On Saturday, in the ninth inning of a game they won at Yankee Stadium, the Detroit Tigers lost for at least two months one of post-war baseball's great out-fielder, Al Kaline.

By this time, you probably know how it all happened, how Kaline's diving three-string catch of Elsten Howard's low liner saved a Detroit victory and how, after lying prostrate in short right-center for five minutes, Kaline walked off the field--only to pass out in the shower and learn he had a broken collar-bone. Always a super-star, the 27-year-old Kaline was enjoying the best season's start of his career, carrying the slumping Tigers on his back. The lead was too heavy.

Signed out of high school at the age of 18, Kaline was a regular at 19. In his second full season, he became at 20 the youngest man ever to win the American League batting championship.

For the next five years, until last season, Kaline was unable to resist the seductions of long-ball hitting, a specialty to which he is not genuinely suited. His peak year as a slugger was 1956, when he had 123 runs-batted-in and 27 homeruns--a more respectable figure then than now. From then on, despite fine seasons in '58 and '59, he began to fall off his early pace until in 1960 he could manage only a .278 B.A. with 15 homers and 68 R.B.I.'s.

Last year, though, with Rocky Colavito and Norm Cash supplying Detroit with more than adequate power, Kaline became the comeback player of the year. Leading the league with his 41 doubles. Kaline was runner-up to Cash in the batting championship (.224) and in total hits (190).

Despite the "downs" of his career, Kaline has the A.L.'s highest life-time average of active players of more than five-year's standing: his .209 just edges Mickey Mantle's .308.

Regardless of fluctuations at the plate, Kaline has always been one of the greats in the field. In Boston's tough right-field earlier this year Kaline displayed for area fans a series of spectacular plays. The Irony of his injury on another fabulous catch is too obvious to be labored.

Kaline was in the process of another tremendous season, hitting .336, leading the league with 38 RBI and runner-up to Jim Gentile with 12 homers. His loss to the depthless Tigers is irreparable.

His loss to the American League, though, would hurt even more. In an era which has seen a growing trend toward specialization and an orgiastic over-emphasis on the homerun, Kaline is one of the few who can do everything brilliantly, one of the few genuinely exciting players in baseball. He has come back before. For baseball's sake we can only hope he will again.