Detroit Tigers Legend Al Kaline dies at the age of 85

wxyz Detroit ^ | 04/06/2020 | Max White

[dfwgator]

The Year of the Tiger - 1968

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S6c2va0ulc

I had this record as a kid, wish I’d kept it.

[SunkenCiv]

LOL!

I see what you did there.

He spent some years as a broadcaster as well, miss those days and those Tigers.

[PBRCat]

My first Louisville Slugger was the Al Kaline model.

[grey_whiskers]

I believe he actually did lead the league in total bases in ‘68 or so.

[Rummyfan]

A Baltimore kid who made it to the bigs and ultimately all the way to the Hall of Fame. RIP Al Kaline.

[JBW1949]

Mickey Mantle was also my favorite ball player!!!!

(Just looked at your home page...It brought goosebumps to this old Vietnam vet...THANK YOU...)

[Rummyfan]

Hit .379 with 8 RBIs in the 1968 World Series, which was also the last one for Hall of Famer Eddie Matthews.

And that was a heckuva Series. Tigers came back from down to 3 - 1 to win. Mickey Lolich outshone Bob Gibson over the length of The Series, even though Gibson pitched an absolute masterpiece in Game 1.

[nascarnation]

In Cleveland when I was a kid, they sold these potato chips. I remember asking my mom why they had Al Kaline's name on the container.

[stevem]

I was an Al Kaline fan.

Nevertheless, I live and grew up in Minnesota. My favorite Detroit Tiger memory was an event that I can't find anywhere recorded.

My favorite MLB player in my life and I'm pushing 70, is/was Harmon Killebrew. He was the first right-handed hitter to ever hit a ball out of Tiger Stadium over the roof in left field. It was only done about three times, and Killebrew did it X 2. (Frank Howard did it once.)

Our local TV station used to handle 50 live games per year when the Twins were on the road. One of those was in Detroit. Killebrew hit one of those out of the stadium in a night game. When Killebrew connected, the Tiger cameraman focused in 1 tenth of 1 second on Rocky Colavito who was playing left field. Colavito barely moved. He just turned to face the fence and pointed up.

My Dad was a Kaline fan, too. It was likely my Dad who instilled in me a love for MLB.

[Rummyfan]

Not Kaline and Pussy Galore in the same day!!

Who will be the third?!

[RckyRaCoCo]

Still have a scrapbook with newspaper clippings, etc. BB cards of Kaline, Cash, Horton, Stanley, Lolich, McLain, Freehan...

"we're all behind our baseball team...

What a lift after '67.

[NobleFree]

So good that they named a battery for him.

How good was Al Cohol?

[riverdawg]

I have Kaline’s autograph on a baseball that was passed around and signed by a bunch of barnstorming major leaguers during a game in my hometown in October 1959. Also signed by Harmon Killebrew, Frank Bolling, Jim Lemon, Dick Williams, Cal McLish, Jim Bunning, and Paul Foytack, among others. I was able to sit in the dugout for several innings until a hard-hit foul ball ricocheted around the dugout and I was ushered out. I remember sitting next to Jim Bunning for awhile.

[Rummyfan]

In any case, he was an 18x all-star, had +3,000 hits, and 399 HRs. Those are (or should be) HOF numbers in any era.

Indeed.

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

Winner! His nickname was, appropriately enough, ‘Old Salty’

[yarddog]

I remember that series too. Denny McClain won 30 games that year but had a sore arm for the series. They gave him a shot of cortisone and he won the last game.

[Vermont Lt]

There was an NFL HOF player from the Redskins. Mitchell? He was before my time.

[stevem]

Another boy of summer gone. Sigh. Kaline was not a superstar by today’s standards but he was a solid consistent player in all phases of the game. One of the last roll models.

He also had a cannon for an arm...and it was accurate.

[basalt]

even after his playing days were over, he was an outstanding broadcaster for the Tiges...what a classy great American...

[elcid1970]

The Brooklyn Dodgers had a pitcher named Al Koholic. Don’t know what became of him after they moved to LA in 1958.