Al Kaline Wondered if He Should Have Been a Doctor

He paused.

“You know, I was a very good outfielder. I’m still a good outfielder, but I don’t run as fast as I used to and I don’t throw as well. And I beat out 12-14 hits a season in the hole at shortstop. Now I’m lucky to beat out one or two a season.

“I feel great so far this season. But the hot weather is coming, and that tires me some. I’ll play next year for sure. After that, I don’t know. I’ll sure miss baseball and the people in it. And when I’m done and gone, I think I would like for people to say, ‘Al Kaline? He was a real good outfielder.’”

Kaline played five more years, retiring at 39 with a career batting average of .297, 3,007 hits, 399 home runs and 1,583 runs batted in. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1980. He spent much of the rest of his working life as, first, a Tigers’ broadcaster and then as an assistant in the Tigers’ front office.

Yes, history will show — has shown — that Albert William Kaline was indeed a “real good outfielder,” but it will also show that he was irrefutably a wonderful entertainer, right up there with Burton and Brando.

Ira Berkow is a former New York Times sports columnist. His forthcoming book, “How Life Imitates Sports: A Sportswriter Relives, Recounts and Reckons with 50 Years on the Sports Beat,” is scheduled for release in August by Skyhorse Publishing.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/sports/baseball/al-kaline-tigers-outfield.html