Willie Horton still giving back to Lakeland years after starting MLB career with Detroit Tigers

LAKELAND — There is a statue of him outside Comerica Park and the state of Michigan has celebrated Willie Horton Day every Oct. 18 since 2004. But there's one other piece of Detroit Tigers history that Horton wears on his sleeve.

Well, more accurately, his wrist.

"I have the world's best and most unique Al Kaline autograph,'' Horton said. "I have Al Kaline's teeth marks on my wrist.''

They've been there for more than 53 years. They forever were placed there on the Fourth of July 1970, when one of the most popular players in franchise history saved the life of one of the greatest Tigers of all.

In a game in Milwaukee, Kaline collided with fellow outfielder Jim Northrup and fell hard on the warning track. Kaline's jaw locked and his toungue cut off his breathing. Kaline was suffocating and perhaps minutes or just seconds from death. Literally out of left field, Horton raced to his teammate's rescue.

"I spent a lot of time in boxing gyms when I was growing up,'' Horton said. "I knew how to clear the airway when a boxer swallowed his mouthpiece.''

Kaline left his mark on Horton's wrist, but survived to play out the rest of a Hall of Fame career.

It was only a brief moment, but that heroic act came to symbolize -- not just Horton's playing career, but -- his life. It seems that every time that the Tigers, the city of Detroit or the state of Michigan needed something, Horton was there.

Throw in the city of Lakeland, where the Tigers hold spring training and a large chunk of Michigan spends its winters.

"Lakeland means a lot to me,'' said Horton, who lives in Bloomfield, Mich., but spends spring training in Polk County. "I've watched Lakeland grow up and I'm proud of Lakeland.''

Horton wan't always so proud of Lakeland. Turn back the clock to that February day in 1963 when Horton first set foot in Lakeland for his first spring training as a big leaguer. Horton didn't exactly get major league treatment.

Rough start to MLB career in Lakeland

He arrived in downtown Lakeland on a Greyhound bus and tried to catch a city bus out to TigerTown.

"The driver looked at me and said the bus was full,'' said Horton, who is Black. "But I could see that it wasn't.''

Horton tried to flag down a taxi cab. The driver slowed down long enough to tell Horton, "sorry, I can't give you a ride.''

So, Horton just walked. And walked and walked. And thought.

"That walk has stayed with me throughout my life,''Horton said. "It's inspired me.''

Horton helped the Tigers win a World Series in 1968, but during his baseball career and the rest of his life, Horton has been more than a ballplayer. He's been a champion for racial harmony. Now 81, Horton still is working toward that goal.

That's why on Thursday night after the Tigers finish their home spring training game against the New York Yankees, the eighth annual Willie Horton Detroit Tigers Celebrity Bowl will be held at Orange Bowl Lanes (4318 U.S. Highway 98 North in Lakeland). Horton will be joined by former Tigers Craig Monroe and Cecil Fielder as well as other celebrities from the sports world in a bowling tournament.

Proceeds will benefit the Willie Horton Community Partnership and the Willie Horton 360 Foundation. The partnership was formed by Horton and Lakeland city officials, but it has drawn financial support from as far away as Detroit and as near as Tampa and Orlando.

"Mr. (Christopher) Ilitch has been great to us,'' Horton said of the Tigers' Chairman and CEO. "Down here, the Tampa Bay Rays and Buccaneers and the Orlando Magic have given us a lot of support.''

Officially, Horton's group uses "sports as a tool to engage youth. As a means of getting into forgotten communities and starting the necessary dialogue that leads to fixing the ills that plauge the families forced to deal with the hardships faced by those that are void of a voice.''

In Horton's own words, his foundation and the partnership are there to help those that need it most "from the cradle to the grave''.

"We do a lot with youth sports in all sports,'' Horton said. "We have the Willie Horton Baseball League and we're working on creating leagues for football and basketball. But it's not just about the youth. We also help out things like field trips for senior citizens around Lakeland. We want no one to be left out.''

So, what drives Horton, who still is employed as a special advisor to the Tigers, to keep working hard for Lakeland and racial harmony?

Well, it's just Horton being Horton. His off-field efforts are as much a part of his legacy and Tigers' lore as the 325 home runs he hit.

Horton tried to be peacemaker during Detroit riots in 1967

He's known for saving Kaline's life just as much as he's known for his attempt at being a peacemaker in the streets of Detroit. A defining moment came on July 23, 1967 as the Tigers were wrapping up a doubleheader with the New York Yankees. Horton and his teammates noticed smoke rising beyond the walls of Tiger Stadium. They were told a riot was taking place and they should go directly home as soon as the game ended.

It was the infamous Detroit Riot in which a large chunk of the city was burned as rioters protested what they believed to be police brutality against Blacks. When the game ended, Horton, still in uniform, went to 12th Street (the center of the riot), stood on top of a car and begged protesters to be peaceful.

Horton wasn't able to single-handedly stop one of the worst riots in U.S. history. It went on for days and 43 people died and more than 1,100 were injured. But Horton's efforts went a long way in establishing him as a Detroit icon.

"I still get a little nervous thinking about it,'' Horton said. "That was the moment when I really started dedicating myself to racial equality.''

But Horton was ahead of the world around him. In the 1960s, Lakeland wasn't the only place where Blacks ran into inequities.

At a recent baseball card show in Venice, former Tigers pitcher Denny McLain, who is white, rolled his eyes and shook his head as he talked about the obstacles Horton and other Black players endured.

"It was embarrassing,'' McClain said. "It wasn't just a Southern thing. I remember being on the team bus in Chicago, my hometown (McLain was raised in the Chicago suburb of Markham, Ill.). We were headed for the team hotel and I knew we were still a few miles away. The bus stopped and Willie and the other black players got off. They had to stay at another hotel that would allow them because the team hotel wouldn't. It was a disgrace. Those guys were my teammates and we all deserved to be treated equally.''

Horton admitted there were a lot of things that bothered him about the way he and other Black players were treated in those days. But he didn't want to dwell on the negatives.

As he looks back on it all, Horton said he realizes there were signs of progress in Lakeland all along. Horton remembers Publix founder -- and Lakeland icon -- George Jenkins giving him pounds and pounds of food to barbecue for the Black players, who weren't allowed to eat with their white teammates. He remembers the friendship of Lakeland Parks and Recreation Director Joker Marchant (whose name is on the stadium where the Tigers now play their spring training games)

"Mr. Marchant always made sure there were picnic tables for us to eat at outside the Holiday Inn where we stayed,'' Horton said.

During that time, Horton helped integrate the Polk Theatre. Horton said modern-day Lakeland has changed for the better. That much was obvious in January 2023. Instead of walking to his destination, Horton was treated like royalty. He served as grand marshal of Lakeland's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade and rode in the back of a convertible as thousands of people -- Black and white -- cheered him on.

Although he won't say it, there's no question that Horton has played a major role in Lakeland's past and present. More importantly, he's still working on shaping the city's future.

"I look back on it all and I always think about my father's advice when I was young -- 'Don't just sit there and feel sorry for yourself. Go out and make it better for those around you,' '' Horton said.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Willie Horton reflects on Detroit Tigers career, time spent in Lakeland