Ralph Kiner

A man who dated Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh but who didn't marry them, was surely destined to outlive nearly everyone, and Ralph Kiner seems to have done that by now passing away in the off-season at the very advanced age of 91.

F. Scott Fitzgerald spoke too soon when he said there were "no second acts in American lives." For Ralph Kiner, the show never ended until it did.

The Hall-of-Fame baseball career made notable with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field would have been sensational enough to keep Kiner in insurance agencies, restaurants, beer distribution, and car dealerships if he wanted after ending his playing career. But minor league management, and broadcasting became the second and third acts, with broadcasting the longest running. He never retired from it.

My own exposure to Kiner came from his job as one of the Mets broadcasters, and as the post-game host of Kiner's Korner. The stories that flowed over Ralph Falls were effortlessly spun from his mind. His patter, and ability to keep the conversation going with whomever was sitting next to him was a joy. A rain delay was never too long with Ralph Kiner at the microphone. And even better if it was between double headers.

There was one particular rain delay when Ralph talked with the other team's general manager (or someone like that), for so long and so informatively, that I distinctly remember he was nominated, or cited for a broadcaster award of some kind. Peabody? Unscripted, extemporaneous talk.

Where else would I have heard about Stan Musial's advice on how to make a million dollars (real money then) if I didn't hear it from Ralph? Stan said: "First, you start with two million dollars, then you open a restaurant."

Kiner was also on the receiving end of notable utterances when he asked general manager Branch Rickey for a raise after finishing the season with 54 home runs, six shy of Babe Ruth's record. Players didn't have the power they have today, and Rickey just told Kiner, "we finished last this year, and we can do that without you too." There were no agents to point out to Rickey how many more people might have come out to the ball park to see a home run hitter, despite playing for a last place team. An easily projected last place for the following year without Kiner would mean less money at the gate. But that's not how things worked then. The lords of baseball were the owners.

I remember the telecast when he asked the question how many major leaguers can you name who came from New Mexico? At the time, he was the only answer. He was born in 1922, and New Mexico was admitted to the Union in 1912 as the 47th state.

Regis Philbin opened the show 'Crowd Goes Wild' yesterday evening with a nicely worded homage to Ralph that included what many people always seemed to say about Ralph: everyone liked him.

My own favorite story about Kiner is when he said that people always seem to say he's a "nice guy." He said, I tell them, "they should talk to my ex-wives." There were three.

As a kid I remember hearing grumbling about how sure he hit all those home runs in Forbes field, but they had brought the fence in for Hank Greenberg, and Ralph's career was shortened by a back problem that didn't really leave him with Hall of Fame numbers.

They were wrong.

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