Baseball Forever by Ralph Kiner

Reflections on 60 Years in the Game

Triumph Books.

Ralph Kiner penned his memoir, Baseball Forever: Reflections on 60 Years in the Game, with Danny Peary in 2004. Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver penned the foreword.

Much like two other books, this was another re-read because of the original review being lost forever to the internet. Unlike over a decade ago, it took a bit longer to finish the book this time around. Kiner’s memoir takes a rather different approach from many baseball memoirs I’ve read. He discusses not just his own time in the game but how it’s changed in general. When he started playing, there wasn’t even a Player’s Association, let alone any thoughts of forming a union. He was on the ground floor when the pension plan started.

What’s unbelievable is that Kiner won seven home run titles in his first seven seasons (1946-52). Nobody has ever equaled this feat. Not Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., or even Albert Pujols. Kiner became an even better slugger during his second season after Hank Greenberg was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. When injuries forced him to retire with Cleveland after the 1955 season, his 369 career home runs were only sixth in the all-time MLB records. Kiner would eventually get elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975—his 15th and final year on the BBWAA ballot.

Following his playing career, Kiner had a brief stint as the GM of the San Diego Padres. After the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants moved west, Kiner started to see the beginning of the end of the Pacific Coast League as the third major league. It’s been a minor league ever since 1958 but that’s another story. Anyway, Kiner joined future Hall of Fame broadcasters Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy in the New York Mets broadcast booth during the club’s inaugural season. He would stay in the position for 53 years although illnesses limited his appearance in his later years.

Sixty years in the game is a long time. It’s allowed Kiner to see MLB evolve both on the field and off. He doesn’t exactly write the book with the amount of humor that Mets fans knew from his broadcasting career. Kiner’s strong opinions and deep knowledge allow him to talk about baseball in a way that others are unable to do so. There are so many anecdotes here. Even though the book was published in 2004, he offers thoughts on where MLB can make improvements.

In the time since I originally read Kiner’s memoir, I forgot that he briefly dated Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh. Or that he played golf with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Crosby had previously been a part of the Pittsburgh Pirates ownership group. But back to Janet Leigh for a moment, Kiner wrote about meeting Jamie Lee Curtis and a later interaction had me roaring in laughter.

He discusses his thoughts on MLB’s integration. He played with Pittsburgh when Jackie Robinson was breaking in with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It have him a front row seat to Robinson’s adversity but also seeing a meaningful gesture from Hank Greenberg after the two collided at first base. Anyway, MLB has come a long way from 1947. When Kiner’s book was published in 2004, there were more Latino players than Black players playing in MLB. To be fair, the rise of both the NBA and NFL have helped woo inner city athletes to their leagues, respectively.

Towards the end, he offers his own thoughts to save baseball as time moves forward. He offered ten ways in particular. Of course, it seems topical to write about it at the moment but Kiner was against Pete Rose being enshrined in Cooperstown.

Baseball Forever: Reflections on 60 Years in the Game is a one-of-a-kind read.