Ralph McPherran Kiner (October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball player and broadcaster.

Following his retirement, Kiner served from 1956 through 1960 as general manager of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres.

Though injuries forced his retirement from active play after 10 seasons, Kiner led all of his National League contemporaries in home runs between 1946 and 1952.

As a cadet, he attended St. Mary's Pre-Flight School in California and earned his pilot's wings and commission at Corpus Christi, Texas in December 1944.

[2] In 1949, Kiner topped his 1947 total with 54 home runs, falling just two short of Hack Wilson's then-National League record.

This also was the last of a record six consecutive seasons in which he led Major League Baseball in home runs, all under the guidance of manager Billy Meyer and Pirate great Honus Wagner.

[12][13] Footage of Kiner hitting a home run in Forbes Field can be seen in the 1951 film Angels in the Outfield.

[17] Despite a bout with Bell's palsy, which left him with slightly slurred speech,[18] Kiner continued broadcasting for 53 seasons.

[19] Kiner's tenure with the Mets was the third-longest for an active broadcaster with a single team as of his final season.

He is the third longest-tenured broadcaster in baseball history, trailing only Los Angeles Dodgers announcers Vin Scully (1950–2016) and Jaime Jarrín (1959–2022).

As illness reduced his appearances, Kiner featured less frequently on SportsNet New York (SNY) and WPIX, which currently televise Mets games.

During these visits (usually once a week), regular announcers Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling would welcome Kiner as he shared stories of the Golden Age of baseball, as well as the contemporary game.

Partly because Hollywood megastar Bing Crosby was part-owner of the Pirates, Kiner was often closely linked with celebrities such as Crosby's colleague Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, but even more to publicized romances, dates, or photos with leading ladies, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Janet Leigh.

"[27] At the time of his death, Kiner had been battling Bell's palsy, and the effects of a stroke that he had suffered a decade prior that forced him to reduce his broadcast schedule to a handful of games a season.

[28] On February 21, 2014, an online Twitter petition was started to rename Citi Field Sections 132–134 as 'Kiner's Korner', to commemorate the 52-year Mets career of Ralph Kiner.

The Mets honored him with an on-field ceremony on "Ralph Kiner Night" at Shea Stadium on Saturday, July 14, 2007.

[39] In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Kiner as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Navy during World War II.