Funny how sometimes you remember most saliently a particular instance — perhaps a little thing, an otherwise unnoticed moment — that illuminates, or symbolizes, the whole.

And so it is with me in regard to Al Kaline, the Hall of Fame outfielder, 18-time American League All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner for fielding excellence, who died on Monday at age 85, and who played his entire 22-year career with the Detroit Tigers, from 1953 to 1974.