Ralph Kiner, 91

Growing up in the Metropolitan area in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, two of the most legendary baseball players could  be seen and/or heard on New York Yankees and New York Mets broadcasts. Both had Hall of Fame baseball careers and both could have had their picture next to the word character in the dictionary.

Sadly, Mets' announcer Ralph Kiner joined Yankees player and announcer Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto today in God's ballpark today. He was 91 years of age. Kiner was one of the top sluggers of his era, but most people will remember him for his work on New York Mets games and his post-game show, "Kiner's Korner".

The Alhambra (CA) High School graduate signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1941. After a little more than two years in the minor leagues, Kiner served as a Navy pilot during World War II. He flew reconnaissance missions in the South Pacific looking for enemy submarines and ships and left active duty in December, 1945.

One year later the 23-year old was in the Major Leagues with the Pirates and became their primary left fielder. Though he led the National League in strikeouts (109), the rookie topped the NL with 23 home runs and also drove in 81 runs. Then he went on a tremendous seven year tear that included a six year streak in which he led the National League in home runs (seven years straight overall). He topped the half-century mark twice and eclipsed 40 home runs three times.

From 1947-1949, Kiner averaged 125 RBI and 48 home runs. He finished in the top 10 in the NL MVP voting five straight seasons, and led the league in OPS ('47, '49, '51)  and walks ('49, '51, '52) on three occasions. Unfortunately, the Pirates finished at or near the bottom of the NL in each of Kiner's best seasons.

About a quarter of the way into the 1953 season, he, Joe Garagiola and two others were dealt to the Chicago Cubs for six players and $150,000. Kiner adapted to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field and hit 28 home runs in 117 games the rest of the season as a Cubbie. (In addition to the seven he hit with Pittsburgh.)

Despite an OPS over .800 the next two seasons with the Cubs and Cleveland Indians, the 32-year old Kiner retired from baseball after 10 big league seasons. He never got the chance to play in the post-season, but the 7-time All-Star was selected by the Veterans Committee for induction in the baseball Hall of Fame in 1975.

After one year in the Chicago White Sox broadcast booth, Kiner joined the Mets crew and became a legend. He was a regular member of the Mets broadcast team until 2006, when at the age of 84, he reduced his schedule.  While across town, Rizzuto had his "Holy Cow!", Kiner's trademark was his frequent malaprops.. He would often combine and scramble players name. One Father's Day he wished everyone a Happy Birthday.¹  While fans of opponents criticized him, it made him more beloved among Mets fans

Kiner suffered from Bell's Palsy, a stroke like illness, in 1998 that left him with slurred speech. But the fan favorite carried on and continued to make cameo appearances after the 2006 season. The Mets honored him with a day at Shea Stadium in 2007.

Kiner was married four times and is survived by his five children and 12 grand children. My condolences go out to his family and friends.



1 - NY Daily News

The Once and Promising Sean Henn Makes His Return

What happens in Vegas sometimes comes to New York

The Yankees liked Sean Henn enough to draft him in the 30th round of the 1999 amateur draft. Turned down, they took him in the 26th round a year later. The second time around was the charm and Henn started to build a decent resume in the Yankees minor league system.

Always in the market for a solid left-handed pitcher, the Yankees thought they had one in Henn, but were sadly mistaken. He hit his peak, if you could call it that, when he appeared in 29 games in 2007. His results were not stellar.

Henn was selected off waivers by the San Diego Padres in 2008 and spent time with the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles in 2009. Then he disappeared off the face of the Major League map.

He spent 2010-2011 with the Toronto Blue Jays Triple-A squad in Las Vegas and last season with Seattle's Triple-A team in Tacoma. This year he signed with the New York Mets and was back in Vegas where the Mets' Triple-A team had relocated. After he put together a 3-5 record with a 2.81 ERA in 52 relief appearances, the Mets recalled him from the minors on September 6.

Congratulations to the now-32 year old Henn who made his debut as a 24-year old on May 4, 2005, on his return to the big leagues. Perseverance can pay off!

Jason Bay Signs to Play at Yosemite

My expression is better than gymnast Maroney's

One of the most disastrous free agent deals of the last decade (not as bad as Carl Pavano's) was the NY Mets signing of outfielder Jason Bay prior to the 2009 season.  It was a four year deal worth $66MM with opportunities to increase the dollar amount.

Bay went from hitter friendly Fenway Park to the spacious new Citi Field and the rest is misery. Bay made up for the loss of Manny Ramirez in Boston when he slugged 36 HRs and drove in 119 runs in 2008.  It led to a 7th place finish in the AL MVP voting and the shiny new deal with the Mets.

But Bay was constantly battling injuries in New York, the worst of which was a bad back that drained him of his power. He hit 26 home runs and drove in 104 runs over three seasons and averaged just 96 games a year.

The Mets finally gave up this off-season and released the 34-year old native of Canada on November 7th with  one year left on his deal. (The Mets and Bay reached a financial agreement that included deferred money, and Bay became a free agent.)

First things first, if you're a hitter you want to find a home ball park that is conducive to hitting.  Of course in Bay's case, team's weren't knocking down his door based on his last three seasons. The Seattle Mariners did have interest and were willing to gamble. They reached a one year agreement yesterday for an undisclosed (low) amount of money.

Yes, after playing at spacious Citi Field, Bay signed with a team whose home park is always referred to as a "pitcher's park".

Good luck with that.

Yankees and Mets Round 2

As soon as the deluge stops at Citi Field, the Yankees and Mets will start a three game weekend series, with nationally televised games on Saturday (FOX) and Sunday (ESPN).

In honor of the second half of the series (the Yankees swept three games at Yankee Stadium), here's the top 5 memorable Yankees-Mets encounters that I wrote for Yahoo.

Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, Derek Jeter, yup they're all in there.

It Is High, It Is Far, etc.

Yesterday's performance by Phil Hughes was about as ugly as the weather the last two days. I saw more sweat stains than I care to remember.

Hopefully, it's a 2-game blip and the starting pitching gets back on track against the Mets this weekend. Sunday night's matchup between CC Sabathia and R.A. Dickey at Citi Field should be fantastic. In the battle of the initials, CC is actually the underdog right now. That's because of the amazing season Dickey is having for the Mets.

Dickey has thrown back to back 1-hitters, thankfully the hit in the second game was clean so there was no nonsense by the Mets organization trying to get it changed to a hit (the only worse recent performance was by Mets' fans who booed Jason Bay when he crashed into the wall and ended up with a concussion), and struck out double digits with his amazingly controlled knuckleball.

Notes


Tyler Austin, the hot hitting outfielder for the Charleston RiverDogs, will represent the Yankees in the Futures Game during the All-Star break. But if you are wondering how the top 10 rated Yankees prospects are doing, click here to read the piece I wrote for the Yahoo Contributor Network. Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, Mason Williams, and more.

The Yankees hope Omar Rodriguez becomes one of the top 10 prospects in the near future. The 19-yr old Cuban and the Yankees agreed to a deal that I detailed in this Yahoo Contributor Network piece.

Yankees Continue to Bust Up the NL East

Ivan Nova was the latest and greatest for the Yankees pitching staff Sunday afternoon, limiting the Washington Nationals to a run over 7.2 innings for his 9th win of the year. It was also the Yankees' 9th straight win, all against the NL East.

The Yankees began the roll with a sweep of the Mets at home, then went on the road to Atlanta and our nation's capital to take six straight from the Braves and Nats. The team returns home Monday for three games with the Braves (why are they playing Atlanta twice?) and then after an off day on Thursday, face the Mets again at Citi Field in the other half of the "Battle for New York".

The Yankees pitching has been the key throughout the streak, which in addition to the nine straight, has produced 19 wins in 23 games.

I recently wrote about the staff's contributions for the Yahoo Contributor Network: - Yankees Rotation Spins Team to theTop: A Fan's Take. Andy Pettitte's return has been the impetus for the rotation's improvement, and in fact, Pettitte has been working with Phil Hughes and Nova since his time back.

Other recent YCN pieces I have written (yeah, I have been behind on My Pinstripes) are about A-Rod's tying Lou Gehrig for the career grand slam record and about the Yankees drafting of Ty Hensley in the first round. I hope you'll get a chance to check them out.

Injury Notes


David Robertson got reactivated this week and showed some rust his first time back. Rafael Soriano, albeit for one outing, has been outstanding in the closer role. And the Yankees will be strengthened with DRob back in his 8th inning spot.

Nick Swisher sat out Sunday's game as a precaution after taking a knee to the thigh on Saturday. Swisher was thrown out at the plate and catcher Jesus Flores impacted Swisher's leg as he applied the tag.

Brett Gardner says he'll be back this season and surgery is not necessary. While the latter may be true, the former doesn't sound so certain. While Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones have seen increased playing time, you can bet Brian Cashman will look for some younger help so the two oldsters don't wear down.