Friday, February 7, 2014

More on Ralph Kiner

Following up on my last Grandstander post....


  • The fact that Kiner lived to the grand age of 91, also means that he pretty much "out kicked the coverage" of his contemporaries.  I am 62 years old and only know of Kiner the Pirate from stories from my Dad and older brothers and their contemporaries.   One would have to be pretty much over 70 years old to have any clear memories of Kiner taking aim at Greenberg Gardens at Forbes Field.
  • The sad downside of that fact is that for many, many people today, they only know Kiner as the announcer for the New York Mets.
  • It was noted on PTI yesterday that Kiner was quite the celebrity when he was belting all those home runs.  Among some of the fruits of that celebrity were the fact that at one time or another, Kiner dated Ava Gardner, Janet Leigh, and Elizabeth Taylor.  That may be more impressive than leading the National League in home runs for seven straight years.

1 comment:

  1. I say that the impressive list of Hollywood starlets proves that Kiner was a "home hitter" in more ways than one .. good for him. Tristing with Ava Gardner alone would have put him in my "HOF.'

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