Man o man...I can't tell you how sad this makes me
I am actually devastated.
Guys like this aren't supposed to die no matter how old they get.
You had to grow up in Detroit to really realize how beloved this guy was to the entire state.
I feel blessed that I was able to watch him on tv and in person do his thing for so many years.
He was MY main tiger and played on MY tiger team.
Went to a ton of games in the 60's and early 70's at Tiger Stadium and loved to watch all of these guys from that era, Cash, Northrup, Gates Brown, Lolich and the rest of the gang.
My father liked to sit near the infield but me and my mom just loved to pay 50 cents and sit in the right field bleachers right behind this great, humble man.
I always hoped I would get a chance to see him pick up the ball on the warning track and throw a frozen rope to get a guy out trying to score from third.
He could do it, too...had an arm like a cannon and was a 10x golden globe winner and 18x all star among all the other accomplishments.
Not a steroid in sight, either, just pure, natural otherworldly talent.
Plus the Hall of Fame on 340 out of 385 ballots.
Don't know what those other 45 guys were thinking.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kalinal01.shtml
He never planned to play so long and so well, he said once "All I ever wanted to do was be a baseball player".
https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/kaline-al
I am truly bummed out to the max, I feel like another great part of my younger years have just been torn away.
RIP Mr. Tiger.
