Of all the players to wear the Old English D, only one can truly be called "Mr. Tiger."

.... He is Al Kaline, more revered, respected and admired than any Tiger in their long history.
Sure there were guys who put up much better offensive numbers like Greenberg or Cobb... guys who instilled more passion from the fans like Cash or Gibson or Fidrych... but no one- no one in Tiger history has become as synonymous with the Tigers as Albert William Kaline- a first ballot Hall of Famer! Kaline, as every true Tiger fan knows, never played a day in the minors... he was signed as a bonus baby in the early '50s right out of a Baltimore high school for $30,000- a HUGE sum in that day. The bonus baby rule stated that any kid receiving a bonus of more than $6,000 must spend two full years on a major league roster- and that wasn't easy for most of them.
Imagine... you're 18 and you're thrown into a situation where it's almost impossible to succeed- you're overmatched by the pitching, the veterans resent you for taking a roster spot away from one of their old buddies... you almost never play... not too many of these guys really made it. Even Koufax languished for a good long time on the Brooklyn Dodger bench before he found himself.
But Kaline was different… right from the beginning. A stringbean at 6 feet and only 175 pounds, he already could hit for decent power… he picked up his first major league hit off Luis Aloma at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, a grounder through the infield. 7/22/53-… the Tigers spent quite a bit of time looking at him as an infielder before forgetting that notion late in the season… he ended with a batting average of .250- not bad for a kid who, at that time last year, hadn’t played his final high school season! And he was known already as a great fielder with already quite possibly the best arm in any major league outfield.

…and at his first spring training, he already showed that he had the right stuff… batted .455, was the fastest man on the club, had the best arm, and was very good with the glove as he won a starting position at 19 years of age and was given the famous number 6. He was an immediate sensation, hitting well and playing great defense as the team got off to a very good start. His average flattened a bit as the season went on, but the team felt he would develop into a very good hitter.

He gained momentum that rookie year, moving his average up toward .280… his range in the outfield actually forced the Tigers to remove a section of stands which jutted out in the right field corner to protect their young star from a serious injury… this area soon became known as Kaline’s Corner.
But 1955 was to be his breakout year with the bat… he nailed 3 homers in one early season game against the brand new Kansas City Athletics, including 2 in one inning!, and the Detroit papers ran his childhood pictures with a sailor boy suit and a Buster Brown haircut… ”I know I’m dreaming… somebody wake me up,” he exclaimed, returning to the dugout after the 3rd smash… By July he was hitting in the .370s and setting the league on fire… surprising power which was, according to Boston's legendary Ted Williams, generated by his quick wrists which helped him to place second in homers and RBIs… and he was the 3rd leading vote-getter in All Star Game voting with well over 2 million tallies…. AND there was even talk of the Triple Crown! In the Midsummer Classic hosted by the Milwaukee Braves at County Stadium, he ripped a double off 3rd baseman Eddie Matthews… who would join him in the 1968 World Series. Despite a series of nagging injuries he held onto his lead to become the youngest player ever to win a batting championship at .340... while collecting exactly 200 hits and nailing 27 homers! Quite a sophomore season!
He got off to a bit of a slow start in ’56… part sophomore jinx, part nagging injuries which started with a sore arm in spring training, but finished with a strong second half, once again batting over .300 (.314) with good power- another 27 homers with an outstanding 127 RBIs.

… and as a kid, he was constantly being compared to Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio for their similarities in batting style, swing and gracefulness in the field… Al matched one of Joe’s achievements in 1957 when he hit 2 homers in one inning against the Kansas City Athletics!

In 1959, he was switched with Harvey Kuenn into center field where he made spectacular plays and proved what a great defensive player he was… probably the best defensive outfielder of his time, bar none… not Mays or Clemente could cover the ground Kaline did and no one had a better throwing arm.

... but right rield was really his natural and best position and where he spent most of his career. Injuries took their toll in many year, especially in 1962 and 1967 when the Tigers' pennant chances were dealt severe blows from number six going down. In '62, a broken collarbone early in the season on a great game-saving catch in Yankee Stadium cost the team a legitimate pennant chance, one year after they'd won 100 games, but still finished second to the Mantle-Maris jaugernaut. In '67, an uncharacteristic temper outburst- after striking out in Cleveland, Kaline smashed his bat back into the bat rack and caught his finger... this cost him several weeks of action- the Tigers lost the pennant that year by ONE game- ONE game which could surely have been made up by Six' presence in the Tiger lineup.
But vindication came in 1968- a pennant to which a older, slower Kaline still contributed greatly. The World Series was another testament to his greatness as he reclaimed his right field spot after Mickey Stanley moved to shortstop... and a good thing- Kaline belted the ball for a series average of .379 with 8 RBIs.
... but Al was getting on in years, and ballplayers usually didn't play as long in those days. He put together some more decent years in spite of nagging injuries... hit .313 in 1972 as the Tigers won the Eastern Division championship.
He finally called in quits in '74... 22 seasons... 399 home runs to lead the all-time Tigers list... 10 gold gloves... the respect and admiration of everyone in the game... as proof, look at his lifetime batting stats- very impressive, but not totally overwhelming- but he was a first year Hall of Fame selection- the voters were still tremendously impressed with his glove and arm.

And he stayed in the public eye... announced Tiger games with the great George Kell for many years... pretty rough in the beginning, but he steadily improved and was never afraid to give his opinion... and still stays involved in the operations of the team to this day.

A FEW NOTES:

In August of 1954, he reached across the plate and lined a pitchout to right field for a single

He was the youngest to win the batting title by one day and the player he beat out was Ty Cobb another Tiger all-time great!

He suffered, since childhood, from osteomyelitis, the same bone disease which hindered Mickey Mantle’s career.

In 1959 a Chicago White Sox player held the ball while arguing with an umpire… Kaline alertly scored to win the game. The Sox player? Stormin’ Norman Cash!

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