The movie "61*" about Roger Maris in 1961 is a name-dropper with Kaline a couple times, as I recall. The scriptwriter wanted a familiar name from Detroit to spice the story in a couple places. Let's see, what name to use? Kaline was certainly up on the marquee but so was Rocky Colavito. Colavito had a stretch of his prime with the Tigers, as he hit 45 home runs in 1961, but he ended up being associated with the Cleveland Indians.
The name Al Kaline evokes Tiger-based memories of the era better than any. Yes, Kaline's career was stellar but for the purpose of recording his story, it's really rather dull. Media writers like myself - "jackals" as Jesse Ventura would say - can be attracted to career low points which then set the stage for a dramatic comeback. Ideally, however, wouldn't it be best to have a career road map that always pushes forward without any mistakes or vices/peccadilloes or family misfortune coming into the picture to cloud things?
IMHO the trouble-free template is certainly the ideal. We laud Al Kaline on the truly model life he has lived. His career in baseball was long and distinguished, all in the Motor City. As a child I checked out his mid-career biography, "The Al Kaline Story," from my elementary school library. Sports stories were a magnet getting me to develop my literacy. The bio was authored by Al Hirshberg. I also checked out "The Eddie Mathews Story," also by Hirshberg.
The books followed the standard for sportswriting of the era. Writers respected the same ethos as the media people surrounding JFK. Writers felt they needed to project an ideal, an image worthy of following for young people. The deconstruction period of the 1960s cast these books in a questionable light. Most markedly, the book "Ball Four" trashed the template, as in it author Jim Bouton directly criticized the established form of sports bio writing. He talked about the bio that I believe was written for Carl Yastrzemski - pat me on the back for typing that last name correctly - that had "Yas" answer questions into a tape recorder.
Bouton's argument was that such books were bound to be superficial. Well yes they're superficial, just like the World War II movies up through the 1960s omitted a lot that was unpleasant. But was this really an ethical issue? People like the late Hirshberg (1909-1973) would be proud of their work. I have fond memories of reading both the books re. Kaline and Mathews. Was I naive? Was I naive for enjoying WWII movies that omitted gruesome details of war?
One can argue that human failings become all too evident around us, and we needn't be so openly reminded of it all, the mendacity, the confusion, the pain, the pettiness. So we read a book like "The Al Kaline Story" and are impressed by how the guy developed his talents and found so much consistent success. He had success and longevity in spades. He was a star when very young and spent his whole career with one team.
I grew up as a fan of the Minnesota Twins. The Tigers and Kaline were always a worthy rival. It was hard for the Twins and Tigers to make the absolute pinnacle. We each got to the World Series once during the 1960s, the Twins in '65 and the Tigers in '68. We lost our Series to the Dodgers, Detroit won the Fall Classic over St. Louis. So congratulations to the Tigers.
Minnesota should have garnered a little more success. A couple problems or roadblocks: Baltimore had the good fortune to acquire slugger Frank Robinson for the '66 season and henceforth. He was an anchor in the middle of the Orioles lineup. We learned years later about the Minnesota Twins, thanks to some Bouton-style writing with frankness, that our Twins were one of those organizations hurt by cliques and conflicts. An essay on this is part of the SABR collection. Calvin Griffith was not an enlightened man for running a progressive, forward-looking organization. It's hard to write that with a straight face. He'd just hire a bunch of people with seemingly good credentials and turn them loose. Sometimes that can work, often it did not.
But in '68 Detroit was able to put it all together with their system and give their fans in the Motor City well-deserved thrills.
This was the World Series where Jose Feliciano sang the National Anthem in an unconventional way. How quaint to think of the controversy. America was in the midst of the 1960s turmoil that focused on the war in Vietnam, civil rights and other contentious things. Baseball, as it always should be, was a calming elixir at least to an extent. An irony: baseball survived WWII, prodded by FDR's insistence, but we couldn't get through the '90s due to organized labor restlessness that essentially destroyed the 1994 season. I have never fully recovered with my interest. Most notably my emotional interest in the game was wiped out. I guess I have merely a passing interest today.
But the fact I'm writing this post about "retro" stuff means I still feel a linkage.
Here's an interesting parallel between the '65 Twins and '68 Tigers: the player who was arguably the biggest offensive name - Kaline for Detroit and Harmon Killebrew for the Twins - played only a partial season. Isn't that amazing? Maybe it says something about how certain offensive stats can be overrated, as Bill James would impress upon us years later. Killebrew was sidelined by injury and had an off year with his offensive stats. Our manager Sam Mele had worked to bring more finesse with opportunistic baserunning into the picture.
And with Kaline? He was on the cusp of possible decline as he was 33 years old. In the '60s it was common to see stars slide a little starting at that approximate age. Kaline played his 2000th game on April 18, 1968. He hit his 307th home run on May 19, thus passing Hank Greenberg who was also a Tiger.
Six days later, Kaline was hit by pitch by Lew Krausse who I recall as a much ballyhooed youngster who didn't live up to expectations. Krausse threw a pitch that broke Kaline's arm. Kaline did not return to action until July 1. Manager Mayo Smith sent Jim Northrup out to right field and he responded well. Wasn't his nickname "the silver fox?" Kaline fell into a role largely as pinch-hitter and a fill-in at first base. Quite a name to hear announced as pinch-hitter: "Al Kaline." He came through in his limited role.
Kaline exuded modesty and felt he hadn't earned a full-time role for the World Series. But hey, he was Al Kaline! Kaline felt certain the players should be rewarded who had "stepped up." Manager Smith sniffed at Kaline's suggestion and made adjustments to get the iconic Kaline in the picture for the '68 Fall Classic. So, what was done: center fielder Mickey Stanley was moved to shortstop, a move I have to wonder about because shortstop is such an integral position. Stanley must have had the tools. Northrup was kept in the picture, stationed in center field, and then Kaline found his home in right.
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| (image from "Kaline's Corner" site) |
The Tigers were down 3-1 at one low point in the '68 Series. Then they fought back, aided in no small part by Kaline who batted .379 and hit two home runs in the Series. The Tigers overcame Bob Gibson in Game 7. What memories for the Motor City. My Twins took the Dodgers to seven games in '65 but Sandy Koufax stopped us in the end. Sob.
Kaline was voted to the Greatest Tiger Team of All Time in 1969. Al Kaline Day came in 1970 but Al was far from done! He played in his 17th All-Star game in 1971 when the game was played in Detroit. He went one-for-two in that game and was on base for Killebrew's home run in the sixth.
Kaline's engines were still humming in '72 when he helped the Tigers to the playoffs where they lost to Oakland. The '74 season was his last. I was a freshman in college.
Kaline's career was part of the colorful backdrop to my life growing up. The Al Hirshberg bio had informed me of a lot. I'm not sure the great Kaline had any peccadilloes that could have been left out. He got his 3000th hit in September of '74: a double off Dave McNally in Baltimore. Baltimore was Kaline's hometown.
His was a life fit for a movie, just like what Roger Maris got. Oh, and Mr. Kaline is still with us. What a blessed life on the part of "Number 6," same number as for our beloved Tony Oliva!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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