| Ralph Kiner | ||
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| Outfielder | ||
| Born: October 27, 1922 Santa Rita, New Mexico |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| April 12, 1946 for the Pittsburgh Pirates |
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| Final game | ||
| September 25, 1955 for the Cleveland Indians |
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| Career statistics | ||
| AVG | . Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in Baseball farthest from the batter Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Santa Rita is a Ghost town in Grant County in the US state of New Mexico. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: St Louis Cardinals over Boston Red Sox (4-3 All-Star Game The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Events 303 - On a voyage preaching the Gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Brooklyn Dodgers over New York Yankees (4-3 Johnny Podres, MVP The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 279 | |
| HR | 369 | |
| RBI | 1105 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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| Member of the National | ||
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Elected | 1975 | |
| Vote | 75. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Boston Red Sox (4-3 Pete Rose, MVP 41% | |
Ralph McPherran Kiner (born October 27, 1922) is an American former Major League Baseball player and current announcer. Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An announcer is a Voice actor who works in Television, Radio or Film, usually providing Narrations News updates Station Though constant injuries forced his retirement from the game after only ten seasons, Kiner's tremendous slugging output during his short career outpaced nearly all of his National League contemporaries between the years 1946 and 1954. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975
Contents |
Playing career
Kiner was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico, and grew up in Alhambra, California. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Boston Red Sox (4-3 Pete Rose, MVP Santa Rita is a Ghost town in Grant County in the US state of New Mexico. Alhambra (pronounced or) is a City ( incorporated on 11 July 1903) located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles He made his major league debut on April 16, 1946 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Events 1178 BC - A Solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom Champions Major League Baseball World Series: St Louis Cardinals over Boston Red Sox (4-3 All-Star Game The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1947 he gained notice for hitting 51 home runs. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3 All-Star Game Many of Kiner's homers were hit into a shortened left-field and left-center-field porch at Forbes Field, originally built for Hank Greenberg and known in the press as "Greenberg Gardens"; then retained for Kiner and redubbed by the media as "Kiner's Korner". Forbes Field was a Baseball park in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania from 1909 to 1971 Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg ( January 1, 1911, New York New York – September 4, 1986) nicknamed "Hammerin' Kiner would later use that expression as the title of his post-game TV show in New York .
In 1949 Kiner topped his 1947 total with 54 home runs, falling just two short of Hack Wilson's NL record. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-1 All-Star Game Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3 All-Star Game Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson ( April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948) was an American Center fielder in Major It was the highest total in the major leagues from 1939 to 1960, the highest National League total from 1931 to 1997, and made Kiner the first National League player with two fifty-plus seasons; Kiner also matched his peak of 127 RBIs. Headline Event of the Year On May 17, 1939, Princeton University and Columbia University played the first televised baseball Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over New York Yankees (4-3 Bobby Richardson, Champions World Series: St Louis Cardinals over Philadelphia Athletics (4-3 Awards and honors Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Florida Marlins over Cleveland Indians (4-3 Liván Hernández, From 1947 to 1951, Kiner topped 40 home runs and 100 RBIs each season. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3 All-Star Game Headline Event of the Year Baseball's Shot Heard 'Round the World gives the New York Giants the National League Pennant in the third game of a best-of-three-games His string of seasons leading the league in home runs reached seven in 1952, when he reached 37. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-3 All-Star Game This was also the last of a record six consecutive seasons in which he led Major League Baseball in home runs, all under the guidance of manager Billy Meyer and Pirate great Honus Wagner. William Adam Meyer ( January 14 1892 – March 31 1957) was an American Baseball player and manager. Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (ˈhɑnəs ˈwæɡnɚ February 24 1874 &ndash December 6 1955) nicknamed " The Flying Dutchman He was selected to participate in the All-Star Game in six straight seasons, 1948 to 1953. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Cleveland Indians over Boston Braves (4-2 All-Star Game Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-2 All-Star Game He holds (by himself) the major league record of 8 home runs in 4 consecutive multi-homer games, set in September, 1947.
A quote variously attributed to Kiner himself, and to teammates talking about Kiner, was "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs and singles hitters drive Fords. Cadillac is a Brand of Luxury vehicles owned by General Motors. Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following " [1] Footage of Kiner hitting a homer in Forbes Field can be seen in the 1951 film, Angels in the Outfield. Angels in the Outfield is a 1951 Black-and-white film starring Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh, directed by Clarence Brown
On June 4, 1953, Kiner was sent to the Chicago Cubs as part of a ten player trade. Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-2 All-Star Game The Chicago Cubs are a Professional Baseball franchise based in Chicago, Illinois. This was largely due to continued salary disputes with Pirate general manager Branch Rickey, who reportedly told Kiner, "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you. Wesley Branch Rickey ( December 15 1881 &ndash December 9 1965) was an innovative Major League Baseball executive best known "
He played the rest of the 1953 season and all of 1954 with the Cubs, and finished his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1955, a back injury forcing him out of baseball at that point. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Giants over Cleveland Indians (4-0 All-Star Game The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Brooklyn Dodgers over New York Yankees (4-3 Johnny Podres, MVP He retired at the age of 32. At the end of his ten seasons he had amassed 369 home runs and 1019 runs batted in to go along with a career . 279 batting average.
Kiner was not known for speed. In contrast to radio's "Quiz Kids" or the 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids", according to Chicago columnist Mike Royko the 1950s Cubs had an outfield "that was so slow they were known as the Quicksand Kids. Quiz Kids, a popular radio-TV series of the 1940s and 1950s was created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G Michael "Mike" Royko ( September 19, 1932 &ndash April 29, 1997) was a newspaper Columnist in Chicago, Illinois Quicksand is a Colloid Hydrogel consisting of fine Granular matter (such as Sand or Silt) Clay, and " Hank Sauer, Frank Baumholtz and Kiner played left, center and right fields respectively. Henry John (Hank Sauer ( March 17, 1917 - August 24, 2001) was a Left fielder in Major League Baseball. Frank Conrad Baumholtz (October 7 1918 - December 14 1997 was an American Outfielder for Major League Baseball 's Cincinnati Reds (1947-49 Chicago (One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko, University of Chicago, 1999, p. 29-31)
Broadcasting career
In 1961, Kiner made his way into the broadcast booth with the Chicago White Sox. Headline Event of the Year Roger Maris hits 61 home runs breaking Babe Ruth 's record The next year, Kiner, along with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy, started announcing the games of the expansion New York Mets on WOR-TV in New York. Lindsey Nelson ( May 25, 1919 - June 10, 1995) was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of College Robert Allan Murphy ( September 19, 1924 &ndash August 3, 2004) was an American sportscaster who spent 50 years doing See also Relocation of professional sports teams An expansion team is a term used for a brand new team in a sports league "Mets" redirects here For the medical term see Metastasis. WWOR-TV, channel 9 is a MyNetworkTV -affiliated television station licensed to Secaucus New Jersey, and serving the New York City metropolitan area The City of New York One of his duties was to do a post-game show known as "Kiner's Korner".
Kiner was known for the occasional malapropism, usually connected with getting people's names wrong, such as calling broadcasting partner Tim McCarver as "Tim MacArthur". James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former Major League Baseball Catcher, and a current He even once called himself "Ralph Korner". [2]
Despite a bout with Bell's palsy, which left him with slightly slurred speech,[1] Kiner is still broadcasting, entering his 46th year of doing Mets broadcasts as of the start of the 2008 baseball season, though only as an occasional guest analyst on Mets' broadcasts on SportsNet New York (SNY). Bell's Palsy is a paralysis of the Facial nerve resulting in inability to control facial muscles on the affected side 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common SportsNet New York ( SNY) is a New York City -based sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area and all of New York state, He is the only broadcaster to survive all of the Mets history, due to Nelson leaving the Mets for the San Francisco Giants in 1979 and Murphy's retirement in 2003. The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in, that currently play in the National League West Division. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over Baltimore Orioles (4-3 Willie Stargell, Headline event of the year The Florida Marlins become World Series champions holding off a dynastic New York Yankees team 4 games to (Nelson died in 1995 and Murphy in 2004. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " ) His traditional home-run call -- "it is gone, goodbye" or "that ball is gone, goodbye" -- is a signature phrase in baseball.
Legacy
Kiner was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Boston Red Sox (4-3 Pete Rose, MVP
Kiner garnered 273 votes by the Baseball Writers Association, one more than the minimum required for election, and in his final year of eligibility, the closest call possible for any player elected by the BBWAA, although he would have had a chance later withe the Veteran's Committee. He was also the only player voted in that year.
Kiner was also elected to the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1984. The New York Mets Hall of Fame was created in 1981 to recognize the careers of former New York Mets players managers broadcasters and executives Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Detroit Tigers over San Diego Padres (4-1 Alan Trammell, MVP
The Pirates retired his uniform number 4 in 1987. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Minnesota Twins over St
The Sporting News placed him at number 90 on its 1999 list of "The 100 Greatest Baseball Players," and he was one of the 100 finalists for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team that year. Sporting News (previously The Sporting News, and known colloquially as TSN) is an American -based Sports Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves (4-0 Mariano Rivera, MVP In 1999 MasterCard sponsored the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The Mets honored him with an on-field ceremony on "Ralph Kiner Night" at Shea Stadium on Saturday, July 14, 2007, where they handed out photos of Ralph Kiner to the first 25,000 fans. Tom Seaver also gave a commemorative speech recalling Kiner's legacy. George Thomas Seaver (born November 17, 1944) is a former right-handed Major League Baseball Pitcher who broke into the major leagues in and Besides Tom Seaver, other guests of note were Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, and broadcaster Ernie Harwell. Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born May 12 1925 in St Louis Missouri) is a former Major League Baseball player and manager Robert William Andrew "Bob" Feller (born November 3, 1918 in Van Meter Iowa) nicknamed the "Heater from Van Meter" and William Earnest "Ernie" Harwell (born January 25, 1918 in Washington Georgia) is a former American Sportscaster, known As a present from the Mets, Kiner received a cruise of his choice for him and his wife for his dedication to the team. [2]
See also
- 50 home run club
- Hitting for the cycle
- List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
- List of top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
- List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
- Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
- Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
- ^ Sandomir, Richard. In Major League Baseball, the 50 home run club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have hit 50 or more Home runs in a single season In Baseball, a player hits for the cycle when he hits a single, a double, a triple and a Home run in the same game though not necessarily Players denoted in boldface are still actively contributing to the record noted See also List of lifetime home run leaders through history This is a list of the top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters. Below is the list of 257 Major League Baseball players who have reached the 1000 RBI milestone Major League Baseball recognizes Runs batted in champions in the American League and National League each season Major League Baseball recognizes home run champions in the American League and National League each season Major League Baseball recognizes runs scored champions in the American League and National League each season Listed below are the occurrences of Major League Baseball players who have hit three Home runs in a single game At the end of each Major League Baseball season the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced "Kiner Signs A 2-Year Deal", The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 1999-03-12. The New York Times Company ( is an American media company It is Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving Retrieved on 2008-05-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.
- ^ Heyman, Brian (2007-07-15). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Kiner honored before Mets game. The Journal News. Retrieved on 2007-07-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final
External links
- baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Ralph Kiner official site (CMG Worldwide)
- Famous Kiner quotes (Baseball Almanac)
- Statistics at Rotowire
| Preceded by Tommy Holmes |
National League Home Run Champion 1946-1952 (1947-8 with Johnny Mize 1952 with Hank Sauer) |
Succeeded by Eddie Mathews |
| Preceded by Stan Musial |
National League RBI Champion 1949 |
Succeeded by Del Ennis |
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