Avila: Kaline was 'the father' of Tigers org.

DETROIT -- Al Avila was a new face in the Tigers front office in the spring of 2002, brought on by then-general manager Dave Dombrowski to be his top assistant. Dombrowski knew Avila for years from their work together with the Marlins, but few others at Comerica Park did.

Al Kaline, hired by the late owner Mike Ilitch the previous year as a special assistant, made Avila feel welcome.

“Nobody knows me. This guy takes me under his wing and we hang out together like he's known me my whole life,” Avila said Wednesday. “And that wasn't just with me. He was that way with everybody.”

By the time Avila became general manager in 2015, Kaline was not only a trusted confidant, but a close friend. And in many ways, he was a patriarch of the Tigers family.

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“You look at Al Kaline as the father or the grandfather of the organization,” Avila explained. “Your daughter brings somebody home and you're introducing him to your father or your grandfather. When a baseball player came in, Al was the one that greeted him and made him feel at ease. When we would bring in a scout or somebody into player development, eventually that's the person you're going to meet and that's the guy who's going to give you an up-and-down. He was always the one who welcomed that person coming in. Once he put his arm around you, you knew you were at home and part of the family.”

Losing that father figure has left the Tigers' organization hurting this week after Kaline passed away Monday at age 85. The Hall of Famer had been in deteriorating health over the past several months, but his passing was not related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Nothing other than health issues that an 85-year-old person over a period of time has,” Avila said.

The pandemic does have an impact on how the Tigers will memorialize Kaline or celebrate his amazing life. Like many states, Michigan is currently under a stay-at-home order, so any large public gathering out of the question for now. Kaline’s family is planning a small, private ceremony with family members only, while the Tigers hope to do something more public.

“We have a team of people that is working on that,” Avila said. “He will be honored the way that he should be, and the way that a man of his stature in the game and in Detroit should be. I can't give you any details at this point because I don't have them.”

Kaline spent 67 years with the Tigers, from 22 years as a player to a quarter-century as a broadcaster, then joined the front office. His official title was special assistant, but he was an influential voice in the Tigers' organization and a trusted advisor for Dombrowski and Avila with everything from player moves and development to on-field instruction.

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“For me, sitting next to him for 17, 18 years at every single game, we would have lunch or dinner before the game, and he was involved in our organizational meetings, our Winter Meetings, our workouts, our Draft,” Avila said. “We'd travel all over the place, but at the same time he always had the camaraderie with everybody.

“It's a family, and he was the head of the family.”

Kaline was helpful in Alex Avila’s playing career, but as Al Avila said, he was the same way with all the young players. He was also the same way with fans. When Avila invited a group of nuns to a game, he said, Kaline met with them and watched part of the game with them, which made their day.

“The thing is, he knew how good he was, but it wasn't something he thought made any difference for him,” Avila said. “To him, being a good character, a good person, being there for his friends and for his family, that was pretty much it for Al. He was a pretty simple guy in that sense.”

The last time the Tigers embarked on a season without Kaline, they played in Briggs Stadium. Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer was the general manager, Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser was still pitching and Harvey Kuenn was a rookie shortstop.

“When you spend so much time with one person over the years,” Avila said, “when you look, you probably spend more time with that person than your own family for a good chunk of the year. So the first thing you think is: What are we going to do now?”