Hall of Fame slugger and Mets announcer Ralph Kiner has died at the age of 91. As a player, Kiner was part of the Pirates ball club from 1946 to 1954, retiring after ten seasons due to injuries. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, and followed up his time on the field behind the announcer's booth, where he remained for decades (1962 through 2006). Upon hearing the news today, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon released a statement saying: "Ralph Kiner was one of the most beloved people in Mets history—an original Met and extraordinary gentleman. Our sport and society today lost one of the all-time greats."
According to the Daily News, Kiner was known to pal around "with Hollywood legends Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Jack Benny, [and] dated movie stars Janet Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor." While on the field, he hit 369 home runs, and upon his retirement was sixth on the career home run list. As an announcer, he was such a fixture that the home TV booth at Shea Stadium was even named in his honor.
In his 1987 autobiography, Kiner's Korner, he wrote: "I've been a very fortunate man. My earliest desires to be a major league ballplayer were satisfied and the second half of my life has been even more thrilling than the first."
Here's his, and THE first New York Mets radio broadcast on WABC radio—from March 10, 1962.
