Baseball Forever: Reflections on 60 Years in the Game [Hardcover]

Ralph Kiner (Author), Danny Peary (Author), Tom Seaver (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Most fans know Ralph Kiner as the New York Mets' long-tenured color commentator, but as a player he was one of the most feared hitters in the game; this autobiography allows Kiner to reveal his life story and to share his learned opinion about many topics affecting the game today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hall-of-Famer Kiner, a New York Mets announcer since their inception, offers an informal autobiography, chock-full of anecdotes, opinions and laughs. Kiner grew up in Southern California and was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates before WWII. In 1946 he tied for the league lead in home runs. It was his great fortune to be joined the following season by future Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg, who not only helped Kiner become the predominant power hitter in the National League over the next few years but became his best friend for the rest of his life. The book covers many aspects of the 64 years Kiner has been involved in the game. He is blunt in his assessment of the modern player: "Of current batters only Barry Bonds ranks with Musial, Greenberg, Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. There have been no better all-around players than DiMaggio and Willie Mays.... Jackie Robinson remains the best base runner and competitor the game has ever known." One of the most interesting chapters is on how Robinson integrated baseball in 1947. Kiner firmly believes that Branch Rickey integrated the Brooklyn Dodgers for monetary reasons, not moral ones. Kiner, who was with the Pirates when Rickey became their general manager, shrewdly opines that Rickey "was in no hurry to bring in any black players to integrate or upgrade our team." Kiner was also instrumental in the formation of the baseball union and recalls how once he was called a "communist" for asking for a raise. Kiner, a handsome man-about-town in his younger days, also has some hilarious anecdotes about dating actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh, plus some wonderful stories about his days broadcasting for the Mets with Hall-of-Fame announcers Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy. In the end, this is a joyful and thoughtful book by one of baseball's good guys.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Ralph Kiner is the only player to ever lead the National League in home runs over seven consecutive seasons. He's also been a Mets broadcaster since 1962. Add it all up, and Kiner has been involved in the game for nearly seven decades, giving him a unique perspective with which to discuss his favorite sport. In fact, on one level, this memoir functions as an anecdotal history of baseball since WWII. Interwoven among the games is an endlessly entertaining personal memoir of a celebrity's life. He hobnobbed with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope--often through their shared passion for golf--and even dated movie stars Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh. Baseball fans will be most interested in his relationships with other players, such as Hank Greenburg; his views on baseball's early years of integration; and his thoughts on the influx of Latin players in the fifties and again in the nineties. Kiner and coauthor Peary adopt a conversational style that will keep fans of a certain age turning pages well into extra innings. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books; First Edition edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572435976
• ISBN-13: 978-1572435971
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,288,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball from a rare perspective, April 4, 2004

By 

Dr. John Mccollister (Daytona Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baseball Forever: Reflections on 60 Years in the Game (Hardcover)

Ralph Kiner is the personification of a solid role model for any baseball fan. He is a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word. In this breezy account of America's greatest game, Kiner pulls no punches in terms of his feelings about those who have influenced his life--Hank Greenberg, Branch Rickey, former teammates, and his beloved late wife DiAnn. He also does not shy away from today's controversial figures, including Pete Rose and Barry Bonds. Since he was instrumental in establishing the first players' association, he is no stranger to the struggle for such things as free agency.

Those of us fortunate enough to know Ralph Kiner well enough to call him a friend, can testify that he is one of today's outstanding conversationalists who speaks the sort of truth that can come only from real-world experience. Co-writer Danny Peary has maintained the immortal slugger's unique "voice" in helping to craft this page-turner.

To the die-hard baseball fan, this book will trigger some treasured memories of the past; for the newcomer to the sport, it will reveal how the game has evolved over the past 60 years.

This is a "must read" for baseball enthusiasts everywhere.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Baseball is, to me, a carbon copy of life": A Great Player's Reflections on Baseball, August 12, 2005

By 

vabookreader "Jeff Hotz" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baseball Forever: Reflections on 60 Years in the Game (Hardcover)

Ralph Kiner's _Baseball Forever_, written with Dany Peary, offers readers a chance to enjoy the gentlemanly voice of Ralph Kiner, a Hall of Fame outfielder and mainstay of Mets television broadcasts since 1962. Filled with amusing anecdotes and shrewd observations, Kiner reflects on his life in baseball from the post-World War II era to the present. His story is told with candor, humor, and reassuring modesty, particularly when he discusses the highlights of his impressive Hall of Fame career in the 1940s and 1950s. He presents a reasonable, fair perspective on all aspects of the game from the post-World War II period to the present.

For those unfamiliar with his career, Ralph Kiner was a renowned home run hitter for the Pittsburg Pirates from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. Despite the surge in home runs in the mid-1990s, Kiner remains the only player in history to win six consecutive home run titles-a true testament to his greatness as a player. Two reasons why Ralph Kiner is not better known are that he played most of his career with the cellar dweller Pittsburg Pirates and his career was shortened (to ten years) due to a back injury.

One of the strengths of the book is its structure. _Baseball Forever_ is both a chronological biography and a thematic study of baseball. This balance is handled elegantly. Chapters deal with such issues as players' colorful lives on the road; integration in the late 1940s and the internationalization of baseball in the present day; the labor movement and the rise of the player's association; the value of baseball records; baseball celebrity; and the life of a broadcaster.

Two of the strongest chapters address labor and race. In 1951, Kiner and Allie Reynolds, a pitcher for the Yankees, negotiated on behalf of players for a higher minimum salary, a more generous pension, and a percentage of television profits for the World Series and the All-Star game. This was during a time when baseball owners were all powerful due to the reserve clause, which gave owner's contractual rights to a player for the duration of his career.

Kiner's descriptions of Jackie Robinson's historic 1947 season and the slow process of integration in the late 1940s and 1950s are thought provoking. He provides a snapshot history of many great African American players who came to prominence in this era, including Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe, whom Kiner notes is not yet in the Hall of Fame but deserves to be. Kiner discusses the even slower process of integration at the management and ownership-levels in baseball.

Kiner notes in the Introduction, "it occurs to me that if you combine the years I was a young fan with the more than 60 years I have been employed in baseball, that total represents more than half the lifetime of America's pastime as a professional sport." Reading his book is an opportunity to deepen one's knowledge of baseball and life in America in general. He tells so many memorable stories about the game.

This is an excellent book for baseball enthusiasts of all ages.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kiner's Korner of the World, April 24, 2005

By 

Choo Choo 62 (New Windsor NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baseball Forever: Reflections on 60 Years in the Game (Hardcover)

Ralph Kiner's strength as an observer of the National Pastime (perhaps passed-time to those who enjoy football more) is that while he clearly favors the way the game was played and the way things were done in his day he is still able to find the good in and enjoy the present day.

Kiner's recollections of his career are very clearly presented. One of the more interesting revelations is that he was the only player on his team earning enough money that he did not have to work in the off-season. This enabled him to dedicate his off-season to a workout program, something not regularly done at the time.

His career has been very varied, serving as a player, minor league general manager and longtime Mets broadcaster. Ralph may even have been the Derek Jeter of his day, having dated Elizabeth Taylor and having a short term relationship with Janet Leigh. The style of the book is breezy and conversational. While Ralph's classic malapropism's have been edited, they are freely acknowledged eg; "On Father's Day we again wish you all Happy Birthday.".

Two slight quibbles with the book, although they won't bother everybody. First, as a long time (and at times long suffering) Mets fan I am very familiar with much of the anecdotal material in the book. This will certainly not be a problem for anyone who has not had the maximum exposure to Mets telecasts that I have.

The second flaw is that on a few occasions the book goes on lengthy asides with opinions on social issues. While I am sure the opinions do not differ from Mr. Kiner's own, they just do not come out in his voice. At these portions of the book, I was very consciously aware that I was reading the words of co-author Danny Peary. Not a bad thing, as Mr. Peary is a most compelling writer. It is just that the change in narrative was noticeable where it should have been transparent.

Overall a very pleasant read and time well spent with a hall-of-famer on and off the field.