Kiner's Korner

If you grew up in the New York metropolitan area, or if you received the WWOR Channel 9 superstation on the broadcasting system in your neck of the woods, you know Kiner's Korner was the Mets postgame program hosted by the former Pirates slugger and MLB Hall of Famer, Ralph Kiner.  Ol' Ralphie, a Mets broadcaster from day one of the franchise, would interview the hero of the game, asking a series of awkwardly phrased questions. Let's just say Mr. Kiner was a much better ballplayer than a TV host.  Nonetheless, it was great sports entertainment from an era when Deadspin.com and ESPNews did not exist.

None of that info, however, does anything in the way of figuring out what the heck kind of card this is or what year it's from, etc.  It appears to be from some sort of retro set or reprint set called "Baseball Favorites".  It's a little bit taller than a standard card, kind of in the vane of a classic Bowman.  Beyond that, ya got me swingin'.

I picked this up for the grand sum of one penny at the last card show I attended at my local fire hall.  [Ed. Note: Is there a better baseball card deal in the hobby cosmos than that?]  Needless to say, I leapt at the chance to cheaply acquire this tremendous oddball issue of the great Kiner.

Love the photograph used on this card, which I gather was taken at Forbes Field.  Check out the fella on the left of the background, who seems content to check out the photo session.  And Kiner sure is looking fit in that Bucs uniform.  Take note, stars of today, that's how you're supposed to wear a baseball uniform! 

Any info about this card -- or the set it hails from -- would be greatly appreciated.  I'm sure the rest of the cards are equally amazing.

MK