Al Kaline Marquee Hall of Fame 1980

b. December 19, 1934 · Detroit Tigers 1953–1974

Detroit signed him out of a Baltimore high school and put him on the major-league roster without a day in the minors. He debuted in June 1953, eighteen years old. Two years later he led the American League with 200 hits, batting .340 with 27 home runs and 102 driven in, still twenty.

That stayed his best season, and he built the rest out of consistency: ten Gold Gloves, fifteen All-Star seasons, 41 doubles to lead the league in 1961, the Roberto Clemente Award in 1973. The 399 home runs accumulated without a single thirty-homer year, and left him one short of 400.

On September 24, 1974, in Baltimore, in the final month of his twenty-second season, he got hit number 3,000. He played his last game the following week, then stayed with the Tigers for the rest of his life, in the broadcast booth and afterward in the front office. He died in 2020.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	15	1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1974
Gold Glove	10	1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967
The Sporting News All-Star	5	1955, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967
The Sporting News Player of the Year	2	1955, 1963
Hutch Award	1	1969
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award	1	1968
Player of the Month	1	1974
Roberto Clemente Award	1	1973

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1953	DET	30	28	9	7	0	0	1	2	1	5	1	.250
1954	DET	138	504	42	139	18	3	4	43	22	45	9	.276
1955	DET	152	588	121	200	24	8	27	102	82	57	6	.340
1956	DET	153	617	96	194	32	10	27	128	70	55	7	.314
1957	DET	149	577	83	170	29	4	23	90	43	38	11	.295
1958	DET	146	543	84	170	34	7	16	85	54	47	7	.313
1959	DET	136	511	86	167	19	2	27	94	72	42	10	.327
1960	DET	147	551	77	153	29	4	15	68	65	47	19	.278
1961	DET	153	586	116	190	41	7	19	82	66	42	14	.324
1962	DET	100	398	78	121	16	6	29	94	47	39	4	.304
1963	DET	145	551	89	172	24	3	27	101	54	48	6	.312
1964	DET	146	525	77	154	31	5	17	68	75	51	4	.293
1965	DET	125	399	72	112	18	2	18	72	72	49	6	.281
1966	DET	142	479	85	138	29	1	29	88	81	66	5	.288
1967	DET	131	458	94	141	28	2	25	78	83	47	8	.308
1968	DET	102	327	49	94	14	1	10	53	55	39	6	.287
1969	DET	131	456	74	124	17	0	21	69	54	61	1	.272
1970	DET	131	467	64	130	24	4	16	71	77	49	2	.278
1971	DET	133	405	69	119	19	2	15	54	82	57	4	.294
1972	DET	106	278	46	87	11	2	10	32	28	33	1	.313
1973	DET	91	310	40	79	13	0	10	45	29	28	4	.255
1974	DET	147	558	71	146	28	2	13	64	65	75	2	.262
Career	—	2834	10116	1622	3007	498	75	399	1583	1277	1020	137	.297

On this day & linked events

1934

Born December 19, 1934

Baltimore, MD, USA

2020

Died April 6, 2020

1953

Major-league debut: Al Kaline

Al Kaline made a major-league debut on June 25, 1953.

1955

Al Kaline's Three-Home-Run Game, 1955

Al Kaline hit three home runs for the Detroit Tigers against the Kansas City Athletics on April 17, 1955.

1974

Al Kaline's 3,000th Hit

Al Kaline reaches 3,000 hits in Baltimore in the final month of his twenty-second and last season, all of them for Detroit.

1974

Final major-league game: Al Kaline

Al Kaline played a final major-league game on October 2, 1974.

Image: Public domain