THE HISTORY

RALPH KINER

3
LEFT FIELD 1946-52 H/W: 6-2/195 B/T:: R/R

No slugger ever so captivated Pittsburgh as did this right-handed

t-handed
swinger from California. How else does one explain the fact that
from 1946-52 Kiners seven full seasons in a Pirates uniform
a franchise that had never drawn more than 869,720 0 fans in
any season four times topped 1.1 million; this despite finishing
nishing
a combined 193 games under .500? The only logical answer:nswer:
Kiner. He hit home runs over those seven seasons and d part of
1953 at a pace unseen before or since: one every 13 at-bats.
-bats.
He led the NL in each of his seven seasons (still an MLBLB re-
cord), twice topped 50 and in 1949 set a Pirates record d with 54.
Pittsburgh had never seen an athlete like Kiner, wrote Pitts-
burgh Post-Gazette columnist Bob Smizik. To wit: In the e three
full seasons after Kiner was traded to the Cubs in the middle of
the 1953 season, the Pirates failed to draw more than 573,000
hey top the
fans and only once in the 36 years that followed did they
1.517 million they drew for the Kiner-led Pirates of 1948..

DID YOU KNOW?

Kiner, noted ladies man in his playing days, dated
among others actresses Janet Leigh, Eliza-
beth Taylor, Ava Gardner and Jane Russell.

HE HAD THE KIND OF

LONG BALL

NATURAL POWER THAT

COMES ALONG ONCE
IN A LIFETIME.
14.1
At-bats per home run for
Kiner in his 10-year career
a ratio that still stands
Bob Friend, Pirates teammate, on Kiner years
fifth in MLB history 60 yea
after he retired.

STATISTICS ALL-STAR HOF (1975) WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT PLAYER

Seasons ................ 8
Games............1,095 8.3 7.6 M
8.1 M V PP 8.1
8
Runs.................. 754
Hits.................1,097 AA LL LL -- SS T
T AA RR
WAR

6.1
Home runs......... 301 5 5.6
5.1
RBIs .................. 801 SS TT AA RR TT EE RR 4.5
2.8 1.1*
Average ............ .280 2
OPS.................. .971 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
1953
* - Traded to the Cubs after 41 games

PITTSBURGH PIRATES 2016 71