Saturday was Al Kaline's 75th birthday and to mark the occasion, the Detroit Free Press asked it's readers to forward some of their memories of this Detroit icon.
To back up a bit, growing up in Detroit in the 1960's and 1970's, I can tell you that Al Kaline literally was thought of as a god and baseball here started and ended with Al Kaline. Yes, the Tigers had other beloved players like Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, Norm Cash etc but Al Kaline was #1 in the Tiger pantheon with #2 nowhere close to him. It would be hard to describe to an outsider just how iconic Al Kaline was (and to some extent still is) in this town.
Nationally, everybody knows the great stars from the large markets like New York (and by extension Brooklyn), Chicago and Los Angeles but the smaller markets had their heroes as well. St. Louis had Stan Musial, Pittsburgh had Roberto Clemente and a friend of mine from Philadelphia told me that unless you are from Philly, you cannot appreciate how much Richie Ashburn is loved there. I believe it because we experienced something like that with Al Kaline, a player who is not revered nationally.
I could go on and on about Al Kaline but I will just say that Kaline is still employed by the Tigers and is a regular at the ballpark. He is a humble "man of the people" and is quite approachable and while I am sure that it has happened once or twice, I can't see him refusing an autograph for a fan. I don't think I have ever heard a negative word about Al Kaline. I will leave it at that.
Well, anyway back to the fan's memories of Kaline as submitted to the paper. All were good and many spoke of Al's openness and kindness with the fans but one submission stood out for me above the rest.
Here it is:
"Al Kaline played his first full season with the Detroit Tigers in 1953 at the age of 18 years old. I was 12 years old at the time and my buddies and I found out that the new rookie, Al Kaline, had moved to Oak Park and lived a couple blocks from me. Of course, we were huge Tiger fans so we'd ride our bikes by his house several times a day, hoping to see him. We also made sure we had our ball gloves and a baseball or two with us.
One day we saw him in his front yard and we asked him if he'd play catch with us. He did so for about 15 minutes and it was definitely a special day in my young life. We were in awe of him but he was so nice and also kind of shy so we liked him that much more.
Happy 75th birthday, Al.
Wanna play catch?
Dan McKane, Canton"
I bet that he would still do it today.
Al Kaline? All ours.
3 comments:
A class act all the way. I was also impressed to learn that he was recognized at a national level. He was signing in Cooperstown for a Hall of Fame induction a couple of years ago, and his line was among the longest I saw (Willie Mays was the other). When a young(er) fan asked who was signing and was surprised to hear it was Kaline, he asked, "I wonder why his line is so long." The response, from a number of non-Tigers fans in line was, because he was a tremendous outfielder--one of the best there was.
So there you go!
My dad tells me he was at a game where Kaline gunned a guy out at third from the right field corner. I wish there was more game footage available.
Love da Kaline. I think one reason he is so loved is not only was he great, but as you mention, he was up and great at a very young age.
I think it's very similar to how Seattle folks still feel about Ken Griffey Jr.
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