Remembering Ralph Kiner

Ralph Kiner died yesterday at the age of 91. He was one of the greatest home run hitters in baseball history and a personable, entertaining New York Mets’ broadcaster in all 52 of their seasons to date.

He was one of the three Mets’ broadcasters along with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy from (1962-1978). They were an outstanding trio broadcasting on both radio and television.

Kiner was on radio  in the top of the ninth inning of game three of the 1969 NLCS. The Atlanta Braves were down to their last out. The pitcher was Nolan Ryan in relief, the batter Tony Gonzalez.

Kiner intoned “a curve tapped out to third, Garrett(Wayne), has the ball, the throw to first and the Mets are the National League champions!!”  A great call and memory!

I met Kiner a few times, the last was a couple of years back when Ralph was approaching his 90th Birthday. His memory at his advanced age was sometimes cloudy at this point. We were siting in the press room at Citi Field when he could not remember which Cardinals’ pitcher surrendered his first hit, and I reminded him it was Johnny Beazley. Helping Ralph to recall such a significant moment in his career made me feel good.

Cue the heavenly broadcast: “This is Lindsey Nelson with Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner.” Then the signal fades. If only we knew from where it originated. If only we could hear more!

Ralph Kiner and Elizabeth Taylor