In 1975 he was elected into the Hall of Fame. “That’s the great thing about baseball,” he said. Although during the Kiner years the Pirates assembled the most dreadful teams in club history, the fans kept pouring into Forbes Field. Following his retirement, Kiner served from 1956 through 1960 as general manager of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres. He led the National League in home runs for seven consecutive years between 1946 and 1952 while with Pittsburgh Pirates. Ralph Kiner Stats, Fantasy & News. Ralph Kiner #4 | Left Field | Pittsburgh Pirates. As temperatures climbed, Hall of Fame general manager Branch Rickey, moving the Pirates toward youth, traded future Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner, the only man to lead his league in home runs for seven consecutive seasons. "
It was there that he also developed his skills in the broadcast booth. As a Mets broadcaster Ralph Kiner became famous for his malapropisms known as “Kinerisms”. He often got people’s names mixed-up, such as calling Gary Carter “Gary Cooper” or broadcast partner Tim McCarver “Tim MacArthur”. In '49 he hit 54, second-highest in league history (to Hack Wilson's 56. He was well known in Hollywood circles, having dated starlets like Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh, played golf with James Garner and Jack Lemmon and developed friendships with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
Outcome of the game? Greenberg, who had nearly topped Babe Ruth's then-record 60 by belting 58 homers, told Kiner to stand closer to the plate and drive outside pitches with power.The pay-off was immediate, as Kiner graduated to the 50-homer club, belting 51 to tie Mize for the title.The next year, 1948, he hit 40. In 1962, the expansion New York Mets hired Ralph to do their television broadcasts.Kiner jokingly recalled: “The Mets hired me because they looked at my background with the Pirates and saw that I had losing experience.”Kiner spent more than 50 years in the booth for the Mets and became a favorite of a whole new generation of baseball fans.Kiner was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1975. Babe Ruth predicted Kiner would be the slugger most likely to break Ruth's single season home run record.
Kiner was a hero; Kiner was a bum.Yet he was something else as well: the single greatest drawing card in Pirate history.It was a career of which legend -- and Hall of Fame plaques -- are made.Crowds came to Forbes Field to wait for a home run then streamed out after his last at-bat. Rickey became the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager in 1950 and throughly despised Kiner. For the first time, in 1947, the Pirates broke a million, double the previous year, the first of four straight million-plus seasons.Branch Rickey came in 1951 with a five-year plan to bring a pennant, including bringing up kids while trading high-priced veterans, Kiner included.Attendance fell to a half-million in '53 and stayed below that figure for the next two years.After Pittsburgh, Kiner spent a year-and-a-half with the Cubs, and a season with the Indians, his homer total dwindling to 18 until a back injury shelved him.10 years, 369 home runs (301 as a Pirate), one homer for every 14.1 at-bats, second only to Babe Ruth (one in every 11.8).
Hall of Famer Warren Spahn proclaimed: “Kiner can wipe out your lead with one swing.”Kiner’s star blazed off the baseball diamond as well.
"Although the Pirates signed Kiner out of high school in 1940, a couple of years in the minors and a hitch in the Navy delayed his arrival in Pittsburgh until 1946.He hit only 23 round trippers, but that was good enough, as the 24-year-old became the first rookie in 40 years to lead the league.In '47 the club did Kiner an enormous favor -- by acquiring future Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg.
Year SLG Rank; 1954.487: 11th in NL: 1953.466: 10th in NL: 1953.529: 10th in NL: 1953.512 Ralph Kiner’s mistakes as a broadcaster made him more delightful, not less. In '52, while the club finished at 41-112, the worst of this century, Mr. Slug took his seventh and final crown, sharing honors with Cub Hank Sauer, whacking 37.It was a career of which legend -- and Hall of Fame plaques -- are made.It is also the stuff of which attendance is made. “You never know what’s going on.” He was a contentious baseball player, one of the most argued about of his time.
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