Major League Baseball Career
Kaline bypassed the minor league system and joined the team directly from Baltimore's Southern High School as an 18-year-old "bonus baby" signee, receiving $35,000 ($304,030 as of 2012), to sign with the Tigers. He made his major league debut on June 25, 1953 in Philadelphia as a late-inning replacement for outfielder Jim Delsing. Kaline wore No. 25 during his rookie campaign, but asked teammate Pat Mullin for his No. 6 after the 1953 season ended. Kaline, who was also known simply as "Six" in the Tiger clubhouse, wore the number for the rest of his major league playing career.
In 1955, at age 20, Kaline ended the season with a .340 batting average, becoming the youngest player ever to win the American League batting title. During the 1955 season, Kaline became the 13th man in major league history to hit two home runs in the same inning, became the youngest to hit three home runs in one game, and finished the year with 200 hits, 27 home runs and 102 RBIs. He also finished second to Yogi Berra in the American League's 1955 Most Valuable Player Award voting. Kaline followed in 1956 with a .314 batting average with 27 home runs and 128 RBIs. He led the league in outfield assists with 18 in 1956 and again in 1958 with 23. In 1963 Kaline hit .312 with 27 home runs and 101 RBIs to finish second to Elston Howard in the American League's Most Valuable Player Award voting.
Although he had missed two months of the 1968 season with a broken arm, he returned to the lineup when Tiger manager Mayo Smith benched shortstop Ray Oyler and sent center fielder Mickey Stanley to play shortstop to make room for Kaline in the outfield. ESPN later called Smith's move one of the ten greatest coaching decisions of the century. In the 1968 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals had won three of the first four games of the series and were leading Game 5 by a score of 3–2 in the seventh inning, when Kaline hit a bases loaded single to drive in two runs. The Tigers went on to win the next two games to win their first world championship since 1945. In his only World Series appearance, Kaline hit .379 with two home runs and eight RBIs in seven games.
On September 24, 1974, Kaline became the 12th player in Major League Baseball history to reach the 3000 hit plateau, when he hit a double off the Orioles' Dave McNally. Kaline finished his career with 3,007 hits (25th on the all-time list), 399 home runs (a Tigers record and 43rd on the all-time list) and 1583 RBIs. He batted over .300 nine times in his career to finish with a lifetime batting average of .297 and, while never considered a true power hitter, he hit 25 or more home runs seven times in his career.
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