Kiners Korner Chronicles, No. 5: Mr. Cub Feasts at the Polo Grounds

Ernie Banks drives in four of Chicago's six runs against the expansion Mets — Polo Grounds, June 16, 1962

Welcome to the Kiners Korner Chronicles.

This site is dedicated to Ralph Kiner and the legacy of the greatest sports postgame show ever, Kiner's Korner.

While researching our book, Down on the Korner, my co-author Howie Karpin and I tracked down as many surviving episodes of Kiner's Korner as we could find. Now, you can watch those treasured broadcasts right here on this site and relive the conversations, the characters, and the unforgettable moments that made Ralph's show so special.

But our search also taught us something heartbreaking: for every conversation we recovered, dozens more were lost — taped over, thrown out, or gone forever.

So we're doing the next best thing. Through the power of AI and deep research into the old games, we hope to recreate a little bit of that magic. The game recaps are real, built from the box score. The interviews that follow are our best imagining of the conversations that were lost — what Ralph would have asked, and what his guest might have answered.

The Game

NEW YORK, N.Y. — The 1962 Mets were baseball's lovable losers, an expansion team finding new ways to drop ballgames at the Polo Grounds. On Saturday afternoon, June 16, 1962, before 9,175 fans, they ran into a visitor who needed no help at all: Ernie Banks. Mr. Cub went 3-for-4 with a home run and drove in four of Chicago's six runs in a 6-3 Cubs victory that took three hours and three minutes.

For a while, the Mets actually led. In the second inning, Sammy Taylor reached and Jim Hickman doubled him home. In the third, Richie Ashburn singled and Charlie Neal tripled him in. Two to nothing, Mets — against starter Don Cardwell, who would allow exactly three runs and six hits in six innings.

Banks began his work in the fourth. With two out and the bases empty, he drove a Willard Hunter pitch deep into the left-field seats — a solo home run, his 14th of the season and the 315th of his career, cutting the Mets' lead to 2-1. It was his second home run in two days at the Polo Grounds; he had taken Roger Craig deep on Friday night, and he would homer again in Sunday's doubleheader opener, three straight games with a home run in the series.

The fifth inning decided it. Andre Rodgers came around to score on Moe Thacker's single to left — Frank Thomas's error on the play, the Mets' only error of the afternoon, helped Rodgers home, and the official scorer awarded no RBI. Don Landrum singled Thacker home, and when Hunter left with the bases loaded, Ray Daviault was brought in to face Banks. Banks singled to center, scoring Landrum and Ken Hubbs. Four runs in the inning, 5-2 Cubs, and Banks had three of his four RBIs. The Mets scratched one back in the sixth — Neal singled and Taylor singled him home — and Banks answered in the seventh with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Landrum and closed the scoring. Don Elston pitched three scoreless innings of one-hit relief for the save. Cardwell took the win to go 3-7; Hunter, charged with five runs in four and two-thirds innings, took the loss. The defeat dropped the Mets to 15-38.

Ralph's Guest

The Cubs' first baseman and cleanup hitter — a two-time National League Most Valuable Player in the middle of a weekend in which he homered in three straight games at the Polo Grounds. The sunniest star in baseball, on a Saturday afternoon in Harlem.

The Interview (imagined)

What follows is a dramatic recreation. The game was real. The conversation is our imagining of the Kiner's Korner segment that likely aired that night — the tapes of those early shows were erased long ago.

Ralph: Ernie, three hits, a home run, four runs batted in, and a sacrifice fly for good measure. You drove in four of your club's six runs today. Beautiful day for baseball, wasn't it?

Banks: Ralph, every day is a beautiful day for baseball. Look around — the sun is shining, there's a crowd in this old ballpark, and we get to play the greatest game in the world. Let's play two!

Ralph: You nearly did play two — and you'll get your chance tomorrow, with the doubleheader. Let's go back to the fourth inning. The Mets led two to nothing, Willard Hunter had retired the first two men, and you drove one deep to left field. Your fourteenth home run of the season, and your second in two days here at the Polo Grounds.

Banks: Hunter got a pitch up where I could reach it, Ralph. This ballpark is funny — it's a long way to center field here, about as far as any park in baseball, but those lines down left and right are friendly. You just try to get the barrel on it and let the Polo Grounds decide.

Ralph: It decided in your favor. Now the fifth inning — that's where the game was won. Thacker singles Rodgers home with the help of Frank Thomas's error, Landrum singles Thacker in, and then Hunter leaves with the bases loaded. In comes Ray Daviault, and the first man he has to face is you. You singled to center — Landrum and Hubbs both scored. Five to two, Cubs.

Banks: That's the situation you dream about as a hitter, Ralph. Bases loaded, a new pitcher coming in cold, and he has to throw strikes. Daviault's job is the hardest in baseball right there. I was just looking for something I could get into the outfield, and the Lord blessed me with a good swing.

Ralph: And in the seventh, you finished the job the quiet way — a sacrifice fly to left, Landrum scoring your fourth run batted in. People who look at the line — four at-bats, three hits, four RBIs — might miss that the fourth one came on an out that did its job.

Banks: Moving a runner home is the job, Ralph. A home run is wonderful, but a fly ball with a man on third counts exactly the same on the scoreboard. One run. I'll take them any way they come.

Ralph: I want to ask you about this ballclub you're playing against. The Mets are fifteen and thirty-eight after today. Casey Stengel was telling the writers this week that his team is learning — he called them his amazin' Mets. You've played on some Cubs teams that lost their share. What do you see when you look across at this young club?

Banks: I see fellows who are getting their chance, Ralph, and a city that's falling in love with them anyway. These fans came out today to see their Mets, and they cheered. A ballplayer can't ask for more than a chance and a crowd that cares. They'll win their share someday. Today, I'm just glad we won ours.

Ralph: One more, Ernie. You homered here yesterday off Roger Craig. You homered today off Hunter. Tomorrow there's a doubleheader. Should the Mets' pitchers be worried about a third straight day?

Banks: Ralph, I just show up and swing. If the good Lord wants me to hit another one tomorrow, I'll be the happiest man in New York. And if he doesn't — well, it's still a beautiful day for baseball, isn't it? Especially with two games in it.

Ralph: Ernie Banks, ladies and gentlemen. Three hits, four runs batted in, and Mr. Cub at the Polo Grounds. Thanks for stopping by.

Banks: Always a pleasure, Ralph. Always.

Recreation of the lost Kiner's Korner interview — not an authentic broadcast still. Box score: Retrosheet via The Baseball Cube. The audio companion to this article — the Flag of Victory Polka, the disclaimer, and the full imagined interview — is available with this post.