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\nBaseball star Al Kaline found himself in the late morning sunshine at Michigan\u2019s Oakland Hills Country Club, but looking at his watch. He was about to play golf with me in the Ilitch Charities fundraiser, but had to be downtown at the ballpark for that evening\u2019s Detroit Tiger game. While I was growing up, Kaline, who is 76, partnered with the late George Kell, as color commentator on Tiger television broadcasts. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI miss seeing you on TV,\u201d I told him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell I don\u2019t miss being on TV,\u201d Kaline countered, \u201cand I really don\u2019t miss all of that travel.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It is one thing for Kaline to fly at his leisure to his home in Southwest Florida for the winter, which he does October through April, but quite another to be sent to places like Arlington and Kansas City in the heat of summer on Tiger road trips. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEven here at home in Detroit my wife has to remind me I\u2019m not as young as I used to be.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Kaline, right fielder for the 1968 world champion Tigers, said, as a player, he enjoyed traveling to New York. \u201cI loved playing in Yankee Stadium. I always wanted to play in the biggest market against the best team. Plus, they had all those great left-handed hitters, so I knew I\u2019d get some action in right field.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Kaline, who collected 3,007 hits during his 22-year career, wore a cap bearing the logo of Leatherstocking Golf Course. I asked him where Leatherstocking was, and he was due the smile he gave when he answered, \u201cCooperstown.\u201d Kaline is, of course, enshrined there at the Baseball Hall of Fame in that upstate New York town. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Due to his reputation and longevity, Kaline\u2019s been in the unique position of meeting other sports celebrities during his travels. \u201cI\u2019ve meet Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. I got along well with Arnold. He was warm and friendly,\u201d said Kaline. \u201cJack was colder to me. He wasn\u2019t nearly as friendly. But that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Oakland Hills was full of celebrities that day, including former National Hockey League star Darren McCarty. McCarty, the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings, smiled broadly at every word Kaline said to him on the terrace following the round. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n While McCarty played more recently in the big money era of sports, don\u2019t worry about Kaline, who once famously refused $10,000 extra in salary after what he considered a sub-par season. \u201cI make more money now from my Major League pension than I did when I played,\u201d he admits. \u201cI don\u2019t blame the players for their big salaries. It\u2019s not their fault.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While Kaline is friendly, he is not animated. During the round, I tried to loosen him up with a practical joke by sneaking a rubber snake on the floor of his golf cart. After he climbed into his cart and noticed the rubber snake by his feet, he reached down, picked it up, held it in two fingers and looked at me coldly. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI guess that\u2019s a pretty funny joke, Michael Patrick,\u201d he said, \u201cbut you probably didn\u2019t know that my brother died from the bite of a poisonous snake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The other players in our group went silent and awkwardly looked at their shoes as my stomach dropped. In my ignorance, I\u2019d obviously been very insensitive. As I struggled to apologize, Kaline grinned and laughed. \u201cAw I didn\u2019t even have a brother!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Gotcha! It was like old #6 threw me out at home!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Michael Patrick Shiels can be contacted at <\/span>MPSbigshow@aol.com<\/span><\/a> or via www.TravelTattler.com<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"