'Burgh's Best to Wear It, No. 4: Ralph Kiner slugged homers, lived lavish lifestyle with Pirates

The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.

No. 4: Ralph Kiner

Ralph Kiner enjoyed the spoils that accompanied being a baseball star in post-World War II America.

He drove fancy cars, dated Hollywood actresses and wore stylish suits while earning a hefty paycheck for an athlete of his era.

Perhaps most impressively, he did it all while playing for a Pirates franchise that resembled the unwashed more than the upper crust. While Kiner was playing left field, the Pirates were more than two decades removed from their most recent World Series championship and years away for winning another.

Kiner, though, provided unparalleled excitement with his mammoth home runs that made him a drawing card for the Pirates, whose attendance soared at Forbes Field in his seven-plus years with the team.

Kiner was the franchise’s first legitimate slugger. Honus Wagner, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Pie Traynor and Arky Vaughan all crafted Hall of Fame careers based on their ability to swing the bat, but none possessed the raw power Kiner provided with his mighty right-handed swing.

It’s because of his those home runs that Kiner was chosen by the Tribune-Review sports staff as the best athlete in Pittsburgh history to wear No. 4.

Starting in 1946, as a 23-year-old rookie, Kiner led the majors in home runs for seven consecutive seasons, a feat not even Babe Ruth accomplished. In those seven years, Kiner mashed 294 homers, becoming the first National League player to eclipse 50 in separate seasons.

Kiner’s accomplishments didn’t exactly occur in a live ball era, either. Consider that the No. 2 player on the list in that span, Ted Williams, hit 97 fewer homers than Kiner. Stan Musial trailed Kiner by 103, and Johnny Mize was 123 behind. All are in the Hall of Fame.

Kiner lived up to his reputation as a post-war playboy. He drove a Cadillac convertible, which caused a teammate to famously remark, “Home-run hitters drive Cadillacs. Singles hitters drive Fords.”

Kiner spent his offseasons in the Los Angeles suburbs, where he was raised. At the request of minority Pirates owner Bing Crosby, he once accompanied actress Elizabeth Taylor to a movie premiere.

“He didn’t have to ask twice,” Kiner said.

Kiner later was named one of the 10 best-dressed men in the U.S., and he married tennis player Nancy Chaffee.

For all of his success on and off the field, Kiner couldn’t singlehandedly lead the Pirates to a pennant. General manager Branch Rickey balked at the $90,000 salary — one of the tops in baseball — that Kiner received from ownership. When Kiner “slumped” to 37 homers in 1952, failing to drive in 100 runs for the first time in six seasons, Rickey cut his salary by $15,000.

When Kiner complained, Rickey replied: “Son, we can finish last without you.”

Rickey proved it during the 1953 season by trading Kiner to the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates indeed finished last without Kiner that season. And again in 1954 and ’55.

Back problems forced Kiner into retirement at age 32. His 301 homers rank second in Pirates history, and his 369 career homers were sixth on the all-time list when he put down his bat.

Still, Kiner’s legacy was scrutinized because he played only 10 seasons in the majors. He wasn’t inducted into the Hall of Fame until 1975, his final year of eligibility, sneaking in by one vote, and the Pirates didn’t retire his No. 4 until 1987. He spent more than 50 years as a broadcaster with the New York Mets and died at age 91 in 2014.

Other Pittsburgh athletes to wear No. 4 include:

• Bob Skinner, also a left fielder, was issued Kiner’s jersey in 1956, and he wore it for the next eight seasons. Skinner hit 15 homers and was second on the team with 86 RBIs in 1960 when the Pirates won their first World Series in 33 years.

• Dave Burrows spent his first seven NHL seasons and eight overall with the Penguins. He scored only 24 career goals with the Penguins but is known as perhaps the best defensive blue liner in franchise history. He was named team MVP in his third season and a two-time All-Star while playing in 573 games for the team.

• Jaron Brown was a three-year starter and four-year contributor to the Pitt basketball program at the outset of the Ben Howland-Jamie Dixon era. A member of teams that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in three consecutive years, Brown started 109 of 137 games and scored 1,258 points. As a senior guard, he averaged 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists, and he was named co-team MVP. Brown ranks seventh in school history with 192 steals.

• Nathan Peterman was Pitt’s starting quarterback in the 2015-16 seasons after transferring from Tennessee. Peterman threw 47 touchdown passes against 15 interceptions in his two seasons with the Panthers. As a senior, he passed for 308 yards and five touchdowns in a 43-42 victory against eventual national champion Clemson. He was taken by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He is currently on the Las Vegas Raiders roster.

Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.