Baltimore native and Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline passed away April 6 at the age of 85, leaving a Hall of Fame legacy on and off the field. Former right-handed pitcher Phil Regan, Kaline’s teammate from 1960-1965, joined Glenn Clark Radio April 7 to discuss his memories of Kaline. Regan, 83, managed the Orioles in 1995 and is currently a coach in the New York Mets’ organization.
Kaline signed with the Tigers out of Baltimore’s Southern High School in 1953, starting a 22-year run with Detroit. He got 30 plate appearances at the big-league level in 1953, then hit .276/.305/.347 with three homers during his first full season in 1954. He had his breakout season in 1955, hitting .340/.421/.546 with 27 homers. His .340 average led the major leagues.
Regan, a Michigan native, recalled Kaline’s competitive nature.
Phil Regan: … I’ll tell you a little bit about the competitor that he was. In spring training, we were in Orlando and we were playing the Minnesota Twins. A pitcher by the name of Lee Stange was pitching and he threw a pitch and it knocked Kaline down. And then all the sudden it rained. After that pitch, it started raining and they delayed the game. Kaline came into the locker room and he was fuming. He was just fuming. They delayed the game for maybe 15 minutes and he went back out there. First pitch, he hit a home run. That tells you a little bit about what he was.
But to go back even further, I ask a lot of the players I’m coaching with the Mets, “What motivates you to be a big leaguer? Why do you want to be in the major leagues?” And I always remember what Kaline told me. He said the thing that motivated him the most was when he was 18 or 19 years old when he came to Detroit, skinny right-handed hitter. There was an old-time pitcher by the name of Ted Lyons. Pretty good pitcher in his day, and he was throwing batting practice to Kaline. Kaline heard him say, “Why did they give this kid any money? He can’t pull me in batting practice.”
And that spun him so hard that [when] he went home back to Baltimore that winter, he told me he put up a punching bag, filled it with sand and took a weighted bat and went down there and hit that bag 100 times every day. He said, “I came back to spring training, I pulled everything there was that they threw me.” That year, he hit .276 and then the next year he won the batting title. He got motivated by that. To me, that’s always kind of stood out in my mind.
Kaline racked up 92.8 WAR throughout his career, according to Baseball Reference, and ranks as one of the best right fielders ever. Kaline, an 18-time All-Star, was a career .297/.376/.480 hitter and posted 3,007 hits and 399 homers. He won 10 Gold Glove awards, accumulating 170 outfield assists during his career. He was also part of Detroit’s 1968 World Series championship; the Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Regan said Kaline’s smarts stood out in addition to his competitiveness.
Phil Regan: … I really have to tell you this story because it sticks out in my mind. We were playing in Detroit. We were playing Boston. I think Tony Conigliaro was a young player at that time. Kaline hit a ball into right field for a single, and he always ran hard. Took a big turn [toward] second base. Congligliaro threw behind him and got him out at first base. The next time he hit the same ball, rounded first base, Conigliaro threw to first, he slid into second base. I mean, he was such a smart ballplayer.
I could tell you other stories, but I used to sit and listen to him all the time. Things stand out in my mind. We have all the facilities today that are so great, but in Lakeland, Fla., we had 65-70 players and one field that we’d all practice on. We had one batting cage out behind right field. A lot of times after practice was over, I’d hear the batting practice machine going. I’d go look out there and it was Al Kaline hitting extra. He always said, “They think I’m a natural hitter” — and he was pretty good — but he worked at it. He worked harder than anyone else at his hitting. He was out there all by himself, blisters on his hands and still hitting hour after hour after everybody else had gone.
There were other things. I sat there with him and I’d say to him, “Al, what is your theory on hitting?” I sat back and I thought, “Man, I’m going to hear a big, long story of how to hit.” And he said what Ted Williams had told him. He said, “There’s three things you do and you’ll be a good hitter.” He said, “First of all, you get a strike. Second of all, you take a short stride, and third, you have quick hands.” And that’s it. Get a strike, short stride, quick hands. He did all of those really, really well. What can you say about him? Great person. I enjoyed him and enjoyed playing with him and learned a lot from him – how to be a major leaguer. He just taught me so much. Great guy.
Kaline doubled off Orioles left-hander Dave McNally at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium for his 3,000th hit in one of the final acts of his career.
Regan said Kaline didn’t stress about getting to 3,000 hits. He was more concerned with the art of hitting.
Phil Regan: He never mentioned milestones, of getting this or making this or getting to 3,000 hits. I think it’s amazing to me — and I tell people this — Al Kaline hit almost 400 home runs, 399, but never hit 30 in one year. Now that’s consistency. That’s being consistent. But I never heard him talk and set goals. But he did push people to be better. Norm Cash, [who played for the Tigers from 1960-1974], was the batting champion in 1961. I think he hit .361 that year, and later on as he got into his career, Kaline would kind of get upset with him a little bit because Kaline knew how pitchers pitched him.
I heard him say one time — he came back, he struck out, he said, “If that guy throws me that pitch again, next time I’ll hit a home run.” He threw him that pitch again, he hit a home run. He was smart. He knew pitchers. He would be upset with guys who didn’t study the pitchers, like Cash. Cash was happy-go-lucky guy. He just played the game and had fun — not to say that Kaline didn’t, you’ve got to have fun to play 20 years and do what he did. But he would just go up there and hit. He didn’t know how pitchers were pitching him. They’d get him out three times in a row, and that would frustrate Kaline. He’d say, “You’ve got to study the pitchers. You’ve got to know how they’re pitching you.” So he pushed players to be better than they should’ve been.
For more from Regan, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Detroit Tigers