Now that the long, obnoxious disclaimer is complete, I will stop beating around the bush and get to the point: It’s time for SNY, the Mets-owned network, to shut down Kiner.
On Sunday, Kiner, 89, was back in Flushing, making the annual pilgrimage to appear on SNY’s broadcast. I understand the desire to honor Mets history, but listening to Kiner was uncomfortable. His three-inning appearance was dominated by slurred, inaudible comments. While Kiner appears to still have a sharp memory of people, places and games and has been referred to by the New York Times as ”a human archive of Mets and baseball history,” sorry, he no longer adds value to the broadcast.
Call it blasphemy, I understand. Refer to me in expletives, I can take it. But when you’re done throwing darts ask yourself, is it true? Go to MLB.com and watch the replay of the game. Listen to Kiner. When you’re done listening, ask yourself, “Why was Kiner invited on the air?”
...Kiner’s work is no longer enjoyable. His slurred speech and inaudible mumblings are no longer desirable. Please, SNY, stop while you’re ahead. This is not how Mets fans want to remember Ralph Kiner.
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1. bobm Posted: May 08, 2012 at 09:52 AM (#4126208)If the author is going to criticize ignorance, he shouldn't be uninformed:
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/hall_of_fame/index.jsp
I used to listen to Red Barber once a week on NPR, and he had precious little new or old to say of interest, but for crying out loud, it was Red Barber. Attention must be paid.
And the headline writer can go #### himself.
We all have a "sell by" date and there is a time when even the greatest among us need to be removed. But if I'm reading this right Kiner shows up once a year for about 3 innings to say hi and ramble on a bit. That's hardly terrible. It reminds me of some of the complaints about Dick Clark, if once a year for a short time we are uncomfortable so someone who has brought so much joy to us can himself have a little fun I think we can survive.
Obviously Kiner shouldn't be doing the color on a game 120 times a year but 3 innings, once a year? That's honoring the past, not dragging something out.
In this case, the headline writer is probably the same classless jackass as the guy who wrote the rest of that drivel.
Yes. That's an awful, tasteless headline to write about an 89 y.o.
I don't know why we're linking to "johnstrubel.com", but I agree with #6. Especially when the reason for Kiner's slurred speech is, I believe, that he has suffered from Bell's Palsy and a stroke in recent years.
On the other hand, who gives a crap? Mute the old timer and live with it. I know - how dare an organization honor a longtime employee with a short appearance on one broadcast because some people in the viewing audience might actually enjoy it.
This. This is gross.
Actually, I've already forgotten who he is, and I ain't scrolling up to find out :)
So just like all his other appearances?
I think it's more than once a year, but it's not many times. I enjoy his appearances.
Kiner, talking about methods of sign-stealing back in the day.
Yes, Bell's Palsy.
This is not a senile, confused old man who is incoherent.
It's a Hall of Famer with very coherent thoughts and great stories - but ones which are more difficult to understand because of that speech handicap.
He's on the air because he's been on the air for every Mets season of their existence, which is cool.
now, if you want to cut it from 3 innings to 2 at a time, or if you want to do something where his colleagues may re-tell much of a pre-game discussion with Ralph, have him supply some other details, and so forth, sure.
Why? He certainly can't be worse than Stirling and Waldman.
In fact, if he were entirely incoherent, he'd be an improvement on those two.
Last year on Youtube I stumbled across an interview my grandpa gave shortly before he passed away. It had been over a decade since I'd been able to hear his voice, and it gave me just a wonderful and inexpressible feeling to hear and see him again. It's really too bad that the author can't enjoy Kiner while he's still around.
I just want to hear him say "Darryl Throneberry" one more time (or "Ryne Sandbag")
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