Al Kaline
Albert " Al " William Kaline (born 19 December 1934 in Baltimore, Maryland ) is a former American professional baseball player in Major League Baseball.
Biography
Al Kaline spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers, for whom he played a total of 22 seasons. He was ordered directly from high school in the American League without going the way of the Minor Leagues. On June 25, 1953 he played his first game in the outfield the Tigers. For the first time in his life he was used there as right fielder. But mainly he came on as a pinch runner in his first season with his 30 missions. The 1955 season, he finished with a batting average of 34% and thus won the title of best batsman. Kaline was the youngest title holder in this category of all time, Ty Cobb was exactly one day older when he first beat title. This season he also scored 200 hits and finished second in the election of the MVP of the American League behind Yogi Berra. Also in 1963 he was only the second place behind Elston Howard, also of New York Yankees catcher as Berra in this election.
In 1968 he won with the Detroit Tigers to the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. In 1972 he took any part with the Tigers in the American League Championship Series against the Oakland Athletics, who clearly lost the Tigers in five games.
3007 hits were at the end of his career, the last game he played on October 2, 1974, his account. The 3000th Karrierehit he reached just in his hometown of Baltimore. With 399 home runs he leads the Tigers to today.
In 1980 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and his number 6 was not awarded as the first jersey number of the Detroit Tigers. After sporting career he remained true to the Tigers and worked as a television commentator for the team. In his honor, the former Cherry Street, which ran behind the left stands of Tiger Stadium, renamed Kaline Street. While Ty Cobb was more respected and feared than popular, Kaline was probably the most popular player in the history of the Tigers.