APBA Replay Honors Hall-of-Famer Ralph Kiner

Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ralph Kiner died Thursday, Feb. 6.

In honor of the former Pirates slugger, I ventured into my APBA baseball game closet for the 1949 set, looking to replay Pittsburgh's game against the New York Giants on Monday, Sept. 19, 1949 at Forbes Field.

The date seemed significant enough during one of Kiner's finest seasons -- he smacked his 50th homer of the season that day, a second-inning solo slam to left against right-hander Kirby Higbe. Unfortunately, the Pirates lost 6-4 that day on the way to a lackluster 71-83 record.

For Kiner, however, 1949 proved to be anything but mundane. Kiner finished the season with 54 home runs, 116 runs, and 127 RBI, while batting .310. The all-star left-fielder finished fourth in the MVP vote that year. In addition to home runs and runs batted in, he led the National League in slugging (.658) and walks (117). He ended his decade-long career with 369 homers and was elected into the Hall-of-Fame in 1975.

The result of all those 1949 numbers is a fine APBA cleanup hitter -- 1-1-5-5-7-10-8-8-9-9 and six 14's. In my replay, Kiner took up his typical spot in the lineup, batting fourth and playing left field.

Although Kiner ended up with a rather lackluster game, the Pirates managed to reverse the real-life result. They defeated the Giants 4-3 on a walk-off gapper to left center in the bottom of the 10th by catcher Phil Masi. He drove in Danny Murtaugh, who had stolen second a moment earlier. 

Murry Dickson got the win in relief over Swede Hansen. Junior Walsh started for the Pirates, holding New York scoreless for the first six innings. He fell behind in the seventh, however, allowing a pinch-hit RBI single by Monte Irvin, followed by a two-run home run by second baseman Hank Thompson.

Pittsburgh was led by John "Hippity" Hopp, who went 2-for-5, including a two-run double to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Shortstop Stan Rojek scored a pair of runs in the lead-off spot.

Kiner went 0-for-5 with a strikeout, only reaching base in the seventh on an error by catcher Wes Westrum.

While Kiner may not have starred in this replay, it provided yet another opportunity to relive the past and remember other players such as Murtaugh (who went on to manage the Bucs, winning more than 1,000 games and World Championships in 1960 and 1971) and the immortal Bobby Thompson of the Giants.

Note: Had Pittsburgh actually won that game, the Pirates and the Giants both would have ended the season at 72-82 -- tied for fifth place in the National League.

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