RIP Ralph Kiner

[Steak Snabler]

Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder. Long-time Mets broadcaster. Dead at 91.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/hall-famer-longtime-mets-broadcaster-kiner-dead-91-article-1.1604801

 

[Boom_70]

Funeral sponsored by Rheingold Extra. RIP

 

[cranberry]

RIP

 

[Boom_70]

I never even liked The Met's but loved watching Met Post Game show
Kiner's Korner. It was ahead of it's time.

 

[casty33]

The one thing I have to say -- Ralph was a very nice man and I will miss him. I knew Ralph for 35 years, from my first year on the Mets beat to now, and I will miss a good friend. He never big-timed anyone, and he had more baseball stories than anybody.
Yes, we all know his malaprops, and his problem with names. But that was a funny part of his career, and not what he should be remembered for. He used to laugh at them, too, like when he introduced Gary Cohen as David Cone.
I will remember him as a man who welcomed me to the beat and always wanted to know how I was doing, especially after I left the business due to my multiple sclerosis.
RIP doesn't say enough about Ralph.
Dan Castellano

 

[casty33]

If I can add one more thing -- if you were ever lucky enough to spend some time with Ralph at the hotel bar, he'd never let you pay. Truly a gentleman, he will be missed.

 

[Webster]

He, Nelson and Murphy were a big part of my childhood. The on-air stories may have been old and repeatedly told, but they were still pretty good. He just projected being a nice guy over the air.

Met him a couple of times at charity events and he was super nice.

 

[HanSenSE]

The conversation he must be having with spnited. RIP.

 

[MTM]

Met him once when he was involved with a local golf tournament in the late 1990s and found him to be humble and gracious.
Interviewed him in his Palm Springs-area condo and he and his wife could not have been nicer.
I probably broke some kind of ethical rule in accepting an autographed ball and Hall of Fame card, but he offered and I did not want to tell him no after his hospitability.
RIP Ralph.

 

[Batman]

I remember him once calling a Mets-Cubs game in the mid-80s. Jody Davis hits a ball in the air, and Kiner says nonchalantly, "... and there's a pop up to the shortstop. (Whoever the Mets shortstop was) looks for it ... and .... that ball is gone. Home run."
Oops.
Never was a fan of Kiner's broadcasting, because of things like that and I just wasn't a Mets fan at all, but I can certainly appreciate 51 years of work and what he meant to the franchise.
RIP.

Was he working in the booth up until last year?

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Well said, Mr. Casty.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Well said ... Broadcast career aside ... There's also a reason this guy was HOF'er and a beloved Bucco. He was a hammer at the plate.

10 seasons ... He led the NL in HRs seven times and owned the category in Post WW-II until 1953. He had five seasons where he belted 40 or more homers - playing home games in mammoth confines of Forbes Field no less.
In comparison, Willie Stargell, who hit nearly 480 dingers in his career topped 40 homers just twice.

His ratio of 7.1 home runs per 100 at-bats trails only Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Kiner was famous for his comic malaprops, like this one: “If Casey Stengel were alive today, he’d be spinning in his grave.”

Or the hilarious: “On Father’s Day, we again wish you all a Happy Birthday.”

91 is a good, long life.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Left a great quote. "Singles hitters drive Fords. Home run hitters drive Cadillacs."
A proto-sabermetrician?

More seriously, I never met him, but it's hard to lie on television, and the decency cited by the folks on this thread who did know him always came through on the air.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Nice tribute from Jayson Stark, compiling many of the best "Kiner-isms." Includes the John Fogerty story:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/stark_jayson/id/10419125/ralph-kiner-had-one-life-special-gifts-ability-laugh-himself

 

[finishthehat]

I grew up with the Mets broadcasting trio too. I wish there was Youtube of the famous Kiner's Korner with George Carlin.

RIP

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Jayson Stark will now have to subsist on Rich Donnelly fabrications.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Was he working in the booth up until last year?

Yes he was. He only would do a handful of games each year at home, usually just an inning or two which he usually spent telling his stories and some years, he'd pop in at a spring training game.

For all intents and purposes, he was retired, but the Mets didn't want to actually force him out, so they'd let him drop by from time to time.