Best right fielders in MLB history No. 5: Al Kaline
Stats: .297/.376/.480, 399 HR, 137 SB, 1,277/1,020 BB/K, 11,596 PA, 92.8 bWAR
While arguments can be made for the exact order among of the best right fielders in MLB history from No. 6 through No. 15, the top five are easily the cream of the crop. Of that foursome, Al Kaline arguably doesn’t get the appreciation that he deserves for just how amazing his career was for 22 years with the Detroit Tigers.
Unfortunately for Kaline, two more that have not yet appeared on the list played during his career and that overshadowed his amazingly consistent career. The other “issue” for Kaline is that he was never a guy to blow away the league in numbers. He was simply consistent, playing tremendously well year-in, and year-out.
On top of his consistent offensive production on a yearly basis, Kaline was an incredibly impactful defender, though at least he was in another league to be able to be awarded for that while the two guys left to be mentioned ended up battling for Gold Gloves each year.
As an example of Kaline’s incredible steady production, Kaline hit 399 home runs, reaching double digits in 20 consecutive seasons, but he never once hit 30 home runs. He also collected over 3,000 hits, finishing with 3,007. He never once had more than 200 hits in a season.
Kaline suffered through some horrid seasons in Detroit, when even in 1961, when the Tigers won 101 games, they still finished 8 games out of first place. However, the team finally broke through in 1968, not just making it to the World Series, but actually winning the World Series. Kaline was brilliant in his first postseason experience, hitting .379/.400/.655 with a pair of home runs.
Over his career, Kaline represented the Tigers on 18 All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Gloves, and he received MVP votes 14 times in his career, finishing as runner-up twice and in the top 5 four times. Kaline was elected on his first Hall of Fame ballot with 88.3% of the vote.