The Bookends Interview: Ralph Kiner - Part 2
By John J. Buro | Pro Baseball Central - NYSportsDay.com | on Thursday, May 11 2006

“If Casey Stengel were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave.”

RIDGEWOOD, NJ -For a short time, after his retirement, Ralph Kiner was the GM of the Pacific Coast League’s San Diego Padres and, later, a broadcaster with the Chicago White Sox.

Then, on January 31, 1962, he was hired to work with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy as broadcasters for the expansion New York Mets. A part of his job description was to host a post-game show known as ‘Kiner's Korner’. The 15-minute recap, seen at the conclusion of a home game, would ultimately bring him even greater fame.

There were Kinerisms –unintentional mispronunciations- [Gary Carter was ‘Gary Cooper’, Darryl Strawberry was ‘Darryl Throneberry’, and so forth] at every turn, and he quickly established himself as the Mets’ answer to Yogi Berra, who is widely regarded as the master of such quips. Kiner once commented that Phil Niekro’s knuckleball was “like watching Mario Andretti park a car,” and astutely noted that that, “Solo homers usually come with no one on base." He sent birthday wishes to all fathers on ‘Father’s Day,” and said of one late-game pitcher, “All of his saves have been in relief appearances."

He once said that “the reason the Mets have played so well at Shea is because they have the best home record in baseball." But, even his call of the game, itself, could boggle the mind. “The Mets have gotten their leadoff batter on only once this inning." Or, “This one is hit deep to right. It is way back -going, going, it is gone. No, it’s off the top of the wall."

In March, 1998, Kiner announced –on air- that, for the past three months, he had suffered from Bell’s Palsy, which slurred his speech. This season, with the advent of SportsNet New York, Kiner is scheduled to work in the neighborhood of 20-25 games. He is the only broadcaster with a link to the entire Mets’ history. Nelson, who left to call games for the San Francisco Giants in 1979, subsequently passed on in 1995; Bob Murphy, who finished on the radio side in 2003, passed the following year.

“We were very close,” Kiner remembers. Lindsey, who was also a football broadcaster in the early days [he announced the Cotton Bowl for more than a quarter-century], was in WWII, and told his stories about the war. He was always entertaining and certainly bright enough. Bob Murphy, of course, had broadcast for the Boston Red Sox [with Curt Gowdy] and Baltimore Orioles. During the war, he was in the Marine Corps. And, as I was a navy pilot, we had a lot in common all the way through. I got to spend many great hours with the two of them. I was an only child, so I didn’t have the luxury of a brother. But, in many ways, the three of us were like brothers.

“Broadcasting was still new to me. I had done some, when I operated the Padres. I called our Saturday games because we couldn’t afford to pay an announcer. So, I learned something about television from that.”

Kiner, said co-author Danny Peary, had started broadcasting ‘re-created games’. “He actually made himself into a good broadcaster. His attitude toward the business of broadcasting was so refreshing, and what attracted people to the Mets.

“Lindsey and Bob were great talents, and had a great sense of humor about the team. Ralph always said that, because he had a lot of practice losing, he was the perfect broadcaster for the Mets. There friendliness turned so many New Yorkers into baseball fans -especially the disenfranchised, once the Dodgers and Giants left so many unhappy people.

“Ralph worked with Lindsey and Bob for 17 years which is an amazing thing [in the industry],” added Peary, who has written 18 books on film and sports and is a researcher and writer for ‘The Tim McCarver Show’. “Their stories -which begin during the time Casey Stengel managed- makes for great stuff.

Peary, who has known the Kiner for many years, had also connected the link between baseball and Hollywood. “Bing Crosby was part-owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he knew everyone in Hollywood that I was familiar with.” Through a shared passion for golf, Kiner hobnobbed with Crosby and Bob Hope, and ultimately dated movie queens Janet Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor.

“Ralph is the best witness to baseball history that we have,” Peary claimed. “People prefer to think of him only as a storyteller. But, he has met everyone in the game. He was involved with the labor wars during the ‘50’s, and knew Jackie Robinson from their softball days in Los Angeles. Ralph had played against Negro League All-Star teams and, when he was 17, hit a home run off Satchel Paige.

“Ralph is very accessible and accommodating,” said Peary, “and always willing to tell his stories. It’s amazing what he has lived through.”

In fact, one of the book’s more colorful segments is the story behind Robinson entry into Major League Baseball. Kiner steadfastly believes that Branch Rickey integrated the Brooklyn Dodgers for reasons other than morality. Rickey, whose role as the Bucs’ General Manager coincided with Kiner’s stay [1950-53], was observed to be “in no hurry to bring any black players in to upgrade the team."

During that period, the Pirates finished a cumulative 213-402 [.346]; in 1952, they lost 112 games and, the following year, finished 55 games off the pace.