WLIE 540 AM SPORTSTALKNY

On May 6, 1968, Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver met head-to-head for the first time at Busch Stadium in St. Louis -- and it took eleven innings to settle. Gibson went the distance: eleven innings, three hits, eleven strikeouts in a 2-1 Cardinals win. Seaver was nearly his equal with ten innings of six-hit ball, but Orlando Cepeda's 11th-inning single scored Lou Brock to end the first duel of two future Hall of Famers.

After the game, Ralph Kiner surely invited Gibson onto Kiner's Korner -- but the tapes of those early broadcasts were erased long ago. This episode imagines that lost conversation.

The game was real. The interview is a dramatic recreation -- the voices are performed recreations, not the voices of the real men.

Read the full article and see the box score at kinerskorner.com

Saturday Sounds No. 1 — from the SPORTSTALKNY vault.

In January 2019, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Miracle Mets, Ron Swoboda sat down with Mark Rosenman to talk about Casey Stengel, playing for Gil Hodges, the 1969 Mets — and of course, the Catch: his diving grab of Brooks Robinson's drive in Game 4 of the 1969 World Series, still the most famous defensive play in Mets history. His memoir, Here's the Catch, had just been published.

Saturday Sounds is Kiner's Korner's weekly series opening the SPORTSTALKNY interview archives — 17 years of conversations with the players who made Mets or baseball history. Read the companion story at kinerskorner.com.

Recorded January 2019 · Running time 31:38

Tom Seaver's 19-strikeout gem vs San Diego, April 22, 1970 at Shea Stadium. Game recap, box score, and our imagined lost Kiner's Korner interview.

Episode 1 of the Kiners Korner Chronicles.

On June 12, 1965, Sandy Koufax fired a complete-game shutout against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium -- five hits, one walk, eight strikeouts in a 5-0 Dodgers win. It ran his record against the Mets to 11-0.

After the game, Ralph Kiner surely invited Koufax onto Kiner's Korner -- but the tapes of those early broadcasts were erased long ago. This episode imagines that lost conversation.

The game was real. The interview is a dramatic recreation -- the voices are performed recreations, not the voices of the real men.

Read the full article and see the box score at kinerskorner.com.

Howie Rose by MARK ROSENMAN

Lenny Wilkens Sportstalkny 11/10/13 by MARK ROSENMAN

1981 Sports Phone Strat O Matic Report Marv Albert by MARK ROSENMAN

WOR Lost promo Tape 1967 Mets Chuck Hiller and Harvey Haddix by MARK ROSENMAN

In 1952, baseball legend Ralph Kiner stepped out of the batter’s box and into the recording studio for Columbia Records’ Playtime Series — a set of instructional 78 RPM records designed to teach kids the fundamentals of the game.

Kiner’s contribution, simply titled “Hitting” (PV-800), captures his easy charm, straightforward wisdom, and love of baseball’s purest art: making good contact. Long before “exit velocity” and “swing path efficiency,” there was Ralph explaining how to take a short stride, stay level, and “get the good wood on that pitched ball.”

This 7-inch red vinyl record originally sold for pocket change; one copy went for $10 on eBay in 2025. But now, you can listen for free — a timeless voice from a simpler era, when baseball advice came with a Pittsburgh accent and a smile.

🎧 Presented by Kiner’s Korner, where Ralph’s spirit still lives on — one swing, one story, one laugh at a time.

IMPRACTICAL JOKERS Q AND MURR by MARK ROSENMAN