Because He Was Ralph Kiner - The 2021 Thread

[kcmets]

Edgy MD wrote: Fun Ralph fact dropped by Gary Thorne today: Part of the reason Ralph frequently malapropped Gary Carter's name into "Gary Cooper" was because he was actually buddies with Gary Cooper. Because he was Ralph Kiner. It was institutional bits like this, among other fun digressions, that made me think he wasn't a hopeless cause despite his struggle to pick up the action off of the monitor.

I kinda knew Ralph served in The Big One but didn't realize he was a Navy pilot.

If I did once know that, it's buried in that over-fragmented section of my brain's

hard drive. I'm in serious need of a defrag!



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_KinerFrom his Wiki-page:



Kiner served as a United States Navy pilot during World War II.



Kiner was inducted into the Navy during the spring of 1943. As a cadet, he attended St. Mary's Pre-Flight School in California and earned his pilot's wings and commission at Corpus Christi, Texas, in December 1944. Kiner flew PBM Mariner flying boats on submarine patrols from Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station in Hawaii, accumulating 1,200 flying hours. Kiner enlisted the day after Pearl Harbor

[MFS62]

I can understand that military assignment. Kiner used to mention his great eyesight. And, as someone responsible for locating and rescuing downed pilots as well as enemy subs, he was well qualified. If I were a pilot downed in the ocean, I would want someone with Kiner's eyesight looking for me.



Later

[kcmets]

He had an eye for the woman folk too! I was flipping through the picture section

of Baseball Forever and there's a shot of him escorting 17 year old Liz Taylor to a

movie premier event.

[Edgy MD]

Well, the PBM's weren't just for locating subs, they were gunships. They sank those subs, taking out 10 enemy U-boats, among other enemy ships and aircraft.



As pilot, Ralph was probably responsible for a crew of about eight.



https://www.baseballinwartime.com/images/martin_pbm.jpg>

[Frayed Knot]

Any actor/actress from the 1950s I always just assumed that Ralph knew him/her.

If nothing else I'd guess 'Yes' and be right more often than wrong.





I remember John Travolta in the booth one day - I forget why but it might have been around 1985 that when the movie PERFECT came out which Travolta was in with Jamie Lee Curtis.

So Curtis's name came up at one point leading Ralph to chime in with: 'This is a coincidence, you were in a movie with her and I used to date her mother'. I think JT was, at first,

a bit shocked and then monumentally impressed, like: hmmm, I guess this guy must have been a big deal at some point', cuz I don't think he had any clue as to who Ralph was.

[Edgy MD]

Ralph and Kelvin (occasionally "Kevin" or "Calvin") Chapman talk about rookie phenom "Duh-wight" Gooden back in 1984.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX1drapBynshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX1drapByns



I'm pretty sure that when Ralph thanks Kelvin/Kevin/Calvin for coming on, that he gives up and just calls him "Dwight."

[roger_that]

If the Mets had come up with a caucasian teenager with a dynamite fastball in the mid-1980s, would he have been nicknamed "The White Gooden"?

[Edgy MD]

I think he would have been nicknamed "Roger Clemens."

[Edgy MD]

Billy Crystal and Yogi Berra seem a little out of place at this White House reception. But Ralph Kiner? He knows where it's at.



https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/comedian-actor-billy-crystal-meeting-w-former-professional-baseball-picture-id50406785>

[Fman99]

Good trivia fact tonight -- the Mets had back to back HRs in the 1st inning and extra innings last night, only the 2nd time it's ever happened in MLB history. The first time was a 1950 Pirates game where Ralph hit one of the two first inning taters.

[Edgy MD]

[fimg=500]https://ansel.frgimages.com/pittsburgh-pirates/neil-allen-new-york-mets-w/-ralph-kiner-action-signed-8x10_ss2_p-12204094+u-1i0mvhnbd34muduetdwa+v-b7cf53bbcbfe414b848bc3f25992663b.jpg?_hv=1[/fimg]

"Hi, I'm Ralph Kiner and I'm here on the field talking with well coiffed Mets

reliever Neil Armstrong."

[roger_that]

When I was younger, I used to confuse Cary Gooper with Gary Crant.

[Edgy MD]

Watch a pro swing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD5ZMW6VdiEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD5ZMW6VdiE

[whippoorwill]

He had an eye for the woman folk too! I was flipping through the picture section of Baseball Forever and there's a shot of him escorting 17 year old Liz Taylor to a movie premier event.

I've seen that pic...it's in a book I inherited from my dad, maybe "Kiners Korner" ?

[kcmets]

Yes, it is in that book as well. A full page!

[Benjamin Grimm]

It doesn't take an especially discerning eye to know that young Elizabeth Taylor was gorgeous.



https://external-preview.redd.it/VxNelIjSOIqjhx9e2pXN0hNcfvPDe8iIQclU5QQdy_M.jpg?auto=webp&s=ba3c590e95da18ed2e7b20ce4b59a7d68936dfd7>



https://img5.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/f/t/ft0j6ch581ogc65t.jpg?skj2io4l> https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/aP3ZZ9R_460s.jpg>

[kcmets]

He's pretty damn handsome, as well. Really liked the young Liz look, her later years

not so much