Remembering Ralph Kiner

Every once in a while, a baseball personality comes along who is big enough to belong to multiple generations.  When Ralph Kiner played his last game in 1955, my father was 13 years old.  Back then, the phrase "Kiner's Korner" referred to a section of the left field porch at Forbes Field - where his long fly balls frequently left the yard.  When I was 13 years old, I watched Ralph Kiner in the broadcast booth at Shea Stadium, regaling listeners with detailed stories of his playing days.  After each game he conducted one-on-one interviews with the players.  The name of his long-running post-game show?  Kiner's Korner.

The National Pastime?

Yesterday America watched the Super Bowl, one of the most highly revered sporting events of the year.  All over the country, people packed into sports bars and gathered at friends' houses to watch the big game. Major companies forked over millions of dollars for a few minutes of advertising time, while social media sites lit up with comments about the latest play.  It begs the question:  Is baseball still America's Pastime or does football now reign supreme?  It's a fair inquiry.  After all, the NFL generates huge revenues and television ratings.  I honestly couldn't tell you how the major U.S. sports rank in these two categories.  I haven't looked it up.  Regardless of what the numbers may be, it would be difficult to extract a sense of national identity from this information alone.  It would be like saying that Yellowstone must be more American than the Rocky Mountains because its vendors sell more T-shirts.  To really answer this question, we must widen our view beyond numerical data sets.