Ralph Kiner: 1922-2014.

       I have been listening to Ralph announce Mets games for the last 30 years, which is only a little more than half of the time he actually did them.  In fact, even last year, they would still have him come on the air a few times a year and do a few innings and he was still very sharp and told wonderful stories (even if illness had taken his great delivery and voice).  He really is one of the very last connections to the original 1962 team.  I am not sure he is a Hall of Famer as a player - though he made it - but for longevity, quality, and entertainment value, he is a first ballot member for broadcasting.

Ralph Kiner Quotes:

"All of his saves have come in relief appearances"

"All of the Mets road wins against the Dodgers this year occurred at Dodger Stadium."

"Darryl Strawberry has been voted to the Hall of Fame five years in a row."

"Hello, everybody. Welcome to Kiner's Corner. This is....uh. I'm...uh..."

"Home run hitters drive Cadillacs and singles hitters drive Fords."

"If Casey Stengel were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave."

"I think one of the most difficult things for anyone who's played baseball is to accept the fact that maybe the players today are playing just as well as ever."

(This is the most important quote on this list.  One of the great things about Kiner was he was not one of those "back-in-my-day" kind of announcers, he always gave props to the modern player and understood modern statistics.)

"Jose DeLeon on his career has seventy-three wins and one-hundred and five RBIs."

"Kevin McReynolds stops at third and he scores."

"Now up to bat for the Mets is Gary Cooper."

"On Fathers' Day, we again wish you all happy birthday."

"Solo homers usually come with no one on base."

"(Don) Sutton lost thirteen games in a row without winning a ballgame."

"The Hall of Fame ceremonies are on the thirty-first and thirty-second of July."

"The Mets have gotten their leadoff batter on only once this inning."

"The reason the Mets have played so well at Shea this year is they have the best home record in baseball."

"There's a lot of heredity in that family."

"Tony Gwynn was named player of the year for April."

"Two-thirds of the earth is covered by water. The other third is covered by Garry Maddox."

***

I am very sad today, it's like your favorite uncle died. Somewhere in heaven, I hope Ralph is interviewing St. Peter and calling him St. Paul.