Description:

Kiner Ralph

Ralph Kiner owned St. Petersburg, Florida key to the city lapel pin

 

Lapel pin personally owned by National Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner (1922-2014). The gold-filled pin in the shape of a miniature key features an enameled St. Petersburg city seal on an octagonal fob suspended from the shaft. Engraved "Mayor Corinne Freeman" on back of fob. Presented in a vintage clamshell jewelry box with brown velvet mount. The pin measures approximately 1.75" x 1.5". In near fine condition. Provenance: Acquired directly from the Kiner Family.

 

Ralph Kiner followed the New York Mets to St. Petersburg, Florida to cover their spring training. Kiner was a longtime Mets sportscaster, providing play-by-play and post-game analysis for 50+ consecutive seasons. The Mets trained in St. Petersburg for six weeks every year between 1962-1987 before relocating to a training facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida in 1988.

 

Kiner received this key to the city of St. Petersburg pin sometime between 1977-1985, when Corinne Freeman (1926-2014) served as its mayor. Freeman was the city's first female mayor, and was a retired nurse from Massachusetts.

 

Before his days commentating and hosting a segment called "Kiner's Korner," Kiner had played baseball himself. Over his 9-year-long professional baseball career, Kiner played left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1946-1953), Chicago Cubs (1953-1954), and Cleveland Indians (1955). He was a 7x home run leader, with a lifetime batting average of .279. After a serious back injury, Kiner retired at age 32. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, and the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1984.

 

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