A little bit of history I've kept in the backpocket:
That was one of those pre-draft rules - if you signed for more than a certain amount of money the team had to keep you on the big league roster for two years. The Tigers wanted him badly enough to give him that with the intention of having him pinch-hit and get into non-essential games/situations for a couple years before sending him to the minors for development. Guy in front of him broke his wrist, and Kaline showed he deserved to be in the bigs his entire career. Also, he was a "bonus baby". The signing bonus was so high that they made the major league team keep the player on the big league roster for two years before even allowing them to play in the minors. It was a pre-draft attempt to keep teams from hoarding lots of top talent.
Kaline was one of the few bonus babies who thrived under the rule. Full time player at age 19, and MVP runner up at age 20. Other bonus babies arguably had their development stunted by the rule. Harmon Killebrew (Twins legend) had to wait two years to get the three years in the minors that he needed. So he didn't become a regular until five years after he was drafted. Sandy Koufax was another case: He debuted way back in '55 but he was worked into the rotation very slowly and wasn't very good before 1960.
A true talent among his contemporaries, he played at the same time as Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, etc. Top 5 greatest Right Fielders to ever wear a baseball uniform in my opinion, and a rare player that was involved with the Tigers organization in some capacity from the age of 18 until his passing.
Let's go over the resume again:
Entire Career with One Team? Check
Hall of Famer? Check
World Series Champ? Check
3000 hits? Check
10x Gold Glove? Check
18x All-Star? Check
Worked Color Commentary from retirement until 2002? Check
(And for those of us who value SABR stats) Top 50 All Time bWAR (92.8)? Of course.
Al lived a baseball dream.