12/21/24
April 06, 2020
Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers legend, dies at age 85: Even though I grew up many hours north of Detroit, our town's Little League teams would make an annual pilgrimage down south to see a Tigers game. I remember one of my brothers catching an Al Kaline foul ball. He eventually got it autographed when some of the Tigers players/ex-players made it up our way for an autographing session one winter.
Rest In Power, Mr. Tiger.
posted by NoMich at 08:24 PM on April 06, 2020
Howard: we always sat along side first base. We got to see Mark Fidrych pitch one year. That was something that got us kids all sorts of jazzed up for the game. I remember that being a very loooooong ride to Detroit.
posted by NoMich at 08:25 PM on April 06, 2020
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posted by billsaysthis at 11:11 AM on April 07, 2020
I didn't think there could be a more compelling World Series than 1967, then the 1968 Series happened. So glad that Kaline finally got to be a part of something like that. And he made the most of the opportunity.
As kids, we went through a lot of batteries and we could buy them in more sizes than are commonly available today, such as B and C. But they were all just batteries, plain and simple. No exotic long lasting varieties. Then Alkaline batteries came out, and we were stoked because we thought they were Al Kaline autograph models. We kept looking for his signature on the packages, to no avail.
We also pronounced them as though we were saying his name.
Kid: Hey Mom, look, they're selling Al Kaline batteries. Let's get some.
Mom: No, they cost more. Regular batteries are fine.
Moms: I wish the kids would quit asking for those new Al Kaline batteries. The way they carry on about them, you'd think those batteries were better.
Dads: They are better. I just read about it in Popular Mechanics
posted by beaverboard at 03:15 PM on April 07, 2020
I saw him play just once in Detroit in about 1956 or '57. We were visiting my sister and her husband. Bob, my brother-in-law was a huge Tigers fan, and my sister had adopted them in favor of her long-time favorite Braves. We were in the old Tigers Stadium sitting in the second deck right behind 1st base, really great seats to watch a game from. I remember that whenever Kaline came to bat, the crowd was really loud. I saw Kaline on televised games against Boston and on the old game of the week broadcasts, and he never disappointed his fans. Kaline has left us with many memories.