Ralph Kiner
MLB debut April 12, 1946 for the Pittsburgh Pirates Last MLB appearance September 25, 1955 for the Cleveland Indians Career statistics Batting average .279 Home runs 369 Runs batted in 1,015 Teams Pittsburgh Pirates (1946–1953) Chicago Cubs (1953–1954) Cleveland Indians (1955) Career highlights and awards 6× All-Star (1948–1953) 7× NL home run champion (1946–1952) NL RBI champion (1949) Pittsburgh Pirates #4 retired New York Mets Hall of Fame Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction 1975 Vote 75.41% (thirteenth ballot) Ralph McPherran Kiner (October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball player. An outfielder, Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians from 1946 through 1955. He also served as an announcer for the New York Mets from the team's inception until his death. Though injuries forced his retirement from active play after 10 seasons, Kiner's tremendous slugging outpaced all of his National League contemporaries between the years 1946 and 1952. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. At the time of his death, baseball writer Marty Noble named Kiner "one of baseball's genuine and most charming gentlemen".