He played 70 games at his usual spot in right field and another 22 games at first base. His .287 batting average would have placed him 4th in the league, but he did not have enough at bats to qualify. Kaline excelled in his only World Series appearance by batting .379 with 2 home runs and 8 RBIs. Pinch-hitter Gates Brown also had a huge year for the Tigers in 1968. Signed by the Tigers while serving time in an Ohio prison, Brown led the team with a .370 batting average (34-for-92) and .685 slugging percentage in the "year of the pitcher" when the league batting average was only .230. He also led the American League in pinch hits and came off the bench with clutch hits to spark a number of dramatic ninth inning come-back victories. In a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox on August 11, 1968, Brown had a clutch game-winning home run off Lee Stange in the 14th inning of the first game, then had a game-winning single off Sparky Lyle in the ninth inning of the second game. After losing the 1967 American League pennant by one game to the Red Sox, the Tigers got off to a 9–1 start in 1968. By April 29, they were 12–4. On May 10, the Tigers moved into first place and remained there for the rest of the season. In baseball's final season before the leagues each split into two divisions, the Tigers finished with a record of 103–59 and outscored their opponents 671 to 492. The Orioles stayed close through much of the season, but the Tigers wound up winning the pennant with a 12-game lead over Baltimore. The 1968 Tigers also won the season series against all nine league opponents‚ the first team to accomplish that since the 1955 Dodgers. The 1968 Tigers developed a reputation for dramatic comebacks, often with winning late-inning home runs. The Tigers led the major leagues with 185 home runs in 1968. They won 40 games from the 7th inning forward, and won 30 games in their last at bat. In each game, there seemed to be a new hero, with even the light-hitting Don Wert, Ray Oyler and Tom Matchick providing clutch hits to win ballgames. The 1968 Tigers were also known for their "esprit de corps". The starting lineup had been intact since 1965, and several of those starters had grown up in Michigan as Detroit Tigers fans: Willie Horton in Detroit's inner city, Bill Freehan in suburban Royal Oak, Jim Northrup in a small town west of Saginaw, and Mickey Stanley from the west of the state in Grand Rapids.