Your friend Jim George thinks you'd be a great addition to Ricochet, so we'd like to offer you a special deal: You can become a member for no initial charge for one month!
Ricochet is a community of like-minded people who enjoy writing about and discussing politics (usually of the center-right nature), culture, sports, history, and just about every other topic under the sun in a fully moderated environment. We’re so sure you’ll like Ricochet, we’ll let you join and get your first month for free. Kick the tires: read the always eclectic member feed, write some posts, join discussions, participate in a live chat or two, and listen to a few of our over 50 (free) podcasts on every conceivable topic, hosted by some of the biggest names on the right, for 30 days on us. We’re confident you’re gonna love it.
Baseball great Al Kaline
Reds fan, but spent a few summers in Tiger country as a kid. I sort of followed Sparky to the Tigers and Sweet Lou, Lance Parrish, et. al.. That team won a World Series, too, but I remember so much talk of Al Kaline, and you can’t help but explore when the name so closely follows the franchise. With great respect, RIP.
Another part of my childhood gone.
I miss the baseball of my youth in which each team was characterized by it’s permanent stars like Kaline. Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Brooks Robinson, Bill Mazeroski, Nellie Fox, Whitey Ford… In the modern era of rootless big money, fixed-star guys like Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter and Kirby Puckett are the exception and not the rule.
Al Kaline routinely hammered the Senators, especially at home. I got to see him play in person in DC in ‘62 or ‘63–I think he was out with an injury on one of the occasions he came to DC and my father took us to the game. Can’t recall.
Very solid, admirable guy.
If this happened today the player would be put through a concussion protocol and not return to the field for several days as a precautionary measure even if the results were negative. Instead, Kaline missed just one game and then played the final two of the season against the Indians going 3 for 8 with a triple, home run, and driving in five runs.
Here’s another injury to Kaline. In 1962 Kaline got off to a great start hitting .336 and slugging .671 with 13 HR in the teams first 36 games (a 58 HR pace). In that 36th game Kaline made a diving catch of a sinking line drive off the bat of Elston Howard with one on and two out in the 9th inning to save a 2-1 win over the Yanks at Yankee Stadium on May 26. However, he broke his collarbone on the play and missed a couple of months. He ended the season with 29 HR in 100 games (a 47 HR pace). Here’s a discussion of that play and here’s the box score.
Thanks Mark. Didn’t know about this event.
Oh that 1968 team! Detroit was aflame and sorely needed all those boys to do exactly what they did—win.
Here is a fun video showcasing Kaline and the great Tiger Stadium. No matter where you sat, infield, outfield, upper deck, you felt like you were a part of the action. They don’t make ’em like that any more…players or stadiums.
I only saw two, maybe three games in the old Tiger Stadium. The last time we got tickets way down the left field line, on the 2nd level. I didn’t expect much, but those seats were actually pretty good. The seats were angled such that it seemed like we were watching over the shoulder of the shortstop.
What a fine player and man! Became a young fan in ’61 season while the Tigers were coming in second to the home run Yankees of the Maris/Mantle race to break 60. Cash won the batting title (with a corked bat lol) hit 41 hrs , Rocky hit 45 , Frank Lary won 23, Jim Bunning won 19 and led the league in strikeouts …. and Kaline hit 324 … lol was the first year I started following stats of any kind …. as a result followed him the rest of his career ….. AND he was a picture book fielder with an arm!
What a great trivia tidbit. I’d love to see the complete list of such players.
I really dig this about Kaline. Defense is under-appreciated in most sports.
I stopped following baseball after the 1994-95 strike (not out of bitterness, just fell out of the habit), but I retain a deep affection for the game, its history, and its place in American culture. Thanks for the post, @tigerlily, I always like reading what you have to say about baseball.
He had a gun for an arm.
The seats at Tiger Stadium were affordable. I am not a big baseball fan, nor was I raised in the area, but the seats at Tiger stadium were cheap enough that you could afford to go to a game on a whim. Very pleasant.
He was one of the greats. Filled right field for the Tigers at an All-Star level for 2 decades.
The 1968 Tigers will always live in my heart.
One memory sticks with me.
A Detroit paper was asking for readers to come up with a nickname for the seemingly nickname-less Kaline.
The entry I liked best – Salty (alkaline)
Thanks Charlotte. Appreciate the very nice compliment.
Salty is a cool nickname, but alkaline would be Bitter, which would not be an appropriate nickname for Al Kaline,
I also miss those great old days of baseball. If I ever got made Queen of All That is, no stadium would be named after some Global Conglomerate that has screwed the consumers over some 9 times to Friday.
No reason at all while stadiums cannot each be named after the local team’s top hero, rather than Mega Corporation-of-Applied-Torture-&-No-Customer- Service Stadium. (Plus it is usually the taxpayers who foot the bill for the stadiums, so why the corporate glorification?)
How did the 1968 tigers beat bob gibson and the cardinals???
The Tigers got to Gibson in the seventh inning of game seven. He gave up two hits with two outs, then Curt Flood misjudged a line drive to center field. He headed in initially, then had to reverse himself and run out but the ball got past him and two runs scored.
did Denny McLain bet on game 7?
Probably. He was there.