Al Kaline's Family Snuck His Obituary Into Detroit Paper With All the Regular Folks in Awesome Gesture
By Michael Luciano
For all of the accomplishments Tigers legend Al Kaline had to his name over the course of his 22-year MLB career, he's still just a regular guy from Baltimore who ended up living out his dream in Detroit.
The Hall of Fame outfielder passed away last week in his Bloomfield Hills home at the age of 85, but his family chose not to make his death a platform to gloat about his lengthy accomplishments in baseball. Instead, they snuck Kaline's obituary in with the other recently departed members of the community. No frills. He was just...one of us.
Al Kaline’s family put a “regular” obit in the Sunday @freep. By blending in, it’s an example of how one-of-a-kind he really was. pic.twitter.com/CR7ej9aZAT
— Matt Friedman (@mattfrieds) April 12, 2020
Kaline was a regular guy who went to work every day just like everyone else. He just also happened to be an 18-time All-Star.
With 3,007 hits, 399 home runs, and nine Top 10 MVP finishes, Kaline was one of the best right fielders to ever play the game both at the plate and in the field. He remained associated with the Tigers as a broadcaster and special assistant until his death.
As this latest touching gesture shows, Kaline never thought of himself as some sort of superstar athlete separate from the common rabble.
Hall of Famer Al Kaline, who played all 22 of his MLB seasons for the Detroit Tigers, has passed away at the age of 85. pic.twitter.com/Rsnj3Fuvca
— MLB (@MLB) April 6, 2020
Kaline's impact on the Tigers franchise and the state of Michigan is as profound as it is everlasting. No. 6 might be gone, but the memories that Mr. Tiger left us will live on forever.