- Hit 369 home runs during his career - more than any other player in their first ten seasons - before retiring due to back problems.
- Was a member of the original broadcast team of the New York Mets along with Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy.
- For five years after retiring as a player, he was general manager of the San Diego Padres (then a minor league team). In 1961, he got his first broadcasting job, calling games on the radio for the Chicago White Sox. The following season, the Mets debuted in New York, and he was offered a job on their broadcast team.
- Led the major leagues in home runs a record 6 consecutive seasons, 1947-1952. Led the National League in home runs a record 7 consecutive seasons, 1946-1952.
- Inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1975.
- Continues as an occasional color commentator for New York Mets games on MSG Network. He is the only one of the three original Mets broadcasters from 1962 (Kiner, Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy) still living. (July 2005)
- Bing Crosby, who was part-owner of the Pirates, introduced him to Elizabeth Taylor. He escorted her to the Hollywood premiere of the war film Twelve O'Clock High (1949).
- He trained as a Navy pilot during WWII. He served in the Pacific, on patrol for Japanese submarines,.
- Outfielder for Pittsburgh Pirates (1946-1953), Chicago Cubs (1953-1954) and Cleveland Indians (1955).
- Made major league debut on 16 April 1946.
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