Al Kaline.
(Image credit: AP Photo.)

Al Kaline, who spent 22 seasons patrolling right field for the Detroit Tigers, died Monday at his home in Michigan, a close family friend confirmed to The Detroit Free Press. A cause of death was not made immediately available. He was 85.

Kaline played his entire career with the Tigers, debuting at age 18 in 1953, shortly after he graduated high school. At age 20, he won the American League batting title. All told, Kaline won a World Series title in 1968, made 18 All Star appearances, and earned 10 gold gloves while crossing the 3,000-hit threshold en route to the Hall of Fame, which he made his first year on the ballot.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.