Kiner's Korner

[ReyesOfHope]

Tom Seaver sitting there in his sweat-soaked game jersey, hair mated down with sweat, cackling/laughing with Ralph and explaining the video tape.

Great Parts. Great Service Great Bear.t

[Mongoose]

I haven't had the chance to watch the Mets religiously this season. Has Ralph appeared on the air?

[theAmazingMet]

I haven't had the chance to watch the Mets religiously this season. Has Ralph appeared on the air?

I saw him on once, but can't remember who they were playing.

[EasilyFound]

He shows up every once and a while. He was on for a bit not too long ago.

[Mongoose]

I was just thinking about how lucky generations of Mets fans are to have Ralph Kiner as part of their baseball experience, so I decided to kick this thread. Look past the malaprops and you'll find a level of baseball knowledge and experience that's unparalleled. He has no equal. He's been with the Mets since day 1 and seen everything. Not only that, but in addition to his own Hall of Fame accomplishments - he was the NL's greatest offensive player of his era, as good as Musial - he's been sprinkled by some of the best stardust of the 20th Century. Honus Wagner taught him how to hit! His mentor in baseball and life was Hank Greenberg! He dated Elizabeth Taylor! But he was always so essentially humble you could miss all this if you weren't paying attention. I think the late Dana Brand's post sums it up best.

Though Ralph wasn't as finely honed a broadcaster as Murphy or Nelson, I think his contribution, stories and knowledge as color commentator helped push that broadcast team over the top and made them the best I ever heard. If Ralph didn't already have a Hall of Fame ring I'm sure he'd have already won a Ford C. Frick award.

It's been a while since anyone's posted and I'm wondering if anyone who hasn't yet contributed might have any memories of Ralph they'd like to post. I also find myself busy these days and don't get to watch as much baseball on TV as I used to. Has Ralph been on much lately? Is he still Ralph?

[Olliemets]

Great Thread

Love reading these. Can't add much to what everyone else has said other than I feel like I grew up with Ralph, Bob and Lindsey. I loved the Oktoberfest music. The show was especially good during the Mets sudden ascent in 1969. Every Met on the show was like family. He treated Tom Seaver like a son. I do remember the stogie.

I remember Cleon Jones being on what seemed like every show over a 2 week period during a hot streak. He got more and more relaxed. Ralph said, "We may have to get you your own show", to which Jone's replied - " Yes- We'll call it Cleon's Corner".

[Joe Rigatoni]

Ralph Kiner still does the day games at home as long as they are not on FOX.I too can't add much to what everyone else has
said except when I had the pleasure and the privilege of meeting him at card shows and at a booksigning he did once before a
game at Shea in the field boxes where the concessions are.The times I met him he is the exact same way in person as he is
when you see him on tv which you can't say about everybody to say the least.I remember at the booksigning in particular I
would mention the Jim Bunning perfect game for the Phillies against the Mets in the first game of a doubleheader on Father's
Day 1964.I told him I got a kick out of when in between games of that doubleheader after Bunning just pitched a perfect game
in the first game they showed Bunning on the field kissing an attractive woman.And Bob Murphy said to Lindsey Nelson
"Is that Jim Bunning's wife?" And Lindsey Nelson said "I certainly hope so." And Ralph laughed at that and commented on that.
I didn't see it when it happened as I read about it.Then I mentioned The Ball On The Wall play during the pennant race in
September 1973 when Cleon Jones gets the ball off the top of the wall and throws it to Wayne Garrett who throws it to
Ron Hodges to get Richie Zisk out at the plate.Dave Augustine was the guy that hit it and just missed hitting a two-run
homer that could have changed who would win the National League East in 1973.And I told Ralph that Dave Augustine
never had a home run or rbi in his career.And Ralph said "Is that right?" And we had a nice conversation about The Ball
On The Wall Play.Then I mentioned the 25-inning game against the Cardinals in September 1974 when in the top of the
25th inning Hank Webb tries to pickoff Bake McBride at first base and Webb throws it into right field and McBride comes
all the way around to score and the Cardinals win 4-3.I mentioned to Ralph that game and I told him I remember you had
Bake McBride on Kiner's Korner at 3:30 in the morning after that game.And Ralph got a kick out of that and we had a nice
conversation about that 25-inning game against the Cardinals.Like I said the times I met him he is the exact same way in
person as he is when you see him on tv which you can't say about everybody to say the least.R

[Joe Rigatoni]

Oh,one other little tidbit.I was watching the movie "Bang The Drum Slowly" the other day which I have seen many times.
The scene in that movie in which Robert DeNiro,Michael Moriarty,and four other guys who play for the fictitious New York
Mammoths are singing together on a show in which they call themselves "The Singing Mammoths." Well,that scene was shot
in Ralph Kiner's Kiner's Korner studios.And the New York Mammoths played their home games at Shea Stadium,and one of the
road games they played at Yankee Stadium.And Mets and Yankees players helped the actors with their baseball skills.
The movie came out in 1973.But in a nutshell,I think everybody will agree that Ralph Kiner is a one of a kind treasure.

[Strawman]

Love reading these. Can't add much to what everyone else has said other than I feel like I grew up with Ralph, Bob and Lindsey. I loved the Oktoberfest music. The show was especially good during the Mets sudden ascent in 1969. Every Met on the show was like family. He treated Tom Seaver like a son. I do remember the stogie.

I remember Cleon Jones being on what seemed like every show over a 2 week period during a hot streak. He got more and more relaxed. Ralph said, "We may have to get you your own show", to which Jone's replied - " Yes- We'll call it Cleon's Corner".

Yeah I remember that - think it was '73 when Cleon had that unconscious late-season run...great, great days.

[metfan13]

I was just thinking about how lucky generations of Mets fans are to have Ralph Kiner as part of their baseball experience, so I decided to kick this thread. Look past the malaprops and you'll find a level of baseball knowledge and experience that's unparalleled. He has no equal. He's been with the Mets since day 1 and seen everything. Not only that, but in addition to his own Hall of Fame accomplishments - he was the NL's greatest offensive player of his era, as good as Musial - he's been sprinkled by some of the best stardust of the 20th Century. Honus Wagner taught him how to hit! His mentor in baseball and life was Hank Greenberg! He dated Elizabeth Taylor! But he was always so essentially humble you could miss all this if you weren't paying attention. I think the late Dana Brand's post sums it up best.

Though Ralph wasn't as finely honed a broadcaster as Murphy or Nelson, I think his contribution, stories and knowledge as color commentator helped push that broadcast team over the top and made them the best I ever heard. If Ralph didn't already have a Hall of Fame ring I'm sure he'd have already won a Ford C. Frick award.

It's been a while since anyone's posted and I'm wondering if anyone who hasn't yet contributed might have any memories of Ralph they'd like to post. I also find myself busy these days and don't get to watch as much baseball on TV as I used to. Has Ralph been on much lately? Is he still Ralph?

Agree with everything you say here. I've seen Ralph on a few Mets games this year. Always a treat. He can still inform with more baseball knowledge than what passes for expert on most broadcasts I see. He notes problems he sees with Bays position in the box and his swing, he notices when Wright starts moving too far from the plate. He seems to intuitively understand some of the "newer" stats without having to know what they are. He's talking about getting on base, making the plate smaller, hitting line drives. And then he's still Ralph. One game this year he was trying to come up with Josh Gibson's name when talking about guys who hit CF homers in the Polo Grounds. Except he said something like, "and don't forget the other one who did it, the colored catcher in the Negro Leagues." Now in 2011 that stands out like two sore thumbs, but the other guys just let it pass and fortunately no more mention was made of it.

[Mongoose]

Agree with everything you say here. I've seen Ralph on a few Mets games this year. Always a treat. He can still inform with more baseball knowledge than what passes for expert on most broadcasts I see. He notes problems he sees with Bays position in the box and his swing, he notices when Wright starts moving too far from the plate. He seems to intuitively understand some of the "newer" stats without having to know what they are. He's talking about getting on base, making the plate smaller, hitting line drives. And then he's still Ralph. One game this year he was trying to come up with Josh Gibson's name when talking about guys who hit CF homers in the Polo Grounds. Except he said something like, "and don't forget the other one who did it, the colored catcher in the Negro Leagues." Now in 2011 that stands out like two sore thumbs, but the other guys just let it pass and fortunately no more mention was made of it.

Ralph actually appeared in his first game before integration. His mentor with the Pirates, Hank Greenberg, had been the target of vicious bench jockeying and had been pitched around the last two weeks of the 1938 season so a Jew wouldn't break Babe Ruth's single season home run record. I believe Greenberg and his protege Kiner were remembered by Robinson as men who offered encouragement and made his struggle easier.

It's easy for everyone to praise Jackie Robinson now - they can all safely build their rotundas, retire #42 and have their ceremonies. In 2011 it's just a matter of going with the flow. Ralph did the right thing when it required courage. "Colored" was not a pejorative term for most of Ralph's life. Expecting this courageous man, who sometimes forgets his own name, to remember the latest fashions in politically correct terminology is not only unfair but obnoxious.

Not that I'm accusing you of doing this... It's just that under the circumstances anyone that "corrected" Ralph on the air would have been guilty of a despicable breech of manners... Which is probably why nothing was said.

[m8644]

I was just thinking about how lucky generations of Mets fans are to have Ralph Kiner as part of their baseball experience, so I decided to kick this thread. Look past the malaprops and you'll find a level of baseball knowledge and experience that's unparalleled. He has no equal. He's been with the Mets since day 1 and seen everything. Not only that, but in addition to his own Hall of Fame accomplishments - he was the NL's greatest offensive player of his era, as good as Musial - he's been sprinkled by some of the best stardust of the 20th Century. Honus Wagner taught him how to hit! His mentor in baseball and life was Hank Greenberg! He dated Elizabeth Taylor! But he was always so essentially humble you could miss all this if you weren't paying attention. I think the late Dana Brand's post sums it up best.


.

Though Ralph wasn't as finely honed a broadcaster as Murphy or Nelson, I think his contribution, stories and knowledge as color commentator helped push that broadcast team over the top and made them the best I ever heard. If Ralph didn't already have a Hall of Fame ring I'm sure he'd have already won a Ford C. Frick award.

It's been a while since anyone's posted and I'm wondering if anyone who hasn't yet contributed might have any memories of Ralph they'd like to post. I also find myself busy these days and don't get to watch as much baseball on TV as I used to. Has Ralph been on much lately? Is he still Ralph?

Ralph is simply the best, despite his occasional mistake on air. I didnt get to experience him with Murph and Nelson but I loved listening to him and McCarver back in the day. They had a pretty great back and forth (along with the underrated, in my opinion, Steve Zabriskie.....despite his complete screw up of the 86 east division clincher call).

I always remember Ralph bringing up OBP and that getting thrown out stealing alot is a detrement to the club. He seemed to be a bit ahead of his time with stuff like that. I wish SNY would show some of his Kiner's Korners. I have a small handful from games that I have (including the one where he hits on Lenny Dykstra's mother, wonderful stuff). But I wonder if his old ones are even still available......my guess is they aren't unfortunately

[Gary Dunaier]

Not sure if this is from Kiner's Korner, but it was part of a video tribute to Kiner shown on Shea's Diamond Vision during Ralph Kiner Night, July 14, 2007.


(Photo taken July 14, 2007. © Gary Dunaier. Link to upload on Flickr.com: here.)


And here, courtesy of my personal collection, is a 1983 personal check for $1,000 Ralph wrote to "Kiner's Korner, Inc." Not the Kiner's Korner you've been talking about, but you might get a kick out of seeing it anyway.

[milladrive]

Mongoose, I'm glad you gave this thread some new juice. I'm gonna give it a slot on the Archives page.

As a kid, Kiner's Korner was something I looked forward to, especially after a win. I remember it wasn't some press conference, like they do today (hang up an SNY curtain, put the manager in front of it, and play 20 questions); it was more of an interview, with both host and guest seated. And as such, it was very seldom aired when the Mets were on the road. I'll always remember that staging.

I recall Ralph would usually leave around the 7th (or was the 8th?) get up and head to Shea's studio, and if the Mets were to lose, we were sometimes treated to a member of the opposing team. I recall not caring much for that, but in hindsight I wish I'd been old enough to appreciate it.

As for the time slot for KK on WOR 9, I recall that most often, that beloved (even then) post-game show called it a day at the next half-hour interval. ...unless it was less than five minutes. ...And for some reason, during lengthy time slots, I recall Bowling For Dollars.

Am I recalling incorrectly?

[Joe Rigatoni]

Mongoose, I'm glad you gave this thread some new juice. I'm gonna give it a slot on the Archives page.

As a kid, Kiner's Korner was something I looked forward to, especially after a win. I remember it wasn't some press conference, like they do today (hang up an SNY curtain, put the manager in front of it, and play 20 questions); it was more of an interview, with both host and guest seated. And as such, it was very seldom aired when the Mets were on the road. I'll always remember that staging.

I recall Ralph would usually leave around the 7th (or was the 8th?) get up and head to Shea's studio, and if the Mets were to lose, we were sometimes treated to a member of the opposing team. I recall not caring much for that, but in hindsight I wish I'd been old enough to appreciate it.

As for the time slot for KK on WOR 9, I recall that most often, that beloved (even then) post-game show called it a day at the next half-hour interval. ...unless it was less than five minutes. ...And for some reason, during lengthy time slots, I recall Bowling For Dallars.

Am I recalling incorrectly?

Ralph would head down to the Kiner's Korner studios after the bottom of the eighth.I don't recall Kiner's Korner being shorter
or longer due to half hour intervals.For the most part or at least it seemed that way that Kiner's Korner at least through the
mid 90's was always about the same length.And Bowling For Dollars was a show that Bob Murphy hosted for one season after
the 1973 World Series ended and continued to do the show until Spring Training 1974.Murphy no longer did the show after that.
Bowling For Dollars used to be on Monday through Friday at 6:30 pm on Ch 9 from as I said from after the 1973 World Series
ended until Spring Training 1974.