June 11, 1963 - Al Kaline blasted two home runs at Tiger Stadium last night to help power Detroit to a 6-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. In doing so, Kaline became the sixth active American Leaguer to hit 200 or more homers. In the first inning, Kaline hit his 200th homer into the upper left-field deck after Jake Wood had singled and Billy Bruton had walked. Kaline’s homer in the fifth, which sailed into the lower deck in left, came off Dave Morehead. The Detroit crowd booed, of all things, when Kaline went to the plate the final time last night. But the jeers were directed at the Red Sox, who decided they’d had enough of Kaline and intentionally walked him. Mickey Mantle (415), Yogi Berra (351), Joe Adcock (276), Rocky Colavito (252), and Roger Maris (200) are the other active American Leaguers with 200 or more homers. With his burst against the Sox, Kaline raised his batting average to .337, increased his home run total to 13, and his RBI count to 45. “He could win the whole ball of wax — Triple Crown,” said Detroit manager Bob Scheffing after the game. “He is having that kind of year, and he’s healthy.” Kaline has knocked in at least one run in each of his last seven games. If that does not seem like much of a feat, consider that the league record is only 10 straight games set by a slugger named Lou Gehrig.
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