Al Kaline, Mr Tiger passed today

[irisblue]

www.freep.com/

Snip--"Al Kaline, who in a long and unique Detroit Tigers lifetime grew from youthful batting champion to Hall of Famer to distinguished elder statesman, died Monday afternoon at his home in Bloomfield Hills. He was 85.

Snip--"In 22 seasons with the Tigers, most of them as a marvelous right fielder, Kaline played in more games and hit more homers than anyone else in club history, and he compiled a batting résumé second only to Ty Cobb’s.

But while Cobb was widely reviled for his bitterness and meanness, Kaline was eminently respected for his on-field elegance and off-field graciousness.


snip--"I just played ball.”

Kaline signed with the Tigers the morning after he graduated from high school — and made his major-league debut a week later. He would never play in the minors. He would never wear any uniform but Detroit’s."


For a certain time, on Saturday and Sunday, my father listened to baseball games with me. 😢

[gibraltar72]

1. Wife just informed me, what a man of grace.

Childhood, actually whole life hero. Such a humble man. Just a boy when he came to Detroit, but what a man.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. "At the corner of Michigan and Trumbull"

RIP, old hand.

[zonkers]

3. I remember the Tigers as a boy... Kaline. Lolich D. McClane. Horton. That was a team.

[superpatriotman]

4. Me too!

And early 70’s players like Rodriguez, Staub, Fidrych, Leflore, those were the days!

[Patterson]

5. He was my hero. The first thing I bought on eBay was an autographed Al Kaline picture

[NightWatcher]

6. The only Tiger King! I still use my 70's Al Kaline Wilson glove

RIP

[Atticus]

7. When I was a Little Leaguer, 60+ years ago, I somehow acquired several small

(3" x 5 " or so) pulp paper pamphlets of about 8 pages each in which major league baseball stars gave tips on now to play their position. After all these years, I remember just two names: Peewee Reese and Al Kaline. Reese was the "Mr. Shortstop" of his day, but if you were a chubby kid who usually got stuck in right field because "no one hits it there", Al Kaline was your hero.

He and Stan "The Man" Musial were widely considered two of the true "gentlemen" of major league baseball. Another legend has passed.

[Mendocino]

8. Went from high school

directly to the bigs, never played a day in the minors. Hit .340 at the age of 20.

[Kingofalldems]

9. I remember having his baseball card from 1954 I believe.

I think he and Killebrew were 18 and in the majors.

[Red Raider 85]

10. A sad, sad day for baseball.

What a gracious, classy gentleman. If you didn't know him, just picture the exact opposite of Donny Trump and you would have Al Kaline.

[greblach]

11. One of the all time Greats

Al Kaline was a Tiger, how I remember baseball....

[roamer65]

12. RIP, Al.

[kwassa]

13. I saw him play when I was very young.

Tiger Stadium, old-time wooden stadium. We had popcorn served in small paper megaphones that were used to cheer on the team after the last of the popcorn dropped out of the bottom. We had to lean around a big wooden column to see the game. Stadiums have changed a bit since then. Kaline was a star then.