The Glory of Ralph Kiner’s Times « Faith and Fear in Flushing

Greg Prince rules.  Most times when I excerpt from other sites I only grab a paragraph or so to give you a taste.  With Greg I almost always grab two.  Here’s a taste, then head on over to F&F and read the entire thing.

For the next 30 or so years, Ralph broadcast nearly every game. Then most of the games. Then some of the games. Nowadays, if you’re lucky, you get Ralph for two, maybe two-and-a-half innings in the middle of an afternoon affair should the Mets’ schedule meet up with his. Sometimes Gary Cohen introduces him as a special analyst. Usually Ralph Kiner needs no introduction whatsoever.

“This is Ralph’s 52nd year of broadcasting Mets games,” his half-page biography in the club’s media guides states without embellishment. Ralph doesn’t show up more than ten times per season, if that many. His cumulative 2013 on-air presence won’t add up to a week’s worth of Kiner’s Korner from when he was full-time. But when he’s there, as he was this late summer mid-afternoon in Queens, you know he’s there. The Mets can beat the Phillies, 11-3, as they did Thursday. The Mets can go in the other direction, as they too often do. For two, maybe two-and-a-half lucky innings, it really doesn’t matter.

via The Glory of Ralph Kiner’s Times « Faith and Fear in Flushing.

Some of the Metsnoscentti and I were emailing on the side, and it was suggested that it was time for Ralph to get off the stage.  I disagree.  I’ll take all we can get because once it’s over, it’s over.