Ralph Kiner Marquee Hall of Fame 1975

He arrived in Pittsburgh in 1946 and led the league in home runs as a rookie with 23. He led again with 51 in 1947, 40 in 1948, 54 in 1949, 47 in 1950, 42 in 1951 and 37 in 1952. Three of the seven were shared: with Johnny Mize in 1947 and 1948, and with Hank Sauer in 1952.

He hit one home run every 14.11 at bats, a rate second only to Ruth's among players with 4,000 at bats whose careers were finished by 1955. He reached 40 home runs five times and led the league in walks three times. The Pirates finished seventh or eighth in five of those seven seasons and lost 112 games in 1952.

Back trouble ended him after 1955, at thirty-two, with 369 home runs and 1,015 runs batted in. Hank Greenberg had spent his own last season as Kiner's teammate in Pittsburgh in 1947. Kiner spent the decades after in the Mets broadcast booth, and the Hall of Fame elected him in 1975 by one vote: 273 when 272 were needed.