Kaline’s Hall of Fame career began in 1953 and spanned 22 big league seasons all spent with the Tigers. His resume pops: 15 All-Star game appearances, 10 Gold Gloves and four top-five MVP finishes. The statistics are eye-catching, too: 3,007 hits, 399 home runs and a .297 career average.
But the legacy of Al Kaline is summarized far better by his Mr. Tiger monicker. It encompasses all of his well-earned honors on the field, but more so, what he meant to the city of Detroit. He made his debut for the Tigers as an 18-year-old kid near the end of the 1953 season without a minor league game under his belt, meaning he never stepped foot on a professional diamond as a member of any other team.
Kaline finished third on the 1954 Rookie of the Year ballot. The next year, at the age of 20, he was the MVP runner-up, and he finished third the year after that. He stood out beyond the traditional measures, too. He walked 257 more times than he struck out and was a rare player known as much for his glove as his bat. Right field at Comerica Park is immortalized as “Kaline’s corner.”
He never won MVP, didn’t end his career with a .300 average or hit 400 home runs. He never even hit 30 home runs in a season. But while he wasn’t in the spotlight like Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays, he nonetheless became baseball royalty as a humble kid from Baltimore who focused on effort, discipline and defense. He was Mr. Tiger.
