Al Kaline
From BR Bullpen
Albert William Kaline
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.
- Debut June 25, 1953
- Final Game October 2, 1974
- Born December 19, 1934 in Baltimore, MD USA
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1980
[edit] Biographical Information
Al Kaline was a teen phenom, at age 19 taking over as regular right fielder for the Detroit Tigers in 1954. He was signed by Tiger scout (later an executive) Ed Katalinas, who told the front office that he was a better player than the starting outfield they had. In 1955, he leapt into stardom, winning the batting championship, the youngest champion ever at 20, younger by one day than Ty Cobb. He played on for two decades, never winning another batting title but finishing in the top three in the league five more times. He hit 399 home runs although he didn't think of himself as a slugger, and was honored with 10 Gold Gloves.
Though not as famous as Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle, his overall skills of batting for average, power plus his speed and fielding ranked second in the American League for his career, next to Mickey Mantle. He had a wonderful throwing arm, best in the American League combining power and accuracy. His Gray Ink score, a way of measuring how often a player is among the league leaders in offensive categories, is 228, well over the average Hall of Famer's score of 144. Curiously, he retired one short of 400 career homers. Unfortunately, his career BA finally slipped under .300 at the end of his Tiger career.
On top of it all, he was a true gentleman. He won the first Roberto Clemente Award which honored his fine qualities as a human being. Later, he long served as a Tiger broadcaster, with another old Tiger hero and batting champ, George Kell.
Kaline used the DH role in his final season to get over the 3,000 career hit mark.
He makes the "Cool Names" list because some fans have noticed that his names when pushed together make the word "alkaline".
- 10-time Gold Glove winner as an outfielder.
- He slugged .655 in the 1968 World Series, which the Tigers won.
- Tigers broadcaster from 1976 to 2001.
- First Baseball Card appearance 1954 Topps
- Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 9, 1980 by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
"I wasn't meant to be a superstar. I'm no Willie Mays, or Mickey Mantle," said Kaline.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 15-time AL All-Star (1955-1967, 1971 & 1974)
- 10-time Gold Glove Winner (1957/ML-RF, 1958/AL-RF, 1959/AL-CF & 1961-1967/AL-OF)
- AL Batting Average Leader (1955)
- AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1959)
- AL OPS Leader (1959)
- AL Hits Leader (1955)
- AL Total Bases Leader (1955)
- AL Doubles Leader (1961)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 9 (1955-1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967 & 1969)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 3 (1955, 1956 & 1963)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1955 & 1961)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1955)
- Won a World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1968
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1980
