Al Kaline Becomes the Youngest Batting Champion at 20

Al Kaline was born on December 19, 1934, in Baltimore. By the time the 1955 season was underway in early May, he was 20 years old and already hitting at a pace that would make him the youngest batting champion in American League history.

Kaline had never played a single game in the minor leagues. The Tigers signed him out of Baltimore's Southern High School in 1953 for a $35,000 bonus, which under the rules of the time meant he had to go straight to the big league roster. He spent his first season watching, his second season learning, and his third season raking.

In 1955, Kaline hit .340 and led the league. He turned 20 that December, making him the youngest AL batting champion ever, younger than Ty Cobb had been when he won his first title in 1907. Kaline collected 200 hits, belted 27 home runs, and drove in 102 runs. He played a superb right field, covering ground at Briggs Stadium with an arm that baserunners learned to respect early.

The performance created enormous expectations. Writers compared him to Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, projections that no 20-year-old could comfortably carry. Kaline never won another batting title. He would say later that the 1955 season became a burden because people expected him to hit .340 every year, and when he hit .314 or .287, they treated it as a disappointment.

He played 22 seasons in Detroit, all with the Tigers, and finished with 3,007 hits and 399 home runs. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1980 on the first ballot. But the foundation was that 1955 season, when a kid from Baltimore was the best hitter in the American League before he could legally drink.