How Al Kaline’s Hall of Fame introduction four decades ago highlights Tigers’ struggles

Gene Myers
 |  Special to the Detroit Free Press

As a longtime member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Gene Myers has one of the roughly 400 ballots that will determine the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021. Myers retired in late 2015 after nearly a quarter-century as sports editor of the Detroit Free Press. His BBWAA ballot was due Dec. 31; the election results will be announced Tuesday. Players must appear on 75% of the ballots to be elected. The Free Press, as it does each year, asked Myers to comment on his ballot.  

No player figures to be elected Tuesday to baseball’s Hall of Fame, something that hasn’t happened since 2013.

A member of the Detroit Tigers definitely won’t be elected Tuesday to the Hall of Fame, something that has happened every year for 40 years.

The overriding issue in this year’s BBWAA election — in which candidates need to appear on 75% of the ballots for a ticket to Cooperstown — comes down to character, never a more controversial component Hall of Fame voters are asked to consider. But, in reality, this year’s character issue, with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling in its crosshairs, only sets the stage for the ultimate showdown on the issue. Because next year will the 10th and final year on the ballot for Bonds, Clemens and Schilling.

[ Al Kaline and his family have one last message to Tigers fans mourning his death ]

More on them in a bit and why all three are on my ballot.

But as a Michigander since departing the University of Kansas in 1983, a Hall of Fame voter representing Detroit since early this century, and someone who considered it an honor to be the editor and one of the writers for last spring’s “Mr. Tiger: The Legend of Al Kaline, Detroit’s Own” (published by the Free Press) I saw this year’s BBWAA election mainly as an unfortunate anniversary.

Kaline’s election to the Hall of Fame came Jan. 9, 1980. When the next class was announced in January 1981 — four decades ago — former Tiger Jim Bunning received 41% of the vote, a drop of 5% from 1980. No one could have anticipated that the country’s baseball writers to this day would not have elected another longtime Tiger.  

MITCH ALBOM: Al Kaline takes his bow. His legend will live forever.

That is why less than a year since Kaline’s death at age 85 it seems like a perfect time to look back on the excitement surrounding his election to and induction in the Hall of Fame. It can be appreciated even more by examining the drought that followed.

40 years of wandering

Bunning, a right-handed strikeout artist for the Tigers from 1955-63, came the closest with the BBWAA. He missed by four votes in 1988 — and then fell back to 64% three years later in his last chance.

Another right-hander, noted for his forkball, Jack Morris won 198 games for the Tigers from 1977-90, reached 68% in 2013 — and then fell back to 62% in his final year.

Shortstop Alan Trammell, a career-long Tiger (1977-96), maxed out at 41% in 2016, his last shot. His double-play partner, Lou Whitaker, another career-long Tiger (1977-95), was one-and-done on the BBWAA ballot, receiving just 3% in 2001, which disqualified him from future ballots.

Bunning (1996), Morris (2018) and Trammell (2018) eventually were inducted into the Hall of Fame by a veterans committee. Since Kaline’s election, so were three other longtime Tigers — third baseman George Kell (1983), wartime left-hander Hal Newhouser (1992) and manager Sparky Anderson (2000) — plus Detroit Stars outfielder Turkey Stearns from the Negro leagues (2000).

[ Kaline, Kirk Gibson shared special Tigers bond: ‘He taught me virtually everything’ ]

In the repechage, Whitaker missed out in December 2019 when he received six of 16 votes from the Modern Era Committee, half the votes needed for election. The committee will vote again in 2023 and 2025.

Detroit’s 40-year drought with BBWAA voters — official come Tuesday — can be traced to two key factors.

First, advanced sabermetrics only recently have been embraced by the electorate. Large swatches of the old guard are being purged by new rules, leading to younger voters with more interest in the “new numbers.” Trammell’s and Whitaker’s cases would have been aided in this modern lens, Morris’ not at all.

Second, the Tigers were dreadful from 1989 to 2005 — including 12 straight losing seasons; at one point in which they finished an average of 29 games below .500. No player from that timeframe could sustain success. Only three played in multiple All-Star Games, even though each team was guaranteed a spot. Which meant Robert Frick, Brad Ausmus and Todd Jones got to be considered all-stars.

To develop or acquire just one legitimate Hall of Fame candidate (Pudge Rodriguez, more on him in a bit) during a 17-season stretch is an indictment of any front office. Since Trammell, Whitaker and Morris debuted in the majors 44 years ago, the Tigers’ farm system has produced a lone potential Hall of Famer: Justin Verlander.

Since Kaline’s election in 1980, a longtime player from every franchise in existence at that time has been elected to the Hall of Fame by the baseball writers — except the Tigers. That’s 25 out of 26. Plus, expansion teams Colorado (est. 1993) and Arizona (est. 1998) have a Hall of Famer via the BBWAA. Florida (1993) and Tampa Bay (1998) have not yet. That’s 27 out of 30.

[ We asked for epic stories of Al Kaline and Tigers fans. We got ’em ]

During the Tigers’ horrible stretch in 1989-2005, infielder Travis Fryman played in four All-Star Games (1992-93, ’94, ’96), outfielder Cecil Fielder played in three (1990-91, ’93) and catcher Pudge Rodriguez played in two (2004-05). Only Fryman was homegrown; in 2008, he received 0.4% of the Hall of Fame vote. That was twice Fielder’s total from 2004.

Although Rodriguez did make the Hall of Fame in 2017, on the first ballot no less, he played only 4½ of his 21 seasons in Detroit. His signing in 2004, Magglio Ordonez’s signing in 2005 and Jim Leyland’s hiring as manager in 2006 by owner Mike Ilitch were the catalysts for the Tigers’ long stretch of winning from 2006-16 — two World Series berths, four straight division titles and a tiebreaker loss in Game 163. Rodriguez came to town at age 32, still all-star caliber but with fading power, after plenty of mileage with Texas, where he was an MVP winner, 10-time all-star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and suspected practitioner in the dark arts of the Steroid Era.

Called to the hall

On an early January morning in 1980, Free Press readers were greeted by these words from Tigers beat reporter Jim Hawkins:

For 22 years, Al Kaline excelled at the game of baseball in the aged stadium at Michigan and Trumbull. Much of that time he was the Tigers’ one and only superstar. Rarely did he receive a superstar’s national recognition.

Wednesday all that changed. Kaline was voted a place among baseball’s immortals in the Hall of Fame on the very first ballot — making him only the 10th player in history so honored.

No longtime Tiger had been elected period since Sam Crawford in 1957 — by the veterans committee — and Hank Greenberg in 1956 — by the baseball writers.

“I don’t think my vocabulary can express what I feel,” Kaline, 45 at the time, said at a news conference inside Tiger Stadium. “Knowing all the great players who didn’t make it on the first ballot, I thought my chances of making it were nip and tuck, maybe 50-50. So I tried to stay low key.

“Certainly, the ultimate possible is to go into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. It’s super just to get in. I really never thought I would choose an individual thing that happened just to me over a team thing like the World Series. But I would have to say this is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me.”

Kaline received votes on 340 of the 385 ballots cast by veteran members of the BBWAA. To be elected, a player needed 289 votes to hit the 75% mark. Kaline received 88.3%.

Also elected was Duke Snider, a Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder. On his 11th year of a possible 15 on the ballot, he received 333 votes (86.5%).

No one else came close.

Since the Hall of Fame’s inception in 1936, only nine other players had received the votes necessary to be elected the first time their names appeared on the ballot: Jackie Robinson (1962), Bob Feller (1962), Ted Williams (1966), Stan Musial (1969), Sandy Koufax (1972), Warren Spahn (1973), Mickey Mantle (1974), Ernie Banks (1977) and Willie Mays (1979).

In addition, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson were ushered in immediately in 1936.

“There were some great players like Joe DiMaggio that didn’t make it on the first ballot,” Kaline said. “I was prepared for anything. I certainly wouldn’t have been embarrassed by any means if I hadn’t made it.”

Kaline’s call of a lifetime — from BBWAA president Jack Lang — came at 6:25 p.m. on Jan. 8, a Tuesday. On Wednesday afternoon, Kaline recounted how everything unfolded to the Free Press’ Mick McCabe during a flight from New York to Detroit and how the BBWAA and Hall of Fame desperately wanted to keep the election results under wraps for nearly 18 hours.

Lang “told us he would call about 6 p.m. to tell us if I made it or not,” Kaline recalled. “I was getting all these people calling then and I was trying to get them off the phone. Television stations wanted to do live interviews, but I told them I couldn’t.

“We were laughing every time the phone rang. My son Mike was trying to predict what time we’d get THE call. Then Jack called and said: ‘Congratulations, you made it.’ It was just like that.

“I said, ‘I don’t believe it!’ and then my wife started yelling. It’s hard to believe I made it on the first ballot.”

Kaline called his parents, Naomi, 73, and Nicholas, 78, in Baltimore. Kaline swore his mother to secrecy; she didn’t even tell his two older sisters, who were visiting their parents at the time.

“We at least wanted to live till Al got in the Hall of Fame,” Naomi told the Free Press the next day. “We started saving money a year ago to go to Cooperstown. You know, I don’t talk much. I haven’t talked that much about Al. But I’m glad to talk about him today.”

Kaline also called his eldest son, Mark, who worked for a radio station in Jackson.

“I told Mark he couldn’t tell anyone about this,” Kaline said on the plane. “I told him he could have gotten me in a lot of trouble if he would have told his station. Channel 4 wanted an exclusive, but I told them I couldn’t give it to them.”

Kaline, of course, handled color commentary on Tigers telecasts shown by Channel 4 (WDIV-TV).

Kaline’s next order of business was a night flight to New York. He traveled with his wife, Louise, on the passenger list as Mr. and Mrs. Al Hamilton, his wife’s maiden name.

“We couldn’t even register at the hotel,” Kaline said. “We had to go up to Jack’s suite. He had a three-bedroom suite. One for him, one for us and one for Duke Snider . We tried to go to bed at 11 p.m., but we couldn’t sleep.”

The BBWAA results officially were revealed Wednesday morning, and Kaline and Snider talked with the press in New York. Then Mr. and Mrs. Al Hamilton boarded a flight to Detroit and held another news conference at Tiger Stadium.

Kaline received an interesting call from Tigers owner John Fetzer.

“He sounded more enthusiastic than I was,” Kaline said with a laugh. “He was telling me this was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. He sounded like my father. He was very close to me. When the kids were young and we’d fly back from spring training he’d help Louise babysit the kids. He’s been good to me.”

The Hall of Fame already had several Kaline mementos, such as the bat and ball from his 3,000th hit. Hall of Fame officials asked Louise Kaline to sort through all the trophies, awards and memorabilia accrued in the Kaline household over their 25 years of marriage and decide which should be sent for the Kaline induction exhibit in Cooperstown, New York.

“We never dreamed he would make it on the first ballot,” she said.

Louise met Al during high school in Baltimore. “I had never even seen him in uniform,” she recalled.

The couple dated for three years before marrying when both were 19. “I was always very happy and proud for him,” she said. “And I’ve always felt like I was part of it. I’ve been with him from the very beginning.”

When the Hamiltons landed in Detroit, a couple hundred fans had gathered to greet the newest Hall of Famer, who obliged with autographs.

“The fans in Detroit haven’t had a great deal to cheer about in the last few years,” Kaline said. “Now, in some very small way, maybe the people have something to be proud of. Maybe they can raise their heads up and say, ‘Hey, I’m from Detroit.’”

A short time later at The Corner, Kaline said: “I never wished I was playing anywhere else but in Detroit. But there were many times when I wished I was playing for a winning team. …

“I don’t know if I could have survived in New York, Chicago, the big cities. Detroit is a big city, but it’s a small town, too.”

Back to my ballot

Full disclosure: The tale of Kaline’s election and cloak-and-danger trip to New York appeared in “Mr. Tiger.” If you were a fan of No. 6, the book is well worth your while. It’s officially out of print, but stray copies might exist at your favorite drug store, Meijer or 7-Eleven (a few remain at the Oh Thank Heaven! closest to my home in Canton). It’s also available as an eBook for $9.99 at triumphbooks.com.

“Mr. Tiger” features a lot more intrigue and entertainment than this year’s Hall of Fame election. Starting in 1966, with Ted Williams’ induction, only three times has an election failed to produce an inductee — 1971, 1996 and 2013. The leading holdovers on the ballot — Bonds, Clemens and Schilling — are bogged down with their character issues. The leading newcomers to the ballot don’t exist — there is a good chance none of the 11 first-timers will reach the 5% threshold to remain on next year’s ballot.

According to the annual detective work of Ryan Thibodaux — follow on Twitter via @NotMrTibbs — Schilling has the only shot this year. He had appeared on 74.5% of the ballots made public through Thursday. That’s 40% of the electorate.

Those numbers would suggest Schilling had a solid shot at election. After all, he hit 70% last year, when he missed by only 20 votes. Most players (except, it seems, for Tigers) see their totals rise as they near the 10-year limit on the ballot.

Schilling, though, in his hunt for his needed 20 or so votes, had picked up only three new ones from returning voters — while somehow managing to lose five from returning voters. Also, especially true in Schilling’s case, players fare worse with voters who do not reveal their choices until after the Hall of Fame announcement than with voters (such as yours truly) who do so beforehand. Last year, that gap was 7% for Schilling. Among voters who never revealed their choices, that gap was 23%.

Arguably the best postseason pitcher in history, Schilling compiled an 11-2 record with a 2.23 ERA in 19 starts and won three World Series. In five elimination games, including the bloody sock affair for the 2004 Red Sox, Schilling went 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA. In the regular season, he finished as the runner-up for the Cy Young Award three times but posted losing records in nine of 20 seasons.

As for off the mound … USA TODAY’s Jesse Yomtov recently characterized Schilling perfectly.

“A far-right firebrand,” he wrote, “Schilling has a propensity for offensive social media posts. He has denigrated Muslims and the LGBTQ communities. He has advocated for the lynching of journalists. More recently, he proudly supported the pro-Trump riots at the U.S. Capitol and referred to last summer’s social-justice protests.”

On Jan. 6, using the handle of President Elect Curt Schilling, he tweeted: “You cowards sat on your hands, did nothing while liberal trash looted rioted and burned for air Jordan’s and big screens. sit back, (shut up), and watch folks start a confrontation for (expletive) that matters like rights, democracy and the end of govt corruption. #itshappening.”

The Hall of Fame, without question, has its fair share of great players who were flawed people — or much worse. I have voted consistently for Schilling because, as a general rule, I give far more weight to what an athlete does between the lines than what an athlete does for the betterment or detriment of mankind.

Gotta admit, though, Schilling’s support for an insurrection may have crossed the line. He’s more than a bad egg.

Fortunately for Schilling, the attack on the Capitol came one week after the deadline for voters.

Bonds and Clemens continue to see their candidacies stuck in the mud with the clock ticking. According to Thibodaux, Bonds stood at 72% and Clemens at 71%. They fare nearly as poorly as Schilling with voters who keep their ballots a secret. They need to pick up about 55 votes more than 2019 to be elected; thus far, Bonds had picked up no votes and Clemens had lost a vote.

In 2016, Mike Piazza’s induction convinced me that to vote against Rodriguez the following year was blatantly unfair. So I decided that in select cases I would vote for suspected (and maybe even admitted) Performance-Enhancing Drug cheats. In 2017, Rodriguez snuck in by three votes — and I also began voting for the PED Poster Children, Bonds and Clemens.

With this year and next year as their last shots at induction, neither Bonds nor Clemens has managed to garner more than 61% of the vote.

The Hall of Fame allows sportswriters to vote for up to 10 candidates, a limit that many BBWAA members consider unfair and arbitrary and that for most of the past decade led to a backlog of top-shelf candidates. That backlog has vanished. And with no new hotshots on the ballot, I voted for only five candidates in 2021, my lowest total yet.

Two players from my six-player 2020 ballot were elected: Derek Jeter (99.7%) and Larry Walker (76.6%).

My 2021 ballot:

• My four carryovers: Bonds, Clemens, Schilling and Scott Rolen (fourth year on the ballot, 35.3% in ’20).

• A change of heart for: reliever Billy Wagner (sixth year, 31.7% in ’20).

• I thought hard but couldn’t check the box for: first baseman Todd Helton (third year, 29.2% in ’20).

• I thought hard but wasn’t close to checking the box for: shortstop Omar Vizquel (fourth year, 52.6% in ’20). My votes were cast before Major League Baseball announced its investigation into domestic abuse allegations against Vizquel.

Even if no one reaches the 75% requirement, Cooperstown will have players to induct this summer — because last year’s ceremonies were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ceremonies will have a decidedly Michigan bent: catcher Ted Simmons and shortstop Jeter. Posthumously honored will be Marvin Miller, the trailblazing labor leader.

Simmons (Southfield) and Jeter (Kalamazoo Central) are the fifth and sixth players who attended a Michigan high school to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

The leading vote-getter among the 2021 newcomers, of all things, is a former Tiger, Torii Hunter. He was a popular right fielder in 2013 and ’14 with a career slash line of .277/.331/.461 with 353 homers and nine Gold Gloves.

With 4.5% of the vote, Hunter may not remain on ballot and he darn sure isn’t going to end the Tigers’ 40-year drought with the BBWAA.

That will fall to one of the Tigers’ stars from their 2006-16 run. Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer should be first-ballot inductees at some point this decade. Who will retire first? JV turns 38 next month. Miggy does the same in April. And Blue Eye, the pup of the bunch, turns 37 in July.

After a 40-year-plus drought will Tigers fans be as excited as when Al Kaline’s call from the hall came in January 1981? And will that enshrined Tiger speak such classy and heartfelt words as those Kaline delivered in Cooperstown?

“If there is one accomplishment for which I am particularly proud, it is that I have always served baseball to the best of my ability,” he said in a 9½-minute speech. “Never have I deliberately done anything to discredit the game, the Tigers or my family. By far, being inducted into the Hall of Fame is the proudest moment of my life. You can be sure that I will make every effort to live up to the obligations associated with this honor.”

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