Al Kaline talks about Bryce Harper, and how tough Al had it when he came up in 1954 at a very young age:
“I was not the most welcome person in camp,” Kaline said. “Nobody would go to dinner with me. I was basically isolated. I had a guy grab me by the shirt and say, ‘Don’t ever talk to me. You took my friend’s job. You shouldn’t be here.'”
The baseball world isn’t like that anymore. Harper speaks glowingly about the way the Nationals players have treated him.
“Oh, they’ve taken me in, done so many things for me, telling me about the game,” he said. “They joke around with me, and that’s great.”
The big difference then, was that Kaline had done nothing to earn his spot. He was a bonus baby, and the rules at the time forced teams to keep amateurs signed to high bonuses on the roster. So Al gets a spot on the roster and a lot of money without a day of professional baseball. Some player who likely busted his butt for years lost his job. Trying to control amateur bonuses goes on to this day.
Hat tip, BBTF.
To this day the very under-rated all-time great rightfielder Kaline has all good to say about players past and present. Never a disparaging remark towards a player, team, or major league baseball. The elegant and graceful Kaline came down from a higher league and played rightfield as good as Clemente in range, throwing arm, and accuracy. Kaline’s only weakness was an inability to stay healthy and play over 150 games every year. His last was in 1961. Next to Mantle’s 600 games lost in 18 seasons, Kaline missed 450 due to injuries in his 21 full seasons. A mitigating factor for not eclipsing the 30 homer seasons 4 or 5 times, as well as more 100 runs and rbi years. 2012 is Kaline’s 60th year with the Tigers as a player, spring training coach, broadcaster, and front office executive to Mike Ilitch the Tigers owner and Dave Dombrowski the President and General Manager.
More players should take Kaline’s example of class and dignity.