What years did Al Kaline play?

Al Kaline played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1974.

Was Al Kaline a pitcher?

No. Al Kaline was a position player (Outfielder).

How many home runs did Al Kaline hit?

Al Kaline hit 399 career home runs with 3007 hits.

What was Al Kaline's career batting average?

Al Kaline batted .297 over his career, with 3,007 hits in 10,116 at bats.

How many RBI did Al Kaline have?

Al Kaline drove in 1,583 runs in his career.

Al Kaline

Outfielder · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1953-1974)

Al Kaline was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1974 for the Detroit Tigers, a span of 22 seasons. In 2,834 career games, he hit .297 with 3,007 hits, 399 home runs, and 1,583 RBI. Al Kaline was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980 and was a 15-time All-Star, a 10-time Gold Glove, and a Roberto Clemente Award. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 45,087.

AVG (Batting Average):: Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):: Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):: Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated October 12, 2026

⭐ Hall of Fame 1980

AVG .297

HR 399

RBI 1,583

H 3,007

OPS .855

PIV 45,087

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 175 lb
Born: 12/19/1934 in Baltimore, MD, USA
Died: 4/6/2020 in Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA
MLB Debut: 1953-06-25
Last Game: 1974-10-02
Hall of Fame: Inducted 1980 (BBWAA)
Awards: 15× All-Star · 10× Gold Glove · Roberto Clemente Award

Full name: Albert William Kaline

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Career Batting Statistics

Al Kaline — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
2,834	10,116	1,622	3,007	498	75	399	1,583	137	1,277	1,020	.297	.376	.480	.855	45,087

Career AVG .297 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — +17.8% above league average.

Career OBP .376 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — +17.4% above league average.

Career SLG .480 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — +26.9% above league average.

Career OPS .855 vs. league average .698 across their career seasons — +22.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Al Kaline Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1953	DET	AL	30	28	9	7	0	0	1	2	1	1	5	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1954	DET	AL	138	504	42	139	18	3	4	43	9	22	45	.276	.261 (+6%)	.333 (-8%)	.390 (-11%)	.723 (-10%)	-847.6
1955	DET	AL	152	588	121	200	24	8	27	102	6	82	57	.340	.258 (+32%)	.332 (+27%)	.393 (+39%)	.726 (+33%)	4238.5
1956	DET	AL	153	617	96	194	32	10	27	128	7	70	55	.314	.258 (+22%)	.331 (+16%)	.397 (+33%)	.728 (+25%)	3189.3
1957	DET	AL	149	577	83	170	29	4	23	90	11	43	38	.295	.257 (+14%)	.323 (+6%)	.391 (+22%)	.715 (+15%)	1587.2
1958	DET	AL	146	543	84	170	34	7	16	85	7	54	47	.313	.257 (+21%)	.324 (+15%)	.394 (+24%)	.719 (+20%)	2189.6
1959	DET	AL	136	511	86	167	19	2	27	94	10	72	42	.327	.256 (+27%)	.323 (+27%)	.392 (+35%)	.715 (+31%)	3405.9
1960	DET	AL	147	551	77	153	29	4	15	68	19	65	47	.278	.255 (+9%)	.323 (+9%)	.387 (+10%)	.711 (+10%)	1147.5
1961	DET	AL	153	586	116	190	41	7	19	82	14	66	42	.324	.258 (+26%)	.328 (+20%)	.399 (+29%)	.727 (+25%)	3027.5
1962	DET	AL	100	398	78	121	16	6	29	94	4	47	39	.304	.257 (+18%)	.326 (+15%)	.393 (+51%)	.719 (+35%)	2500.8
1963	DET	AL	145	551	89	172	24	3	27	101	6	54	48	.312	.246 (+27%)	.308 (+21%)	.371 (+38%)	.680 (+31%)	3239.8
1964	DET	AL	146	525	77	154	31	5	17	68	4	75	51	.293	.250 (+17%)	.312 (+22%)	.377 (+24%)	.690 (+23%)	2578.6
1965	DET	AL	125	399	72	112	18	2	18	72	6	72	49	.281	.245 (+14%)	.310 (+25%)	.371 (+27%)	.682 (+26%)	2171.4
1966	DET	AL	142	479	85	138	29	1	29	88	5	81	66	.288	.248 (+16%)	.309 (+27%)	.376 (+42%)	.685 (+35%)	3466.7
1967	DET	AL	131	458	94	141	28	2	25	78	8	83	47	.308	.242 (+27%)	.306 (+34%)	.357 (+52%)	.663 (+43%)	3910.9
1968	DET	AL	102	327	49	94	14	1	10	53	6	55	39	.287	.236 (+21%)	.298 (+31%)	.340 (+26%)	.638 (+28%)	1827.9
1969	DET	AL	131	456	74	124	17	0	21	69	1	54	61	.272	.248 (+10%)	.320 (+8%)	.369 (+21%)	.689 (+15%)	1280.6
1970	DET	AL	131	467	64	130	24	4	16	71	2	77	49	.278	.253 (+10%)	.325 (+16%)	.385 (+17%)	.711 (+16%)	1617.6
1971	DET	AL	133	405	69	119	19	2	15	54	4	82	57	.294	.249 (+18%)	.316 (+31%)	.365 (+26%)	.682 (+29%)	2613.0
1972	DET	AL	106	278	46	87	11	2	10	32	1	28	33	.313	.243 (+28%)	.310 (+20%)	.353 (+34%)	.664 (+28%)	1351.6
1973	DET	AL	91	310	40	79	13	0	10	45	4	29	28	.255	.256 (-1%)	.325 (-2%)	.378 (+4%)	.703 (+1%)	45.2
1974	DET	AL	147	558	71	146	28	2	13	64	2	65	75	.262	.256 (+2%)	.324 (+4%)	.369 (+5%)	.693 (+5%)	544.9
Career · 22 seasons			2,834	10,116	1,622	3,007	498	75	399	1,583	137	1,277	1,020	.297	—	—	—	—	45,087

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Al Kaline — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
12	48	9	16	2	0	3	9	2	9	.333

Playoff Batting by Year

Al Kaline — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1972	ALCS	DET	5	19	3	5	0	0	1	1	2	2	.263
1968	WS	DET	7	29	6	11	2	0	2	8	0	7	.379

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2834 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Al Kaline — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	1421	4984	838	1508	226	827	.303
Away	1413	5132	784	1499	173	755	.292

Last 10 Games — Batting

Al Kaline — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO
1974-10-02	DET	BAL	L	2	0	0	0	0	0	1
1974-10-01	DET	BAL	L	5	1	1	0	0	0	1
1974-09-30	DET	BAL	L	4	0	1	0	0	1	1
1974-09-29	DET	BOS	W	4	0	2	0	1	1	0
1974-09-27	DET	BOS	L	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
1974-09-26	DET	BOS	L	5	0	1	0	0	0	0
1974-09-25	DET	BAL	L	4	1	1	0	0	0	0
1974-09-24	DET	BAL	L	4	0	2	1	1	0	0
1974-09-22	DET	MIL	W	4	1	1	0	0	1	0
1974-09-21	DET	MIL	L	2	0	1	0	1	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Al Kaline — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	135	110	900	63	9	97
3B	2	1	3	2	0	0
OF	2488	2371	5035	170	73	29

Season-by-Season Fielding

Al Kaline — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1953	DET	OF	20	0	11	1	0	0
1954	DET	OF	135	133	283	16	9	0
1955	DET	OF	152	151	306	14	7	4
1956	DET	OF	153	153	343	18	6	4
1957	DET	OF	145	143	319	13	5	2
1958	DET	OF	145	143	316	23	2	4
1959	DET	OF	136	136	364	4	4	0
1960	DET	OF	142	142	367	5	5	1
1961	DET	3B	1	1	1	1	0	0
1961	DET	OF	147	147	378	9	4	3
1962	DET	OF	100	100	225	8	4	1
1963	DET	OF	140	140	257	5	2	0
1964	DET	OF	136	136	278	6	3	2
1965	DET	3B	1	0	2	1	0	0
1965	DET	OF	112	111	193	2	3	0
1966	DET	OF	136	136	279	7	2	1
1967	DET	OF	130	127	217	14	4	2
1968	DET	1B	22	18	152	13	4	15
1968	DET	OF	74	68	131	1	3	0
1969	DET	1B	9	9	65	2	0	3
1969	DET	OF	118	109	192	9	7	4
1970	DET	1B	52	48	374	31	4	39
1970	DET	OF	91	75	156	3	2	1
1971	DET	1B	5	2	27	1	0	3
1971	DET	OF	129	105	207	6	0	0
1972	DET	1B	11	4	37	4	0	5
1972	DET	OF	84	64	111	5	1	0
1973	DET	1B	36	29	245	12	1	32
1973	DET	OF	63	52	102	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Al Kaline Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
First Base	135
Third Base	2
Left Field	17
Center Field	489
Right Field	2031
Designated Hitter	146

Awards & Honors

Al Kaline — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1974	Player of the Month	September
1973	Roberto Clemente Award
1969	Hutch Award
1968	Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1967	Gold Glove	OF
1967	TSN All-Star	OF
1966	Gold Glove	OF
1966	TSN All-Star	OF
1965	Gold Glove	OF
1964	Gold Glove	OF
1963	Gold Glove	OF
1963	TSN All-Star	OF
1963	TSN Player of the Year
1962	Gold Glove	OF
1962	TSN All-Star	OF
1961	Gold Glove	OF
1959	Gold Glove	CF
1958	Gold Glove	RF
1957	Gold Glove	RF
1955	TSN All-Star	OF
1955	TSN Player of the Year

Award Voting History

Al Kaline — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1972	Most Valuable Player	AL	24th	4.0	336	0
1967	Most Valuable Player	AL	5th	88.0	280	0
1966	Most Valuable Player	AL	7th	66.0	280	0
1965	Most Valuable Player	AL	16th	9.0	280	0
1964	Most Valuable Player	AL	14th	17.0	280	0
1963	Most Valuable Player	AL	2nd	148.0	280	1
1962	Most Valuable Player	AL	6th	58.0	280	0
1961	Most Valuable Player	AL	9th	35.0	280	0
1959	Most Valuable Player	AL	6th	84.0	336	0
1958	Most Valuable Player	AL	20th	5.0	336	0
1957	Most Valuable Player	AL	10th	40.0	336	0
1956	Most Valuable Player	AL	3rd	142.0	336	0
1955	Most Valuable Player	AL	2nd	201.0	336	4
1954	Most Valuable Player	AL	23th	4.0	336	0
1954	Rookie of the Year	AL	3rd	1.0	24	1

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Al Kaline (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Al Kaline

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See Al Kaline in Another Era

Translate Al Kaline's peak season across eras →

Al Kaline: the record in brief

June 25, 1953 and October 2, 1974 bracket Al Kaline's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. Every season row on the page belongs to the Detroit Tigers, from 1953 through 1974. The bio lists Kaline as an outfielder who threw and hit right-handed. Height and weight on file: 6 feet, 1 inch and 175 pounds. The birth record reads December 19, 1934, in Baltimore, MD, USA. The bio records the death on April 6, 2020, in Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA. Kaline's full given name, per the bio, is Albert William Kaline.

Kaline's career batting table shows 2,834 games, 10,116 at bats and 3,007 hits, a .297 average, adding 399 home runs, 1,583 RBI, and 137 stolen bases. The on-base percentage is .376 and the slugging percentage .480, for an OPS of .855. Kaline's .297 average ran 17.8% above the .252 that the league posted over the same seasons. By OPS the gap is 22.5% above league average (.855 against .698).

Frequently Asked Questions about Al Kaline

What years did Al Kaline play?: Al Kaline played in Major League Baseball from 1953 to 1974.
Was Al Kaline a pitcher?: No. Al Kaline was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Al Kaline hit?: Al Kaline hit 399 career home runs with 3007 hits.
Is Al Kaline in the Hall of Fame?: Yes. Al Kaline was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.
What was Al Kaline's career batting average?: Al Kaline batted .297 over his career, with 3,007 hits in 10,116 at bats.
How many RBI did Al Kaline have?: Al Kaline drove in 1,583 runs in his career.