NEW YORK (AP) — Ever since he was a kid, Isiah Kiner-Falefa has heard all about the cousin who was a Hall of Fame slugger for the Pittsburgh Pirates years ago.
Now he finally knows kin from Ralph Kiner’s side of the family.
In a touching rendezvous Monday at Citi Field, the 30-year-old shortstop greeted Scott Kiner — son of the former Pittsburgh outfielder — before Kiner-Falefa and the Pirates played the New York Mets.
Second cousins once removed, the two exchanged hugs and gifts in the Shannon Forde Press Conference Room. An emotional Kiner-Falefa, who grew up in Hawaii, said it was the first time he’d ever met anyone from Ralph Kiner’s part of the clan.
“This is something that I’ve always dreamed about,” Kiner-Falefa said.
Promoting a book he authored about his famous family, Scott Kiner traveled to New York City from his Ohio home for the occasion — and staffers from both teams helped facilitate the introduction.
“Kind of felt that was a bond that had to be established,” Scott Kiner said.
After his playing career ended in 1955, Ralph Kiner spent 51 years as a beloved Mets broadcaster on television and radio. He hosted a popular postgame show called “Kiner’s Korner,” and Kiner-Falefa was 12 when he attended Ralph Kiner night at Shea Stadium on a 2007 trip to New York.
Two years later the Mets moved into Citi Field, where a marker honoring Ralph Kiner the announcer hangs alongside the team’s retired numbers atop the stadium.
So it was fitting when Kiner-Falefa, reinstated from the injured list Monday after recovering from a right hamstring strain, was accompanied by the “Kiner’s Korner” jingle as he stepped to the plate in the second inning.
Kiner-Falefa said that’s a touch he often hears in opposing ballparks. This time, though, he launched a home run to left-center field in his first plate appearance since coming off the IL.
“After everything that we did today, for me to hit a homer right there, that was a huge moment for me. That was surreal,” Kiner-Falefa said. “That was really special for me. Something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, for sure.”
The 382-foot drive was his first home run since Aug. 17 last season.
“I don’t think I’ve hit a ball that hard all year,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So I was like, man, I don’t even know where that came from.”
As for the Mets playing the “Kiner’s Korner” theme for him?
“I know they’re never going to do that again,” he said with a grin.
Kiner-Falefa later made a costly error at shortstop in a 4-3 loss, but that hardly spoiled his special day.
Before the game, he presented an autographed Pirates jersey to Scott Kiner, who wrote “One Of A Kiner” about his parents, Ralph Kiner and tennis star Nancy Chaffee.
Scott Kiner then gave Kiner-Falefa a Ralph Kiner jersey and a charcoal painting of the six-time All-Star. He also showed Kiner-Falefa a portrait of Mary McPherran Kiner, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1850. She is Ralph Kiner’s great-grandmother, Scott Kiner’s great-great grandmother and Kiner-Falefa’s great-great-great grandmother.
“So there is Pennsylvania Dutch in this guy,” Scott Kiner said with a smile. “Not much. But he is Pennsylvania Dutch.”
Kiner-Falefa’s maternal grandfather went to college in Hawaii and remained there, where he had two daughters. Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s mother and father never married, so their son took on both last names.
“It’s actually a blessing because if they were married, I’d only have the Falefa,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So I’m still able to have the Kiner and pass that on.”
Kiner-Falefa’s grandfather regaled him with stories of Ralph Kiner, who led the National League in home runs during each of his first seven seasons with the Pirates from 1946-52.
Proud of the family connection, Kiner-Falefa learned all about Ralph Kiner’s baseball accomplishments long before breaking into the big leagues with the Texas Rangers in 2018.
But the Honolulu native hardly resembles the former slugger, who died at 91 in February 2014. So when Kiner-Falefa told others about it, he had a difficult time convincing them.
“Everybody thought I was lying,” he said. “I would tell everybody and nobody ever believed me.”
Maybe that’s why Kiner-Falefa was so visibly moved as he stood alongside his cousin Scott for the first time.
“For me to not meet anybody on my grandfather’s side, it kind of felt like something was kind of missing,” Kiner-Falefa said. “To finally meet Scott is like, full circle. I’m a little emotional right now. This is incredible. Incredible moment that I never thought would happen.”
And now that he plays for the Pirates, Kiner-Falefa said he often visits the statue of Ralph Kiner at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
“I always look at the statue (and) the hands — try to get the power because that’s something that’s always been missing in my game,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I think my cousin took all the power from me.”
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AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed.
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