Although few knew him by name, sports fans in this city of any age would recognize Ralph (The Program Guy) Platner.

He moved fast, but was hard to miss — due to his distinctive thick-rimmed glasses, brush cut and ever-present short-shorts — as he bounded up the aisles at the Rogers Centre or ACC selling programs or other souvenirs.

For more than 50 years Platner has been a fixture of Toronto sporting events and concerts. He sold popcorn when The Beatles came to town in 1964, was among the first Blue Jays vendors from their earliest days at Exhibition Stadium and made a killing when the New Kids On The Block descended on the SkyDome in 1990. He has hardly missed a big-name event since.

“He could have been Mr. Toronto,” said Mark Hebscher, a local sportscaster who grew up in Platner’s neighbourhood. “He was ubiquitous, part of the fabric of the city. Whatever the event was, he was there.”

Platner died last week at Mount Sinai Hospital following a stroke suffered in July. He was 67.

Though widely known for selling programs and concessions, the best stories about Platner come from those who knew him before he ever started hawking wares at the city’s stadiums and ballparks. As a teenager in the 1960s, he earned a reputation within North York’s Jewish community for crashing bar mitzvahs to raid the dessert table.

That’s where a 12-year-old Hebscher first met Platner in 1968. “He was a local legend,” Hebscher says. “If Ralph crashed your bar mitzvah it was an honour — you knew you’d made it.”

“He crashed my bar mitzvah and my wedding!” laughed Barry Razmov, who knew Platner from the Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue on Glencairn Ave. “It wasn’t a party unless he showed up.”

Born Oct. 1, 1947, Platner grew up in the Rogers Rd. and Oakwood Ave. area and attended Vaughan Road Collegiate (now known as Vaughan Road Academy). He was never formally diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, but friends and acquaintances recall that he was eccentric and socially awkward, though gifted with a photographic memory.

“He was a kind, gentle soul, but an odd character,” Razmov said.

Known by an assortment of names depending on the social circle — some called him “Ralph,” others “Ray” or “Raph” or “Raphael” (“For whatever reason we called him ‘Ray-Field,’ ” Razmov said, giggling) — Platner had an encyclopedic knowledge of all manner of trivia, from sports to politics. He could tell you the day of the week you were born if you gave him the date. He also had a deep passion for film scores.

He was widely known and recognized, but Platner was also a very private person. Friends recall he once lived with his mother, though she died some years ago. At the time of Platner’s death he had no next of kin.

Platner’s hawking career started back in the early 1960s, when he sold snow cones at the CNE and hotdogs at Maple Leaf Stadium, the long-gone ballpark at Bathurst and Lake Shore and former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team. He eventually moved into the program business and started selling game magazines for every major team in the city.

“He was like the Cal Ripken Jr. of concessionaires,” Hebscher said, referencing the former Baltimore Orioles shortstop who holds baseball’s consecutive games record. “Any place where there were programs to be sold, he was there.”

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Platner earned bonuses on commission, which may explain his determined hustle.

“He was an odd character, but a hard-working son of a gun,” said Rich Bremner, president of program publisher Core Media, which employed Platner for the last 37 years. “His work ethic was over the top.”

Platner was selling programs at Jays games right up until his stroke this summer.