BASEBALL FOREVER

Hall-of-Famer Kiner, a New York Mets announcer since their inception, offers an informal autobiography, chock-full of anecdotes, opinions and laughs. Kiner grew up in Southern California and was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates before WWII. In 1946 he tied for the league lead in home runs. It was his great fortune to be joined the following season by future Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg, who not only helped Kiner become the predominant power hitter in the National League over the next few years but became his best friend for the rest of his life. The book covers many aspects of the 64 years Kiner has been involved in the game. He is blunt in his assessment of the modern player: "Of current batters only Barry Bonds ranks with Musial, Greenberg, Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. There have been no better all-around players than DiMaggio and Willie Mays.... Jackie Robinson remains the best base runner and competitor the game has ever known." One of the most interesting chapters is on how Robinson integrated baseball in 1947. Kiner firmly believes that Branch Rickey integrated the Brooklyn Dodgers for monetary reasons, not moral ones. Kiner, who was with the Pirates when Rickey became their general manager, shrewdly opines that Rickey "was in no hurry to bring in any black players to integrate or upgrade our team." Kiner was also instrumental in the formation of the baseball union and recalls how once he was called a "communist" for asking for a raise. Kiner, a handsome man-about-town in his younger days, also has some hilarious anecdotes about dating actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh, plus some wonderful stories about his days broadcasting for the Mets with Hall-of-Fame announcers Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy. In the end, this is a joyful and thoughtful book by one of baseball's good guys. (Mar.)