Marv Woodyard
Clay Parker
Tony Taylor was known as Tony the Tiger. He is only a year younger than Al
Kaline.
Al Kaline has his birthday right after Ty Cobb. Hmmmm.
That could be important. Al had
three days that he considered his greatest in baseball. The first was the day he walked out on the
field as a major leaguer. He was an 18
year old kid right out of high school.
Al was what they called a “Bonus Baby”.
That meant he signed for a large bonus.
$25,000 to be exact, in 1953. That meant that he was not allowed to play
in the minors but rather had to stay on the major league roster. But walking out on the field wearing a major
league baseball uniform was one of his greatest moments. The second was in 1955 when he hit three
homers in one game. Two were in the same
inning. That was another great moment
for him. That season was also the season
that Al won his lone batting title. In
doing so he became the youngest batting champ in baseball history. He beat the previous record holder by one
day. That previous record holder was Ty
Cobb. So the birthdays do matter! Al’s last great moment was in 1968 when the
Tiges won the AL flag he earned a chance to play in the World Series. It would be his only World Series
appearance. The Tigers won that classic
in 7 games after falling behind 3 games to 1.
Kaline later recorded 3000 hits and was elected to the Hall of fame on
his first ballot.
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