- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRalph McPherran Kiner
- Height6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
- Ralph Kiner was born on October 27, 1922 in Santa Rita, New Mexico, USA. He was an actor, known for The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950), The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998) and I've Got a Secret (1952). He was married to Ann Benisch, Diann Shugart, Barbara George and Nancy Chaffee. He died on February 6, 2014 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.
- SpousesAnn Benisch(November 4, 2004 - ?) (divorced)Diann Shugart(December 5, 1982 - March 22, 2004) (her death)Barbara George(March 6, 1969 - 1981) (divorced)Nancy Chaffee(October 13, 1951 - 1968) (divorced, 3 children)
- Often hit towards a field porch that was later dubbed Kiner's Korner
- Number 4 jersey with the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Hit 369 home runs during his career - more than any other player in their first ten seasons - before retiring due to back problems.
- Was a member of the original broadcast team of the New York Mets along with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy.
- For five years after retiring as a player, he was general manager of the San Diego Padres (then a minor league team). In 1961, he got his first broadcasting job, calling games on the radio for the Chicago White Sox. The following season, the Mets debuted in New York, and he was offered a job on their broadcast team.
- Led the major leagues in home runs a record 6 consecutive seasons, 1947-1952. Led the National League in home runs a record 7 consecutive seasons, 1946-1952.
- Inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1975.
- During a typical one-sided Met loss in 1963: The winning run is in the dugout.
- See what happens? One date with me and Liz winds up engaged to a millionaire. [circa early April, 1950; regarding the then imminent union of Elizabeth Taylor and Conrad Hilton Jr. (their engagement having first been announced roughly two months after Kiner's and Taylor's famously photographed, one-time-only, Bing Crosby-arranged date attending the premiere of Twelve O'Clock High (1949) and the subsequent party in honor of its star Gregory Peck).]
- It's going, going ... going to be caught. [July 19, 1985, Shea Stadium, WOR-TV; last-second, improvised variation on the standard home-run call, as per Kiner's belated realization that what looked to be, off the bat, a tie-breaking, fifth-inning, bases-empty blast launched by Atlanta's Ken Oberkfell was, in fact, not only foul but indeed 'going to be caught' by Mets left fielder George Foster.]
- If Casey Stengel were still alive, he'd be spinning in his grave.
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