Al Kaline’s ‘Bonus Baby’ Detroit Tigers Teammate Recalls Their Tender Teenage Debut

Going straight from high school to the major leagues is almost unheard of today, but on June 25, 1953, the Detroit Tigers rolled out not one, but two teenagers who were less than one week removed from their high school signings. When Al Kaline and Bob Miller took their respective positions against the Philadelphia Athletics, it marked the start of two divergent careers. Kaline went on to the Hall of Fame; arm injuries plagued Miller during his five major league seasons.

Kaline died Monday, April 6, 2020, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan at 85. The 84-year-old Miller was reached shortly via telephone after Kaline’s passing and recalled how the roommates leaned on each other for support while competing against grown men.

“We tried to help each other because we were both rookies with not that much world experience,” Miller said from his Illinois home. “The awkward part was, we had never traveled that much to get into so many big cities and [have to] dine out; it was a whole new world. … We fumbled and stumbled a little bit, but it was fun.”

While their debut has eternally linked the pair, historians are quick to note how their signing bonuses pushed Kaline and Miller directly to the major leagues. The “bonus baby” rule was in effect at the time, stating teams that signed players for more than $4,000 had to keep the players on the major league roster for two years or risk losing their contract rights. However, their contracts did not merely exceed the $4,000 limit, they shattered it. Kaline signed for an impressive $35,000; however, it was Miller’s left arm that the Tigers rested $65,000 on with the hopes of winning an American League pennant.

Kaline made his major league debut that June evening as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning for Jim Delsing. He went 0-1 in his only plate appearance. Miller followed in the bottom of the eighth, pitching a scoreless inning of relief. Not only were the teenagers now professionals, but they were also the highest-paid players on the team, outpacing veterans with over a decade of service time. Miller recalled how the Tigers team took it easy on them in an era where veterans held contempt for unproven high schoolers who surpassed their salaries without one day in the minor leagues.

“So many the guys were in their mid-30s on the ballclub, and I have to admit the Tigers players at that time were very good to both of us,” he said.

At the end of the 1953 season, both finished with pedestrian numbers; Kaline batted .250 in 28 at-bats, and Miller went 1-2 with a 5.94 ERA in 13 appearances. Shortly their career trajectories radically split. Kaline finished second in the American League MVP voting in 1955, and Miller struggled to hold on after fracturing his wrist early in the 1956 season. By 1962, Kaline was an 11-time All-Star (MLB held two All-Star Games per year from 1959-61), while Miller wrapped up his career with the expansion New York Mets.

Kaline finished his 22-year career with the Tigers in 1974, amassing 3,007 hits on his way to a 1980 Hall of Fame induction. Miller left his mark on the game in a different way, serving as the chairman of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, helping retired players across the country stay connected. The two were able to reunite often, helping to keep a relationship aflame that started as teenagers almost 67 years earlier at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium.

“We maintained a friendship for a long time,” he said. “We’d get together for reunions, and it was always a good time.”