Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Al Kaline. In a career that lasted twenty-two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Kaline established himself as one of the greatest players in Tigers franchise history and one of the greatest all-around Right Fielders in baseball history. Despite playing on many Tiger teams that were average to below average, that didn’t stop Kaline from carving out a Hall of Fame worthy career. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1953-1974):

.297 BA 3,007 HITS 399 HR 1,582 RBI 1,622 RUNS .376 OBP

  • 18x All-Star
  • 10x Gold Glove Award
  • 1968 World Series Champion
  • 1973 Roberto Clemente Award

As an Offensive Player:

At the plate, it’s fair to say that Kaline was an all-around hitter. Kaline batted .300 or higher nine times and won the Batting Title in 1955 at the age of 20, the youngest to ever do it. As well as hitting 20+ home runs in a year multiple times, he also drove in 100+ RBIs three times, averaging 90 per season for a career. At the plate, Kaline had an excellent eye, drawing more Walks (1,277) in his career than the amount he struck out (1,020). Kaline was one of those hitters whose prime years occurred during the Dominant Starting Pitching Era (1962-1968), in which the strike zones were extended, giving hitters an even more significant obstacle. Considering that 1962-68 were his age 27-33 seasons, imagine how much better numbers Kaline would’ve put up.

As a Defender:

Kaline played 2,031 of his 2,625 career games in Right Field. His lifetime Fielding Percentage in Right Field was .985%, .007 higher than the league average throughout 16,860.1 Innings. Among all-time Right Fielders, he ranks 9th all-time with 3,767 Putouts. Also, he took home ten Gold Glove Awards throughout eleven seasons. Also worthy of note is Kaline spent 4,023 Innings playing Center Field, and his .988 fielding percentage was .004 higher than the average among other center fielders.

Best Years:

Kaline finished top-5 in the MVP voting four times in his long career, finishing runner-up twice in 1955 and 1963. In 1955, at 20, he became the youngest to win the batting title. I would say 1955 was his best season, where he led the majors in Hits and had the highest OBP of his career. The following year, he finished 3rd in the MVP voting, having a career-high in RBIs (128). 

1955: .340 BA 200 HITS 27 HR 102 RBI 121 RUNS .421 OBP

1956: .314 BA 194 HITS 27 HR 128 RBI 96 RUNS .383 OBP

1963: .312 BA 172 HITS 27 HR 101 RBI 89 RUNS .375 OBP

Legacy:

I bet it was definitely refreshing for both Kaline and the fans who cheered him on for so many years when the Tigers won the World Series in 1968, sixteen years into Kaline’s career. In that series, he hit .379 (11 for 29), along with two home runs and eight RBIs. In his final season, Kaline eclipsed the 3,000 Hit milestone, which would end up cementing him a spot in the Hall of Fame. There is nothing like a great player only playing in one uniform for their entire career, which is what Kaline did. When you factor in that his prime years took place in the Dominant Starting Pitching Era, as well as playing on many mediocre to below teams, one could only imagine how much better his numbers would’ve been. His #6 jersey was the first to be retired by the Tigers in 1980. In 1999, he was ranked #76 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Ballplayers ever.

References:

  1. Al Kaline via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Kaline#
  2. Al Kaline Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kalinal01.shtml