Detroit legend ‘Mr Tiger’ passes away at 85
LOS ANGELES: Detroit great Al Kaline, who spent 22 years with the Tigers and led them to a World Series title in 1968, died on Monday at the age of 85, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The Free Press said a close friend of Kaline’s family confirmed he had passed away at his home in suburban Bloomfield Hills.
The cause of death was not immediately given.
Kaline, whose storied tenure with the club earned him the nickname “Mr Tiger,” notched 3,007 hits with 399 home runs in a career that saw him gain 18 All-Star team nods and 10 Gold Glove Awards.
A Baltimore native, Kaline joined the Tigers at 18, straight out of high school in 1953 and never spent a day in the minor leagues.
He was just 20 when he won the American League batting title in 1955 — the first 20-year-old to win a Major League batting title since Ty Cobb in 1907.
Kaline was sidelined for part of the 1968 season with a broken arm, and when he returned was used mostly as a pinch-hitter or at first base rather than at his usual outfield position.
After the Tigers clinched the AL Pennant, manager Mayo Smith started him in the World Series and Kaline batted .379 with two homers and eight runsbatted-in as Detroit beat the St Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Former Tigers star pitcher Justin Verlander paid tribute to Kaline on Twitter on Monday, calling Kaline “a kind and generous man who meant so much to so many. I am honoured to have been able to call you my friend for all these years.”
The Tigers retired Kaline’s No.6 in 1980, the same year that he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.