Al Kaline

Al Kaline (born December 19, 1934, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.—died April 6, 2020, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) was an American professional baseball player, an outfielder who was a preeminent fielder and hitter, batting and throwing right-handed.

Kaline started playing sandlot baseball before he went to school. Many in his family had been in semiprofessional baseball. At first he wanted to be a pitcher, but at Southern High School in Baltimore, Maryland, he was considered too small to pitch and too frail for the infield and so became an outfielder. He was signed to a contract by the American League Detroit Tigers in mid-season of 1953 and immediately went to the majors; thus, Kaline has the unusual distinction for a major leaguer of never having played in the minor leagues.

In 1955 Kaline hit 27 home runs, the youngest player to do so, and his .340 batting average led the league. From 1968 he played at first base. In the 1968 World Series, which Detroit won, Kaline batted .379, with eight runs batted in (RBIs). In 1971 he played the entire season without an error during a streak of 242 consecutive errorless games. Kaline made his 3,000th hit on September 24, 1974, and retired soon after, having played his entire career with the Tigers. During his career he won 10 Gold Gloves as an outfielder.

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From 1976 to 2001 Kaline was a Tigers broadcaster, and he later joined the team’s front office. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.