Get him to the Shrine on time
Former Detroit Tiger Ron LeFlore is once again up for election to the "people’s hall of fame."
When I heard about the Baseball Reliquary's recent call for nominations, I knew I had to go to bat for Ron LeFlore.
Back in the mid-1970s, I was in elementary school and living with my folks on Detroit’s east side, on Nottingham Road near I-94 and Whittier, just one street over from the man who famously went from prison to the big leagues.
And although I only saw LeFlore play in person a handful of times, he’s always loomed large in my childhood memories.
Long after he retired in 2019, I somehow managed to lure LeFlore back to Detroit from his home in Florida for a screening of 1978’s made-for-TV movie about his life, One in a Million.
First nominated in 2020, the former Detroit Tigers All-Star center fielder is back on the ballot this year for induction into the Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals.
Described by iconoclastic Ball Four author Jim Bouton as “the people’s hall of fame,” the Baseball Reliquary was founded by Detroit native Terry Cannon in southern California in 1996.
After Cannon’s tragic death in 2020, the Reliquary faced some major existential challenges, but thanks in large part to Cannon’s widow, Mary Cannon, as well as dedicated members like Albert Kilchesty, Steve Butts, and Greg Jezewski, and the leadership of new director Joe Price, the Reliquary is back on its feet again.
As for my old neighbor from the east side, Ron LeFlore is still a legend in this town. His story is incredible, improbable, impossible. And it could only happen in Detroit.
And now with a new biography in the works by Bay Area author Adam Henig, LeFlore is primed for a third act.
Act One
In the winter of 1970, 21-year-old Ron LeFlore and two accomplices robbed a bar on the east side of Detroit. The long arm of the law quickly caught up with them, and LeFlore was sentenced to five to 15 years in the State Prison of Southern Michigan, where he served time alongside political prisoner John Sinclair.
LeFlore hadn’t played any organized baseball growing up, but with little to do behind bars he soon joined the prison baseball team. His first real game was in Jackson, Michigan, on May 18, 1971.
Three years later, he was the starting center fielder for the Detroit Tigers.
It is the stuff of legend — the legend of Ron LeFlore.
LeFlore’s story is in large part the result of the relationship between a Detroit bar owner and a Jackson state prisoner who was doing time for extortion.
After playing ball behind bars for just a few short weeks, LeFlore caught the eye of fellow inmate James Karalla, who also served as the prison’s athletic director. On April 12, 1973, Karalla sent a letter to Jimmy Butsicaris, co-owner of the Lindell A.C., urging him to get in touch with Tigers manager Billy Martin.
“He’s 24 years old, 6-feet tall, runs to 100 in 9.4, has [an] exceptionally strong arm and plenty of power,” Karalla wrote. “He’s very powerfully built and weighs around 215.
“The kid’s name is Ron [LeFlore].”
On May 23, 1973, Butsicaris and Martin, along with Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell, paid a goodwill visit to LeFlore and his fellow inmates in the state penitentiary and soon arranged a one-day furlough for LeFlore to work out for the Tigers.
Needless to say, they were impressed.
Upon his release from prison in 1973, LeFlore signed a minor-league deal with the Tigers. And after only a year in the team’s farm system, LeFlore was promoted to the big leagues — just one week before Richard Nixon announced his resignation as president of the United States.
Act Two
On Aug. 1, 1974, LeFlore made his improbable big-league debut before a sparse crowd of some 9,000 fans at Milwaukee’s County Stadium.
After two seasons of ups and downs with the Tigers, LeFlore had a breakout year in 1976, starting the season with an incredible 30-game hitting streak and earning himself a starting spot on the American League All-Star team alongside teammates (and Shrine of the Eternals inductees) Rusty Staub and Mark “The Bird” Fidrych.
Soon there was a book about LeFlore, followed by a made-for-TV movie starring LeVar Burton.
LeFlore played more than five seasons with the Tigers before being traded to Montreal after the 1979 season. There he starred for the Expos in 1980, racking up an incredible 97 stolen bases, second in the majors only to Oakland’s Rickey Henderson.
After two seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Ron LeFlore’s unlikely major league career came to an end in 1982, but his improbable story still resonates with us all these years later.
And that’s why Ron LeFlore deserves to be inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals.
To vote for LeFlore, join the Baseball Reliquary by Sunday, April 20.
To receive a ballot, voters need to join or renew their membership in The Baseball Reliquary by Sunday, April 20. Ballots must be postmarked by Wednesday, April 30.
Sources: Breakout: From Prison to the Big Leagues, One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story, baseball-reference.com, retrosheet.org, imdb.com, and a handwritten letter from James Karalla to Jimmy Butsicaris.
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