RIP Al Kaline

I'll just post the link and let our Michiganders fill in the rest.
Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers legend, dies at age 85

 

Shit

Al Kaline, beloved 'Mr. Tiger' and Baseball Hall of Famer, dies at 85

 

Legend has it that Kaline signed with the Tigers during or immediately after a HS game in Baltimore. I suspect the "during" part is false, but it's a great tale nonetheless.

 

One time in the late Eighties I was covering a game at Tiger Stadium which featured an old-timers' game.
It was 96 zillion degrees and steamy and stuffy as hell.
I watched most of the old-timers' game from the stands, then headed for the elevator to go to the press box. Just as I got in the elevator, Al Kaline got in, still toweling off from the shower and headed for the broadcast booth.
He shook his head and mopped his brow. "Pretty hot out there," I offered, congratulating myself for my witty observation.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Man, you're not kidding."
"Well, you looked pretty good out there." I think he made a couple catches and got a courtesy hit.
He let out a short chuckle. "Man, it ain't easy."
But for him, it always was.

 

Al Kaline and Harmon Killebrew were my 2 favourite MLB players in the 60s. Was always envious of Detroit having him and Gordie Howe as local stars.

 

Two Kaline stories

I was in the Tigers dugout and Al was talking to Ernie Harwell when he was spotted by a bunch of kids, he signed for a while then sat back down to resume his conversation. Some more kids came down to the dugout and called for him. Al said: “Do I have to go out there AGAIN!!!”
I thought: Yes you do, you’re Al Kaline
He took a deep breath, then went and signed more autographs

I was heading to the press box at Joe Louis Arena
I went by one box and Kaline was standing in front of it, talking with someone
I had a bunch of Detroit Sunday Journals with me, and I gave one to him, saying: “Hi Al, here’s a Sunday Journal.”
As I walked past, I heard his friend say, “Gee Al, I never knew you were a union man.”
He wasn’t

 

Scott Storbeck, a chef at Comerica Park and at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, made Kaline breakfast one day last month. Kaline, in typical fashion, was the only one in the dining room.

"When he finished, he came over and asked me, 'Is there anything I can do for you?'" Storbeck said. "I was more than a little taken aback, and not sure what he meant. I said, 'No sir, Mr Kaline, I’m fine. Thank you.' He said, 'Well, how about an autographed ball?' He signed it, put his arm around me and said, 'Thank you for everything you do around here.' He was the best."

'He will always be Mr. Tiger': Al Kaline, who spent 67 years with ballclub, dies at 85

 

This may come off kinda dumb, but did Kaline ever do any commercials for alkaline batteries?

If not, some advertising people ought have been fired.

 

Nope. I always wondered the same thing

 

MLB Network to air 1968 World Series Games 6 and 7 in Al Kaline's honor

 

Funny you say that. When I was a kid trading baseball cards, that's all I could of when it came to him, that he's the battery guy. I never saw him play and didn't know anything about him. But his name was spelled just like that word on the side of the AA batteries that ran my remote controlled cars, so he must have something to do with them.

 

His MLB debut preceded the alkaline battery's patent by four years.