The Bookends Interview: Ralph Kiner - Part 3
By John J. Buro | Pro Baseball Central - NYSportsDay.com | on Saturday, May 13 2006

“Tony Gwynn was named ‘Player of the Year’ for the month of April.”

RIDGEWOOD, NJ –All of the losing, for both Ralph Kiner and the Mets, ended in 1969.

“The Mets had a good pitching staff in 1969,” he said. “They had Tom [Seaver] and Jerry [Koosman] and Gary Gentry and some others. The first half of the season was one of disbelief. No one could believe that the Mets were for real. When a team wins all the time, it’s easy to predict that they will win. But, the Mets were just getting to .500 for the first time. The Mets had actually celebrated when they reached .500. Then, Seaver said, ‘We’re gonna go all the way this year.’ And, he was right.”

For the Mets to win it all, they had to get past three legitimate powerhouses –the Cubs, to win the Eastern Division, the Atlanta Braves to win the National League pennant and the Baltimore Orioles to win the World Series.

“No question,” Kiner concurred. “On August 13th, they were in third place, 9½ games out of first, and they still won by eight games. So, that was an indication that the Mets were a good team. Atlanta, who had Hank Aaron, won 93 games and Baltimore –the American League champions- had won 109 games. So, the Mets certainly earned their place as a great ballclub that year.

“Mets fans could have lived with a losing team. But, once they won, the polish was off. They were expected to win over and over again. In fact, Casey Stengel, who called them the ‘Amazing Mets’, said they would be a dynasty -which, of course, didn’t turn out to be.”

Although the team would ultimately reach the Series in 1973, a major piece of that preconceived dynasty was gone. A year earlier, Gil Hodges -the manager of the ’69 team who, a decade earlier, had tied Kiner’s record for most NL grand slams- died of a heart attack two days before his 48th birthday.

“Gil was the cornerstone of the Mets. He was a great ballplayer, of course, and proved to be a great manager, as well. He was a strong disciplinarian –a dedicated Marine- who was their guiding light.”

While Hodges was that light, the addition of Donn Clendenon –a one-time Pittsburgh Pirate whose refusal to be traded from the Montreal Expos to the Houston Astros led to a six-week retirement- provided the muscle. After he was, finally, jettisoned to the Mets on June 15, he posted 12 HRs and 37 RBI in 72 games during the stretch run.

“He was the icing on the cake,” Kiner affirmed. “The Mets needed a right-hand batter with good power and he complemented the rest of their line-up. He was the reason why the Mets were able to catch the Cubs.

Against the Orioles, Clendenon established a Series-record with three home runs in five games, and was the consensus pick for Most Valuable Player. In Games Two, Four and Five, each of his blasts proved to be the difference.

“He was it,” admired the other former Pirate slugger. Throughout his seven decades in the game, Kiner has been it, too.

“I’m old-school, in that I played during a time when there were only eight teams in each league and there were no playoffs. That was the game I knew, and grew up with. Because of that history, I never wanted the game to change.

“It was much easier to compare the players of yesteryear with those of the present. But, while it’s a different game, it’s still a great game.”

Baseball has changed quite a bit over the last fifty years. The modern game consists of, among other things, 30 teams spread across six divisions, Astroturf fields, and the inclusion of the Designated Hitter, in addition to a very resilient players’ union.

Kiner is among the best of what has been preserved from a lost era. And it is through his durability and perseverance which entitles him to that at he is entitled to the best of what baseball has to offer.