ralph kiner barely made it in to the national baseball hall of fame in his last year of eligibility for the writers' vote, receiving just one more vote than the minimum for enshrinement. similarly, he's a late addition to my hall of famer collection. here's the card that represents his membership in my mini-collection:
that's a 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph. here's the back:kiner's election came in 1975, twenty years after he had retired as a player at the age of 32, thanks to a bad back. he had been released by the indians just a couple of days shy of his 33rd birthday, and he decided to become the general manager of the minor league san diego padres instead of taking a chance with surgery. with the padres, kiner also began his career as a broadcaster. he is better known for calling mets' games from their inception in 1962 until the 2013 season.
that's how i first became aware of kiner - through his broadcasting. as a young fan, i had read about yogi berra's penchant for verbal gymnastics, and so i also became aware of kiner doing the same. i don't remember the book i read that featured a number of his sayings, but it was a book that had compiled a number of baseball stories and topics and was a great read one summer while on a family vacation, traveling throughout the western states on our way to canada.
it wasn't until much later that i really took a look at kiner, the player. in 1987, a rookie named mark mcgwire was hitting home runs at a record pace, and i learned that the last rookie to lead their league in home runs was kiner. way back in 1946, kiner hit 23 homers in his first season as a big leaguer, and then went on to lead the national league in home runs in each of the next six seasons. seven straight home run crowns to start a career is a record, and one that would seem to be untouchable in today's game.
when kiner retired, he was sixth on the all-time home run list. he was the fastest player to ever reach 300 home runs in terms of games played (babe ruth, the first to 300, did it in fewer at bats). kiner also finished his career with an at bat to home run ratio second only to ruth, although mcgwire, barry bonds, and jim thome have since passed kiner in that category. a few years ago, i read kiner's autobiography "baseball forever" which wasn't the greatest baseball book i've read, but it gave some insight in to his career and thoughts about the game that i was happy to acquire. i am also happy to correct my original oversight and add him to my hall of famer collection.
here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:
honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic
nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75
eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000
sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000
roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic
warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph
pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic
willie mccovey - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 46/50
carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59
ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph
gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection
vladimir guerrero - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425
honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic
nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75
eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic
lou gehrig - 2010 topps tribute relic 96/99
rogers hornsby - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic
jimmie foxx - 2013 topps tribute retired remnants relic 91/99
mel ott - 2011 topps tribute quad relic 15/99
paul waner - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic
hank greenberg - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic
zack wheat - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph
jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic
ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000
roy campanella - 2001 topps tribute relic
stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph
sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000
roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic
mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic
ralph kiner - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph
ernie banks - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
eddie mathews - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph
al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250
bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32
frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph
juan marichal - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
brooks robinson - 2001 topps golden anniversary great autograph
don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs
harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic
lou brock - 2018 topps archives signature series 1989 buyback 53/61
willie mccovey - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 46/50
ray dandridge - 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts a place in history cut autograph 31/43
jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000
billy williams - 2013 topps museum collection autograph 054/199
willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
johnny bench - 2019 topps definitive collection legendary autograph 09/25
red schoendienst - 2012 panini cooperstown signatures 038/549
red schoendienst - 2012 panini cooperstown signatures 038/549
carl yastrzemski - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph
joe morgan - 2001 upper deck hall of famers cooperstown collection signature jersey
jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
rod carew - 2004 topps retired signature autograph
fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333
gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333
gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3
hal newhouser - 1993 front row premium all-time greats autograph
tom seaver - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 44/50
reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60
reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60
steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45
mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147
phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33
don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
george brett - 2001 topps finest finest moments autograph
robin yount - 2001 upper deck ultimate collection ultimate signatures 112/150
carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
kirby puckett - 1998 upper deck retro sign of the times autograph
dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350
ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph
gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection
eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50
dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99
paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125
wade boggs - 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel 30/49
ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50
bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph
ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50
tony gwynn - 1997 donruss signature series millennium marks autograph 0702/1000
cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75
goose gossage - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
rickey henderson - 2016 topps tribute certified foundations of greatness autograph 49/50
cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75
goose gossage - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures
andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph
roberto alomar - 2015 topps high tek pattern 1 grass/waves gold rainbow autograph 50/50
roberto alomar - 2015 topps high tek pattern 1 grass/waves gold rainbow autograph 50/50
bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph
ron santo - 2004 topps retired signature autograph
tom glavine - 2019 topps tribute autograph 18/90
tom glavine - 2019 topps tribute autograph 18/90
greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15
frank thomas - 2019 topps tier one autographs 42/70
frank thomas - 2019 topps tier one autographs 42/70
craig biggio - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 019/333
pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60
ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph
ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph
mike piazza - 2014 topps five star autograph 35/50
tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95
vladimir guerrero - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
jim thome - 2020 topps archives signature series 2012 topps mini 1/1
jack morris - 2004 donruss timelines recollection collection 1986 buyback autograph 23/45
alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23
ted simmons - 2013 panini golden age historic signatures
roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23
larry walker - 1997 donruss signature series authentic signature
joe jackson* - 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts sp legendary debut bat card
pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25
roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph
barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs
roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph
alex rodriguez* - 1998 upper deck sp authentic chirography autograph
*not currently in the national baseball hall of fame
you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.
Kiner is one of those hall of famers where I recognize the name... but couldn't tell you much about him other than he was a Pirate.
ReplyDeletebut if he had been a yankee, he would be a household name.
DeleteI just finished reading Ted Williams' "Hit List", where he ranked the 25 best hitters of all-time. Ralph was #20 on the list. Seems too that Ted was a lot higher on Ralph than the HOF voters were. And I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I think when it came to baseball, I'd be more inclined to listen to the opinions of Ted Williams over a bunch of guys who never played the game.
ReplyDeletei just looked at that list (just the top 20). mike schmidt was the only "modern" guy in the top 20, and williams put the list together in 1994. i was a bit surprised to not see tony gwynn or wade boggs in the top 20. i might have to give harry heilmann another look based on that list.
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