Ralph Kiner, 1922–2014

After leading the National League in home runs in 1952 for the seventh consecutive season, Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Ralph Kiner was told he’d have to take a pay cut. When Kiner objected, general manager Branch Rickey said, “Son, we can finish last without you.” The Pirates did just that the following season, having traded Kiner to the Chicago Cubs. But Kiner later said his “experience with losing” with both the Pirates and the Cubs helped him land a broadcasting job in 1962 for the expansion New York Mets, a role that would outlast and even outshine his prolific playing career.

Signed right out of high school in Southern California, Kiner spent two years in the minors before enlisting in the Navy, said The New York Times. Returning from World War II, he joined the Pirates and quickly produced “a concentrated display of power exhibited by few other sluggers.” His 54 home runs in 1949 remained unmatched in the National League until the “steroid era of the 1990s.” His 215 homers from 1946 to 1950 are still the most ever by any player in his first five Major League seasons.

Despite a playing career cut short by back injuries, Kiner amassed 369 homers and 1,015 RBIs between 1946 and 1955 for the Pirates, Cubs, and Cleveland Indians, said ESPN.com. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, his final year of eligibility.

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“In his playing days, Kiner enjoyed a Hollywood lifestyle,” said the Los Angeles Times, attending movie premieres with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh on his arm. Gossip columnists closely chronicled his courtship of and marriage to tennis star Nancy Chaffee. But Kiner’s biggest star turn was in the broadcast booth, where his mix of affability, baseball acumen, and charming malapropisms made him a fixture in New York sports for 50 years. “I enjoy being at the ballpark,” Kiner said. “I get the best seat in the house, and I get paid to do it. It is as good as you can get.”