   He impressed enough people to finish third in the Rookie of the Year voting, and 23rd in AL MVP voting with four points.

Kaline then exploded on the league in 1955, leading the AL in hits and total bases and becoming the youngest player ever to win a batting title by posting a .340 average.  He was just one day younger than Ty Cobb when the Georgia Peach won his first as a young Tiger.  It would be the only batting title Kaline would win, though he was often a contender.  He finished second in 1959, 1961, and 1963.

Detroit was gathering some good young talent, and getting back into contention.  Harvey Kuenn and Frank Lary were joining Kaline to push the team into the first division.  Kaline started winning Gold Gloves for his outfield play, and in 1959 shifted to center field, a move that became official when the Tigers traded Kuenn for Rocky Colavito.  Then veteran Bill Bruton came and took over center, with Kaline moving back to right and the strong-armed Rocky in left field.  It wasn’t an optimal alignment, but in the mid-1960s the Tigers started spitting out young outfielders and the talent base ripened.

Kaline was a solid, consistent player, not a standout in any one area but excellent all-around.  He hit for solid averages, good power, and had good speed.  He was also an excellent defensive outfielder, winning ten Gold Gloves.  His problem was that he was injured and missed time nearly every season.  He had a childhood bone disease that caused a deformity in his left foot, resulting in constant nagging pain.  In 1959 he missed three weeks with a fractured cheekbone.  In 1962 he broke his collarbone making a game-saving catch, and missed two months.  Another year it was a rib, another a broken thumb.   Kaline played in 150 games in just three seasons, 140 in ten seasons.  He did play 100 games in 20 seasons, including 19 consecutive.

Kaline was generally popular with Tiger fans, but took some heat in the press for not leading the team to a pennant.  In 1967 Detroit was part of a four team race to the wire, with their right fielder hitting .308 with 25 HR and 78 RBI, but could not come out on top.  In 1968, the Tigers rode a 31-win season from Denny McLain to a pennant, though Kaline played just 102 games.  He hit .287 with 10 HR and 53 RBI, good though not star material.  He volunteered to manager Mayo Smith to come off the bench in the World Series, but Smith had another idea:  since shortstop Ray Oyler hit just .135 for the season, he would play gifted center fielder Mickey Stanley at shortstop, move right fielder Jim Northrup to center, and play Kaline in right.  It was a crazy, ridiculous idea, but it worked as the Tigers won the World Series from the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.  Kaline hit .379 in the Series, with 11 hits in 29 AB including two home runs with 8 RBI.

That World Series performance cemented Kaline in Tiger history.  The teen sensation and longtime All-Star was now a legend, and Tiger fans would brook no criticism.  The talent base was aging but enjoyed a last hurrah in 1972 with an AL East division championship.  Kaline had just 278 at-bats for the year, but went 22-for-44 down the stretch as the Tigers outlasted the Red Sox.  He had five hits as the Tigers went the distance against Oakland, but the A’s won their second straight AL pennant.

Kaline played just 91 games in 1973, with pinch-hitter Gates Brown doing designated hitter duty.  In 1974 that DH job went to the veteran right fielder, who played 147 games and posted a 107 OPS+.  He might have kept that up for a couple more years, but with his business interests providing him a sufficient income he retired from the game.  He had reached 3000 hits, getting the milestone in his hometown of Baltimore on September 24 off Dave McNally.

The final figures included 3007 hits, and a lot of other things he didn’t quite do:  he hit 399 career home runs; had a lifetime .297 batting average; never hit 30 homers in a season but hit 29 twice; drove in 100 runs in just three seasons, scored 100 runs only twice.  He never won an MVP award, though he finished second twice and third once.  A lot of that was playing most of his career in a poor era for offense.  His “neutralized” stats on baseball-reference.com give him a .304 career average and 419 career homers.

In 1976 Kaline was hired by Detroit to be a broadcaster, working as the color man on television games with fellow Tiger alum George Kell.  It was a job Kaline would keep through 2001.  He was not only popular in Detroit, but around baseball, winning the first Roberto Clemente Award.  That is the award given to a baseball player each year for his humanitarian work.

His first Hall of Fame ballot resulted in an election with 88% of the vote in 1980.

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Played For
Detroit Tigers (1953-1974)

Similar: If Dwight Evans had been a batting title contender every year, that would have been close to what Kaline was as a player.

Linked: Ty Cobb, Mickey Stanley, Alan Trammell… Kaline, Cobb and Trammell are the only men to play for the Tigers for at least 20 seasons.

Nicknames: “The Line, Six, Number Six”

“The Line” was both a play on his last name and also a fitting commentary on his steady reliability.”

Best Season, 1955
Kaline is hard to peg. After his batting title season of ’55 he had several other great years at the plate, but he was always running into a wall or something and missing 3-5 weeks of the season. He was Fred Lynn before Fred Lynn. After 1955 he had two more seasons in his entire career in which he played at least 150 games, and one of them was 1956. So a best season is difficult to determine because he never amassed 30 homers, though he would have on at least four occasions had he stayed healthy. In 1962, he was having his best power year when he broke his collar bone. He had hit 29 homers and driven in 94 runs in less than 100 games. His batting averages seem low compared to today’s standards — .293, .281, .288, .308, .287, .272, .278, .294 — in one eight-season stretch. But those figures are far more impressive when you realize that the league he was playing in was batting between .230 and .250. His .296 batting average for the 1960s is the best for players with at least 1,000 games. The 1955 season saw him hit .340 and win the title at the youngest age ever. He smacked 200 hits, leading the AL. He scored 121 runs and plated 102. Throughout his career he was a very patient hitter, even at a young age. In 1956 his BB/K ratio was 82 to 57. He had several very good years, but his failure to play a full schedule when he was at his best, cost him some accolades.

Awards and Honors
1957 ML Gold Glove
1958 AL Gold Glove
1959 AL Gold Glove
1961 AL Gold Glove
1962 AL Gold Glove
1963 AL Gold Glove
1964 AL Gold Glove
1965 AL Gold Glove
1966 AL Gold Glove
1967 AL Gold Glove

Post-Season Appearances
1968 World Series
1972 American League Championship Series

Description
Kaline was six-foot, two icnhes tall and weighed around 135 pounds when he entered the big leagues as an 18-year old in 1953. Two seasons later, when he won the batting title, he weighed 157 pounds. He filled out to 180-185 pounds for the balance of his career. he had thin, light brown hair during his playing career, and has blue eyes.

Factoid
Al Kaline played at least 100 games in 19 straight seasons (1954-1972), tying a mark held by Tris Speaker.

Minor League Experience
Kaline never spent a single day in the minor leagues. He was signed by Detroit scout Ed Katalinas just past midnight on evening of his high school graduation, on June 19, 1953. Kaline had been a sandlot star in Baltimore as a youth. He hit .609 in American Legion ball in 1951, a city record. In his four years of high school at Baltimore Southern High, Kaline batted .333, .418, .469, and .488, earning selection to the All-Maryland team each year.

Big League Debut: June 25, 1953
Kaline entered his first big league game as a defensive replacement in center field, but did not accept a chance. He flew out in his only time at-bat, against right-hander Harry Byrd of the Athletics. Kaline collected his first major league hit off the White Sox’ Louis Aloma on July 8, 1953. The hit was a single to left field.

Post-Season Notes
Tiger manager Mayo Smith’s gamble of playing Mickey Stanley at shortstop in the 1968 World Series, was motivated by the desire to ensure veteran Kaline would be in the lineup full-time. Kaline had approached Smith late in the regular season and offered to play off the bench, but Smith decided to try his daring switch instead. In Game Five, with Detroit trailing 3-2 in the seventh inning, Kaline delivered a two-run single that gave Detroit the lead in the pivotal game.

“I knew it was the perfect spot for him,” said pitcher Mickey Lolich. “I wanted him to get a base hit, for my sake naturally, and for the team’s sake. But not so much for myself and for the team, but for himself. If anybody would get that hit, I wanted it to be Al Kaline.”

Feats: On April 17, 1955, in Detroit, Kaline belted three homers against the Kansas City Athletics. Two of the home runs came in Detroit’s nine-run sixth inning, tying a record. The last American Leaguer to do it had been Joe DiMaggio.

Milestones
Kaline collected his 3,000th career hit on September 24, 1974, in his homewotn of Baltimore, against the Orioles. The hit was a double off Baltimore lefty Dave McNally.

 

Notes
In 1955, Kaline hit .357 during the day (112 games), and .298 at night (40 games). He hit safely in 31 of the first 33 games of the 1955 season… In ’55, Kaline batted .451 against the A’s, .369 vs. the White Sox, .364 vs. the Senators, .333 against Cleveland, .305 vs. the Yankees, .274 vs. the Orioles, and .273 against Red Sox pitching… Kaline hit just .200 at Fenway that season, but hit a robust .467 in Memorial Stadium in Kansas City… At the age of 11, while attending Westport Grammar School, Kaline tossed a softball 173 feet, six inches, setting a Baltimore elementary school record… Kaline averaged 22.5 points per game in his senior year at Southern High in Baltimore, helping his team to the Maryland state basketball title.

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
Fractured his cheekbone in June of 1959, missing nearly three weeks… Broke his collarbone while making a game-saving catch in Yankee Stadium on May 26, 1962. The injury kept him out of the lineup for two months. At the time of the injury, Kaline was leading the league in homers and RBI, and batting .345… Was shelved in September of 1963 with a nagging knee injury, and shut his season down. The injury had occurred in May, after he collidded with the outfield fence in Los Angeles. When he finally succumbed to the injury in September, Kaline was in the thick of a batting race with Carl Yastrzemski. He eventually finished second, nine points back… Suffered a rib injury in an attempt to make a diving catch on August 19, 1965, and missed 18 games… Underwent surgery on his left foot in October of 1965. The foot had been hampering him for more than two years. A bone disease in childhood had deformed Kaline’s left foot, leaving him with constant nagging pain… In a game in June of 1967, Kaline struck out against Sam McDowell of the Indians. When he returned to the dugout, Kaline angrily slammed his bat into the rack and broke his thumb. He missed 26 games with the injury… In 1968, Kaline offered an explanation for his frequent battles with injury and need for more rest: “My fielding never suffers when I play doubleheaders, it’s my hitting. My arms become heavy and I can’t swing the bat.” … Early in his career, when he was a skinny outfielder just off the highs chool baseball team, Kaline was described most often as “speedy” and “quick.” When he was younger he was very fast and a strong baserunner. As he grew older, his foot problems robbed him of much of his natural speed.

Hitting Streaks
22 games (1961)

Transactions
Before 1953 Season: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent (bonus baby).

Kaline was signed by scout Ed Katalinas just a few hours after he graduated from high school. At the time he signed the contract he was wearing the suit he was going to wear for his graduation celebration.

Data courtesy of Restrosheet.org

Kaline and Cobb
In 1955, Kaline broke Ty Cobb’s record to become the youngest player to win a batting title. Kaline was one day younger in 1955 than Cobb had been in 1907, when “The Georgia Peach” won his first title. The two Tiger batting champs met each other in the late 1950s.

“I’d always heard what a fierce man Ty Cobb was, but when I met him… he was very mild-mannered,” Kaline said of their meeting.

As was his habit, Cobb gave the young Tiger outfielder-hitting advice.

“He told me ‘Always bear down because there’ll come a time when you won’t be able to bear down,’ meaning that there’ll come a time when you won’t be able to play,” said Kaline.

Factoid
Al Kaline’s batting average of .322 (37 hits in 115 at-bats) is the fifth-highest in history for players with at least 100 at-bats off the bench.

Quotes About Kaline
“The kid murders you with his speed and arm. … He’s made some catches I still don’t believe. … I sort of hate to think what’ll happen when he grows up.” — Casey Stengel, 1955

“There’s a hitter. In my book he’s the greatest right-handed hitter in the league.” — Ted Williams in 1955.

“I wouldn’t trade him for Mantle OR Mays.” — Bob Scheffing, who managed Kaline from 1961-1963.

“I don’t want to sound like one of those guys who manages in Chicago and says this Chicago is the best, then manages in St. Louis and says this St. Louis player is the best. But I’ve been watching Kaline… and he’s the best player who ever played for me. Jackie Robinson was the most exciting runner I ever had… and Hank Aaron was the best hitter. But for all-around ability, I mean hitting, fielding, running and throwing, I’ll go with Al.” — Chuck Dressen, who was Kaline’s manager from 1963-1966.

Quotes From Kaline
“Baseball is a great job. You play six months a year and people do everything for you. All you have to do is play the games.”

“If you think you can hit, two strikes won’t mean anything to you.” — Kaline on the importance of confidence at the plate.

“I don’t deserve such a salary. I didn’t have a good season last year. This ballclub has been so fair and decent to me that I’d prefer to have you give it to me when I rate it.” — refusing the Tigers’ offer in 1971 of the club’s first $100,000 contract. Kaline earned that salary in 1972.

“The secret of being a good hitter is to wait for your pitch to hit, and then hit it.”

“I’d love to go to the Masters golf tournament and the Kentucky Derby, but I’ve never been able to. On the Fourth of July, I’d love to be at a lake instead of at the ballpark for two.” — Kaline in 1974, on his plans for retirement.

Factoid
Detroit’s Al Kaline refused to attend a World Series game until he played in one. In 1968, his 16th season in the big leagues, Kaline finally played in the Fall Classic, helping the Tigers to the World Championship.

All-Star Selections
1955 AL
1956 AL
1957 AL
1958 AL
1959 AL
1960 AL
1961 AL
1962 AL
1963 AL
1964 AL
1965 AL
1966 AL
1967 AL
1971 AL
1974 AL

Replaced
Bob Nieman and Don Lund had shared the Tigers’ right field job in 1953, but Steve Souchock was scheduled to play there in 1954. Souchock hurt his wrist while playing winter ball in Cuba and the door was open for Kaline that spring.

Replaced By
In Kaline’s final season he was used as a designated hitter. The following year, longtime teammate Willie Horton became the team’s DH. Kaline thought he could have played longer, but business interests allowed him to retire when he did.

“I believe I could have played two more years without embarrassing myself,” Kaline said.

Best Strength as a Player
His throwing arm. There are still people attending ballgames who can tell you stories about Kaline’s arm. For every person in Pittsburgh who can tell tales of Roberto Clemente’s arm, there’s another guy in Detroit who can tell you about Kaline. In one of his first seasons in the majors, Dale Mitchell hit a liner to right that Kaline doive for and barely missed. The ball trickled away from Kaline as Mitchell dug for what he thought would be a sure double. Kaline grabbed the ball and fired it to second from a sitting position, retiring Mitchell by a foot. In a game against the White Sox in his second season, Kaline used his powerful right arm to thwart several rallies. The Sox were a running team, known for their aggresive style on the basepaths. Early in the game, Freddie Marsh came around from second base trying to score on a single to Kaline in right. Al threw him out at home plate. The following inning, Minnie Minoso attempted to stretch a single down the right field line into a double, but Kaline nabbed him at second with a perfect throw. Later in the contest, Chico Carrasquel tested Kaline’s arm, trying to go from first to third on a single, but the young Tiger outfielder nailed him for his third assist of the game. The nine assists he recorded in 1954 were the most he ever had in his career. Essentially, opponents stopped running on Kaline’s arm.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Inability to stay healthy.

 

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