The Dapper Dan charity was founded 1936 by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editor Al Abrams, and is one of the oldest nonprofit fundraising community sports clubs in the world. The Dapper Dan banquet started in 1936 and began an annual tradition of naming the region's 'Sportsman of the Year,' which was won by Ralph Kiner in 1949, and presented to him in early 1950 at the annual banquet. This was the second time Kiner won the award, the first in 1947.
