the mets' ralph kiner and frank cashen memorial patches

following his retirement as a player, ralph kiner became an announcer, first with the white sox, and then with the expansion new york mets in 1962.  he remained a part of their broadcasting team through 2013, although by that time he was not announcing every game.  following his passing in february of 2014, the team added a memorial patch to their right sleeves for the 2014 season.  

the patch, which included a microphone in between the text "ralph kiner" and "1922-2014" can be seen on david wright's 2014 topps finest card

which is the card i have in my collection for this particular memorial.

later in the season, the mets also lost their former general manager, frank cashen.  cashen had been the architect who put together the mets' teams of the 1980's and hired davey johnson to manage the club.  he was rewarded with a world series title in 1986, although he stepped down after the club slid back down the standings in the early 1990's.

the mets honored cashen with a "fc" patch placed below the kiner memorial, as seen on this 2014 topps update daisuke matsuzaka photo variation short print

i was able to pick this sp up on the cheap, which was nice.  i am guessing that there will be plenty of 2015 cards that show the patch, but i'm happy to have dice-k in the binder representing this one.

i will be on the lookout for daniel murphy cards, just in case they use a photo of him from the 2014 all-star game (like the one from getty images below)

which shows the placement of the patches for the all-star game on the right chest.

both kiner and cashen are members of the mets hall of fame.

the pirates' ralph kiner memorial patch

ralph kiner was a home run hitter, pure and simple, whose career was cut short by injury.  the pirates' outfielder was (until ryan howard) the quickest to hit 100 home runs and 200 home runs, and he is still the player who got to 300 home runs in a career the fastest.  kiner led the national league in homers in each of his first seven seasons, all with the pirates.  unfortunately, he would play in only three more seasons, ultimately ending his career with the indians in 1955 with a back injury.

kiner was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 1975, and the pirates later retired his number 4.  following his death in february of 2014, the team added his number to their right sleeve as a tribute to be worn during the 2014 season.

it is visible on ike davis' 2014 topps card

and brandon cumpton's card from update, too

i've got this 2014 topps finest andrew mccutchen card

in the memorials binder representing kiner, who was the first national league player to have two 50 home run seasons to his credit, a feat not matched until mark mcgwire and sammy sosa accomplished it in 1998-99.

finest

so, the dodgers clinched last night, and things are set up pretty well for the rotation going into the playoffs.  i am not one of those who are adamantly opposed to pitchers winning the mvp, although it would take a very special case for me to support not giving the award to an everyday player.  that said, clayton kershaw is your national league mvp.  here's his 2014 topps finest card

when it came to choosing my favorite dodger from among the young crop of players including kershaw, james loney, russell martin, and matt kemp, i chose kemp over kershaw largely because of the everyday thing.  here's his 2014 topps finest card

i haven't had a pitcher as my favorite dodger since the lean years of the early 1990's, and i'm not giving up on kemp, but holy shnikes kershaw is fantastic!  consider that the dodgers are 23-4 in his starts this year, and 68-64 in everybody else's.  he's going to lead the national league in era for the fourth straight season (hello, sandy koufax), and he leads the national league in war - not just for pitchers, but for all players. kemp hasn't been so bad either, working back from the injuries that sucked the life out of his 2013 season.  he probably won't challenge 40/40 again, but his slugging percentage is getting back up towards .500 which is nice.

those are the only two dodgers i have from this year's finest release, but i do have a couple of 20-year old finest cards languishing in the scanned folder.  here are delino deshields

 and pedro astacio

kemp and kershaw, they are not.