Pair of charms personally owned by National Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner (1922-2014). The Dodgers WS charm measures 1” x .75” and the Mets All Star Game charm measures .75” x 1.” In fine overall condition. Provenance: Acquired directly from the Kiner Family.
The National Rifle Association, established in 1871, still offers qualification programs for marksmanship. Retired professional baseball player Ralph Kiner participated in one such training program to be eligible for this award. The program evaluates candidates' ability to shoot accurately, both indoors and outdoors, at distances ranging between 50 feet and 100 yards. The Pro-Marksman rating is one step above the Basic Practical level. Did Kiner's hand-eye coordination, honed over years of batting, make marksmanship easy?
Over his 9-year-long professional baseball career, Ralph 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.
Kiner returned to the sport as an Emmy award winning sportscaster. He hosted his own segment called "Kiner's Korner" and commentated Chicago White Sox and New York Mets games for 53 seasons, making him the third-longest active baseball sportscaster of all time.