There are few former members of the Detroit Tigers who evoke universal love and gratitude from fans of the Motor City more than “Mr. Tiger” himself Al Kaline.
After a legendary Hall-of-Fame career, Kaline would later serve as a color commentator for the team on television broadcasts, mostly with fellow Hall of Famer George Kell.
Let’s throw it back to Opening Day of the legendary 1984 season with the two Tigers greats on the broadcast:
Who else longs for the days of the Roar of ’84?
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Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire gave some hints as to how his team would acknowledge the Black Lives Matter movement prior to tonight’s opener against the Cincinnati Reds at The Great American Ballpark, and they made good on it.
“Major League Baseball actually did this shirt, put it in everybody’s locker. We all know what we’re trying to do here and that’s awareness, making people aware of what’s been going on in our country,” Gardenhire said while wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt.
Several members of the team knelt during the National Anthem, including Jeimer Candelario, Niko Goodrum, Joe Jimenez, Cameron Maybin and Christin Stewart. First base coach Dave Clark joined them.
Niko Goodrum, Christin Stewart, Cameron Maybin, Jeimer Candelario, Joe Jimenez and coach Dave Clark stayed on a knee during the National Anthem pic.twitter.com/PamjhNLosT
— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) July 24, 2020
The entire Tigers team kneels during the Players Alliance video pic.twitter.com/EcIyQHvYNs
— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) July 24, 2020
Prior to the anthem, a video from The Players Alliance (made up of over 100 current and former black players) was played on the venue’s scoreboard. During the video, all players from the Tigers and Reds both knelt while clutching a black rope.
