Reporter Says Rockies Reliever Isn't William McKinley's Great-Great-Great Nephew

In one of the more interesting research projects you're ever going to see out of baseball social media, TV reporter Suzie Hunter says she has debunked the narrative that Rockies reliever Tyler Kinley is the great-great-great grandnephew of President William McKinley. Using public records, Hunter tells OutKick she spent four to five hours putting the pieces together to prove that Kinley is not related to the 25th president.

What drove Suzie down this rabbit hole that wasn't exactly on the radar of mainstream baseball fans? Kinley -- 91 appearances with the Twins, Marlins and Rockies over the last four seasons -- isn't a household name, but he does have an interesting bio that caught Hunter's ear. "So many people were talking about it on social media and on-air during games, I'm like.... this does not sound true, how has no one looked into this?!" she told me via Twitter direct message.

The story told by media outlets is one that the Minneapolis Star-Tribune told in 2018. Kinley told the newspaper that his family dropped the first two letters of the last name due to safety concerns after McKinley was assassinated.

“We were told that his son was advised from Secret Service and protective companies that were protecting him after his father was assassinated that he needed to do something to protect the family line,” Kinley told RoxPile.com during a 2018 interview. “And the best recommendation was to alter the name a little bit and that’s where that new Kinley line started.”

Suzie Hunter tells me there's "no chance" Tyler's related to McKinley. Not even a .1 percent chance. "I traced back his lineage and they've been in North Carolina since long before McKinley's assassination," she says. So far Tyler has yet to respond to Suzie's news.

Here's the full report: