Since childhood, Isiah Kiner-Falefa has heard stories about his cousin, a legendary hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, the player has finally connected with Ralph Kiner’s family branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a touching encounter at Citi Field, the 30-year-old shortstop met with Scott Kiner, son of the former Pirates outfielder. The second cousins, once removed, shared hugs and gifts in the Shannon Forde press conference room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is something I’ve always dreamed of.<\/p>Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Scott Kiner traveled from Ohio for the occasion, promoting a book about his famous family. The staff of both teams facilitated the presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt it was a connection that needed to be established.<\/p>Scott Kiner<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Following his retirement in 1955, Ralph Kiner was a beloved Mets broadcaster for 51 years. Kiner-Falefa, who attended an event honoring Ralph Kiner in 2007, was honored to hear the “Kiner’s Korner” theme as he approached the plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiner-Falefa, who returned from the injured list, hit a home run in his first at-bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After everything we did today, connecting a home run there was a great moment for me. It was surreal. It was really special for me. Something I will remember for the rest of my life, for sure.<\/p>Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The 382-foot hit was his first home run since August 17 of last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the game, Kiner-Falefa presented Scott Kiner with an autographed Pirates jersey. Scott gifted him a Ralph Kiner jersey and a charcoal painting of the six-time All-Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Kiner also showed Kiner-Falefa a portrait of Mary McPherran Kiner, Ralph Kiner’s great-grandmother and Isiah’s great-great-grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So there’s Pennsylvania Dutch in this guy. Not much. But he’s Pennsylvania Dutch.<\/p>Scott Kiner<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Kiner-Falefa learned about Ralph Kiner’s achievements before reaching the Major Leagues. The player, born in Honolulu, often visited the Ralph Kiner statue at PNC Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Isiah Kiner-Falefa Connects with His Family’s Past in Emotional Encounter Since childhood, Isiah Kiner-Falefa has heard stories about his cousin, a legendary hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, the player has finally connected with Ralph Kiner’s family branch. In a touching encounter at Citi Field, the 30-year-old shortstop met with Scott Kiner, son of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1777,347,560,1955],"class_list":{"0":"post-5553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-isiah-kiner-falefa","9":"tag-new-york-mets","10":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","11":"tag-ralph-kiner"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}