Farewell, Ed Kranepool
There were better ballplayers in Queens, but a kid from the Bronx was most beloved.
The New York Mets are losing their folk heroes of late, and it hurts more than a little.
Ed Kranepool died of a heart attack in Florida on Sunday. He was 79. Kranepool was a mainstay of the Mets franchise during its first two decades of existence. He debuted with the team during its inaugural season in 1962 as a 17-year old rookie, and played until his retirement following the 1979 MLB campaign.
At the time of his retirement, Kranepool was the team's all-time leader in a variety of statistical categories. Though he's since been eclipsed in almost all of them, to this day he still holds the mark for playing the most games in a Mets uniform at 1,853. The closest active player on that list is Brandon Nimmo at 894, almost 1,000 games behind. Kranepool more than earned his place in the team’s Hall of Fame.
Signed as a free agent out of James Monroe High School in the Bronx, Kranepool was touted as a future Mets star during a period when there was little to cheer about on the field. And though he never fulfilled those expectations after making the National League All-Star Team in 1965, Kranepool persisted, developing into a serviceable big league ballplayer before finding his groove as a pinch hitter later in his career.
The arc of his tenure with the Mets meant he saw it all. He was a member of the 1962 team that lost more games than any other in modern big league history. He spent time in the minors as the organization matured, eventually taking his place on the team alongside the warhorses that powered the winning Mets teams in 1969 and 1973.
When you think about Kranepool moments, it’s hard to top a World Series home run.
And then he got to see the organization built by Bob Weiss, Bing Devine, Johnny Murphy, Whitey Herzog and Gil Hodges needlessly demolished by Mets Team President M. Donald Grant under the absentee ownership of Lorinda deRoulet, the daughter of original Mets owner Joan Payson. Kranepool deserved better.
Not long after he retired, Kranepool was part of a group that made an unsuccessful bid to buy the Mets, a competition that was won by Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon. Kranepool got over it and hung around the organization for more than 40 years, showing up at Shea Stadium and CitiField for reunions and never missing a chance to chat with Mets fans. He settled on Long Island, holding a variety of different jobs, but was always best known as an original New York Met, and the one who stayed with the franchise longer than any other.
With Kranepool’s passing, the organization has now lost four players from the 1973 National League Champions. He was preceded in death by catcher Jerry Grote, shortstop Bud Harrelson and centerfielder and Baseball Hall of Fame member Willie Mays. In addition to Harrelson and Grote, pitcher Jim McAndrew of the 1969 team also died this season. Of that 1962 team of loveable losers that included Kranepool, only pitchers Jay Hook and Craig Anderson survive.
While he was never better than a good player at his best, Kranepool carved a reputation as a sterling teammate who was grateful to have enjoyed his time as a big league ballplayer. Mets fans returned that love a thousandfold, so much so, that when Kranepool let the world know that he needed a kidney transplant in order to survive — a diabetic most of his life, Kranepool lost a toe to the disease — it was a Mets fan who stepped forward to donate their own to save Kranepool’s life.
It’s hard to think about a more fitting tribute to a life well-lived. Bravo zulu, Ed.