Thursday, February 06, 2014

Ralph Kiner, R. I. P.

One of my childhood heroes.

CBSSports.com: “With the passing of Ralph Kiner, the baseball world has lost one of its greatest ambassadors and the Hall of Fame has lost a wonderful friend,” said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Ralph spent eight decades as a player, executive and broadcaster. He was a man who truly loved our National Pastime and made it better in every way. His legacy will live forever in Cooperstown.”

4 comments:

Deb said...

I loved Kiner, but he was the master of the obvious when he was in the announcer's booth. My favorite was once when the bases were loaded and Ralph informed us that "a hit would score a run here."

mybillcrider said...

I never heard him announce, and I never saw him play, but I did hear a few Pirate games on the radio. He was the power-hitting star of the National League during my baseball card-collecting years.

Anonymous said...

Ralph was known (and somewhat beloved) for his malapropisms while announcing Mets games over the years. He also messed up names when reading non-baseball promos.

RIP


Jeff

Deb said...

I guess it's possible I heard him on one of those vintage game replay recordings. He would also refer to west coast time as "Pacific League time."