Al Kaline Biography & Throwback Jersey
Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer
You may be very surprised that one of Al Kaline's most coveted awards in his Hall of Fame career came after a rare off year for the slugging Detroit Tigers outfielder. Had anyone told you that Al Kaline would enjoy one of his finest moments in Autust of 1968 you would have said they were crazy. Consider that up until that point Kaline had missed six weeks with a broken wrist and only his .287. His 10 hrs and 53 rbi's were his lowest totals since his first full season in the Majors. Kaline's injured wrist forced hiim to give up his regular spot in right field to play first base while his wrist slowly healed.
The upside of this story is that the Detroit Tigers won the pennant behind the extraordinary pitching of Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. By the time that the Detroit Tigers first World Series in 23 years rolled around, Al Kaline was finally healed from his wrist injury.
In the 1968 World Series the Detroit Tigers were facing the heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals let by their flame throwing ace, Bob Gibson. Al Kaline proved to the rest of the baseball world what the Detroit Tiger fans already knew. Kaline was a true Major League super star. Putting his regular season troubles behind him, Kaline focused all of his attention on one objective, and that was to win the World Series.
Detroit didn't get off to a very good start in the 1968 World Series. The Tigers only won one game in the first four of the series falling behind in the series 3 games to 1. Kaline was always best in the clutch, and with Detroit losing 3-2 in game 5, Al Kaline stepped up to the plate with the bases jammed in the bottom of the 7th and stroked a 2 run single that eventually won the game for Detroit and kept them alive in the series.
In game 6, Kaline stroked his 2nd home run of the World Series in a 13-1 Tigers blowout. Over the course of the entire series Kaline hit .379 and drove in 8 runs and six runs himself. Kaline's offensive output and flawless fielding led Detroit to a 7 game upset over the heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals. It would be Kaline's only World Series Championship season, but one worth savoring forever.
Al Kaline's Timeline Biography
- Born : December 19th, 1934 in Baltimore, Maryland
- Age 12 : Goes 10-0 pitching in South Baltimore Little League
- Age 15 : Converts to play the outfield by his high school coach. He hits .333 as a freshmen.
- Age 18 : Kaline hits .488 as a high school senior. He signs with the Detroit Tigers for $15,000 bonus and salary of equal value. Makes Major League debut one week later.
- 1955 : Hits .340 to win the batting title.
- 1957 : Kaline captures the Gold Glove award for right fielders in the first year that it was awarded.
- 1961 : Al Kaline wins the Gold glove for center fielders. Leads the American League with 41 doubles.
- 1968 : Hits .379 to lead the Detroit Tigers to a World Series Victory.
- 1974 : Collects 3000th hit against the Baltimore Orioles.
Al Kaline's Throwback Jersey (Gray, and White) - Detroit Tigers
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