Rest in peace to a baseball legend. Ralph Kiner has passed away at 91.
The Hall of Fame Pirates slugger holds the record for leading the league in home runs a record seven consecutive seasons. Kiner played 10 seasons in the Majors racking up a whopping 369 homers. Kiner will be equally remembered for his distinguished broadcasting career for the New York Mets, which spanned over 40 years.
The Pirates retired Kiner’s No. 4 jersey in 1987, and Kiner was inducted in the HOF in 1975, which was his final year on the ballot. Jeff Idelson the President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, had the following words to sum up Kiner’s spectacular career:
“As one of baseball’s most prolific power hitters for a decade, Ralph struck fear into the hearts of the best pitchers of Baseball’s Golden Era despite his easy-going nature, disarming humility and movie-star smile,…His engaging personality and profound knowledge of the game turned him into a living room companion for millions of New York Mets fans who adored his game broadcasts and later ‘Kiner’s Korner’ for more than half a century. He was as comfortable hanging out in Palm Springs with his friend Bob Hope as he was hitting in front of Hank Greenberg at Forbes Field.”
Kiner passed away on Thursday at 91 at his home in Rancho Mirage California, surrounded by his family.