Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Ed Kranepool

Richard Kissel
May 10, 1963, I went to the Polo Grounds with my father to see the Mets play the Pirates. Eddie Kranepool was already my favorite player. I lived in the Bronx and my father went to James Monroe High School. The Mets lost 10-1 that day to Bob Friend and Kranepool got the only hit in the first eight innings, beating out a slow roller!

In December 1966, Eddie was inducted into the Monroe High School Sports Hall of Fame. I was the only kid there. My father brought me up to the dais and I was, for the only time in my life, speechless. My father said "Richard hasn't been the same since you guys traded away Ron Hunt," which was the previous month.

I have many more memories of my favorite player. His greatest clutch hit, the day before Tom Seaver's almost perfect game. July 8, 1969, had the only hit
Ed Kranepool and Mickey Mantle
Ed Kranepool and the other Number 7, Mickey Mantle.
in the first five or more innings against Fergie Jenkins, a home run. In the bottom of the 9th, he hit a soft liner over shortstop to win an unbelievable game.

Ed Kranepool started with the Mets when I was 6 and was on the Mets when I graduated from Law School in 1979. I've told him that to the other kids in the Bronx, Mickey Mantle was Number 7, but not to me.

MFM
Mr.Met,Ed was with the Original NY Mets of 1962 and was with the club 18 years. One of my most favorite Mets. Good steady player and well liked by the fans. Hit .323 one year. Was one of the first to use bats that were hollowed out at the end. Ed is also a native New Yorker. Played in two World Series 1969 and 1973. He was also an excellent team player.

flushingflash
My first favorite Met. To a ten year old, there was something so likeable about this slow but clutch pinch hitter. It was probably becuse he had been there so long that Lindsey Nelson always got so excited when Krane came to bat. I remember he once got thrown out at first base by Ellis Valentine on a clean single to right field. Rusty Staub in the 1980's was the second coming of Ed Kranepool. If the two of them ran a mile race against each other -- neither would win.

skip
Ed Kranepool, was a player who was there to play every chance he got. Ed was about all my father and I could agree upon besides the Mets. He wasn't fast, didn't show power, but he was a symbol of the heart you needed to have to be a Mets fan then.

Mr. Sparkle
Always loved Ed when I was a kid. How could you not love him? He really made me hate him though when he said, several years after his retirement, that he regretted coming up so early in his career and would have been better having more time in the minors. OK, then he said he wished he had signed with a winning club that would have developed him in the minors more. Is he kidding me? Does he have a World Series ring or not? He would have rather played for a winner! What a set of @#$%s this guy has! He was never that good to begin with and to say something like that really kills me. How many better players than him never got a ring?? What a jerk!

Bill Taverner
I saw my first Met game in 1974, when I was 6 years old. Eddie came up as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth and hit a game winning home run!

Chris Kyriacou
He was my favorite player growing up, not because he was so great, but because he WAS the Mets personified. When I was in little league, around 10 years old (1976), I played 1st base. I came home and told my dad I chose No. 7 as my jersey number. He said great! For Mickey Mantle! I said Mickey who??? It's because of Eddie!

Bob Hackett
I really saw Eddie mature over his 18 years with the club. How much better he might have been if he were allowed to develop in the minors. He was saddled with plenty of pressure, that today would and does have kids with huge talent getting drunk or high. I remember when Duke Snider tried to console him in the locker room after an 0-4 (4k) collar. Ed's reply at 19 was "Hey you didn't do so hot today either." He was just a kid, and he salvaged a career with dogged determination, becoming a premier pinch hitter during his last 5 years.

Tom Zambrano
Ed was my favorite ballplayer when I was growing up in Rockland County. I remember sending him a fan letter as a nine-year-old kid in 1966, inviting him to come swimming in our new "above-the-ground" pool. He never did show up for a swim, but I remember checking the mail every day for the next couple of months until an envelope from Shea Stadium arrived. There was no letter or anything, but there was an autographed photo. It was my most cherished possesion in the world. So why can't I figure out what happened to it?

Danny Erickson
December 18, 2000
Ed Kranepool was the first autograph that I ever received. My mom took me to meet him at a bank, where he was signing autographs. I said absolutely nothing to him. I have met him several times since the quiet time. I always admired how Ed takes an interest in the memorabilia that you have him sign.

General Albert Burkhalter
January 2, 2001
I once had lunch with Ed at the Pompton Queen Diner in New Jersey. He was great company and a fun man. However, once I asked him about why he started getting Soupy Sales hair, the conversation waned.

eric koussevitzky
March 16, 2001
in 1968 ed grabbed my name from a raffle and won 2 tickets to a Mets game ,a double header wsith the cubs. ever since that day Ive been a met fan . so in turn I owe it all to ed. eric

EG
March 18, 2001
Given his limited abilities, had a pretty long career. Wasn't the most mobile of Right Fielder, but an excellent pinch hitter. People forget he hit a home run in his WS start in 1969.

Won Doney
April 17, 2001
Ed Kranepool was a a good 1st baseman. Knowing the Mets, I'm suprised he didn't get traded and then go on to have a great career somewhere else (Nolan Ryan, Lenny Dykstra, Amos Otis).

Jay
May 1, 2001
Hey I don't know if you guys remember but a few weeks ago in the Aflac Trivia Question, the Question was What Mets player was with the Team the longest and the Franchise and howie (I should stick to Hockey) Rose didn't know it was Kranpool. I was laughing so hard

LisaB.
July 14, 2001
He was my hero when I was growing up.I simply adored him.To me,he is and always will be "Mr.Met". Edward Emil Kranepool, you're the best.

Mike
July 30, 2001
He's a simple of the Mets first twenty years cycle of down up and down again. Not many players other than stars spend 18 years or so with one team. Around 1979 I was 11 and met him at, I think, the Islip Speedway at a fair. My older brother was running one of those concessions where you get a cheesey dot-matrix printed picture on a sign or a shirt or just framed. Ed was there promoting I think, and my brother arranged a meeting. I thought I was in the presence of God Almighty Himself. Still have the computer picture of me sitting on his lap.

Mike K
September 5, 2001
In 1963 I was nine years old and away at summer camp. Ed was a surprise visitor who came to give baseball tips to us young 'uns. He asked to borrow a mitt, and since I'm a lefty I offered my glove to him, which was brand new. He took one look at it, and said "hey kid, this needs to be broken in" and went to his car and got some glove oil and a ball, and showed me how to tie it up to work the glove in.

Needless to say, Ed became my hero that day, and to this day remains my favorite Met. What a guy.

Ron
September 23, 2001
When 2001 regular tickets went on sale at Shea at 9:00 a.m in February I figured that if I got there at about 7:30 or so I would'nt have to wait that long to get up to the box office. This was arguably the coldest day of the winter and The line wrapped aound the stadium to the back of the scoreboard, where I proudly took my spot in line. More than six hours later my position in the line moved to inside the stadium (which incidentally is like a wind tunnel). Standing there with frozen toes, fingers and face I could not believe my eyes. There he stood, Number 7, Just as frost bitten as the fans in line, greeting the fans and signing autographs to anyone who asked. Suddenly it didn't feel that cold anymore and I realized yet another reason why I am proud to be a Met Fan.

Ed Kranepool spent his entire carreer (18 years) with the Mets isn't it time we retire his number in left field next Seaver and Hodges. I can't think of any other player who has spent 18 years with a single team. It should be retired if for nothing else than as a sign of loyalty.

Kathleen
September 30, 2001
Ed Kranepool was my favorite Met growing up. He is one of my alltime favorite Mets now. I can't remember the date or the opponent but my first Mets game I attended, he hit his 100th career HR. Everyone stood up and chanted "Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed- die". I will always cherish that memory. My first game at Shea, my first HR and first Mets win in person. Thanks Eddie.

Paul G
December 1, 2001
I grew up in Westchester and it was pretty tough not to be a fan of Eddie. He bought his mom a nice house around the corner from where I lived and if you were lucky you might catch him visiting and get his autograph like my brother did. My impression was that he was a real decent guy and that seemed to make all of us kids like him. We definately felt Ed was "accessable" to us. The man probably did as much as anyone to create goodwill and grow a loyal fanbase. Casey brought in the fathers and Eddie made it attractive for kids. Ron Hunt was another guy who had some of this charisma but I guess he was too good too soon so he was traded. I would put Swoboda in this category too. (if categories are your thing) About 1968 our high school organized a fund raiser all- star basketball game at our school. Somebody was able to pull some strings and we had an all time team of our high school alumnus take on an All Star team of Met's and Yank's. I remember Ed and Ron Taylor and maybe Roy White and Jeff Torborg too who was with the Dodger's then. I have to find the 3x5 card that everyone autographed to remember. Of course you could never get this to happen now.

"You want what? Hahahahahaha!" -click- (sound of phone hanging up)

Except Eddie. Eddie would do it.

Mr. Sparkle
December 4, 2001
I was reading a book about the 69 Mets from the old Daily News articles and in a section between the NLCS and the World Series, there it was again ............. "If he had it all to do over, ED Kranepool doubts seriously he would join the original Mets. 'I think I'd sign with a better ballclub, not a new franchise. The frustration of six years took a lot out of me. I was part of a joke. That drains you. You lose your desire.' " In my book that puts him with the likes of Richie Hebner and Bobby Bonilla. I know everybody loves this guy but those word to me were treason. Screw you Eddie!!!!

Jim Snedeker
January 7, 2002
Another one of my favorite Mets. As the team eased through the early 70's, Lindsey, Ralph and Bob made a big deal about how Kranepool had only played for one team his whole career, and that he was the only Met to play in every one of the team's seasons. He was NOT, however, an original Met. Well, all this meant a lot to a young kid, like it was explaining the meaning of destiny or something.

Although he says he liked his role as a pinch-hitter in his later years, I didn't. He seemed to be considered to be an oddity; a bunch of drunks yelling "Ed-DIE, Ed-DIE" (yeah, real creative), and he comes up and gets a hit or not. So what. I wanted to see him play regularly.

He wrote a book about how to play baseball, and I bought it. I wonder how many people still have their copies?

Kranepool retired in 1979, the same year as Lou Brock. The Mets management saw fit to hold a special Lou Brock Day at Shea, but did nothing to honor Ed, after his 18 years of service to the team. I heard he wasn't too happy about it, and I don't blame him for feeling slighted.

Bobby
January 25, 2002
Other great Mets players will come and go, but Ed Kranepool will always be my favorite. A class act all the way, he was brought up too quickly as a youth, but in the second half of his careers he gained a ton of respect around the National League both as a fielder and as a team leader. His pinch hitting averages per season, from 1974 through around 1978, were amazing-- guys like Len Harris get more ink but in my book the best two pinch hit specialists in Mets history are Kranepool and Rusty Staub, hands down. Thanks, Ed, for all the memories. The real Mets supporters will never forget you.

harvey k
January 31, 2002
i met him recently in a business context.he is very smart and extremely congenial.the Mets never bring him back or show him any appreciation for all the years he played here.it's not right!and it hurts him.

Kaz911
April 29, 2002
Somehow, he was always there, and you just knew he would come through when we needed it most.

Pal88
May 17, 2002
The most beautiful swing I've ever seen. I'll never forget seeing that 18 year old in the on deck cirle in the Polo Grounds and thinking what could possibly be going through his mind. 18, and in the majors. A kid's dream come true. He certainly stuck around. One of the original, best ever Mets.

Larry Burns
June 14, 2002
Ed Kranepool was an average major league player. His longevity was aided by the fact that he was brought to the majors early on a weak team. He enjoys a productive major league career highlighted by going to the World Series twice, winning it once. A dream come true! But not to good old Ed, he looks back on this fantasy come to life and announces that he would have rather signed with a "winning" club----it took all his desire away. I desire that a Mack truck run his ass over.

Larry G.
June 20, 2002
Krane got to prove his talent later in his career becoming more concerned with hitting rather than making an out. The Mets were eager to have a "super star" as quickly as possible. They wanted to compete with the Yankees, and what better way than to have a number #7 of their own. Unfortunately for Eddie he didn't receive an opportunity to learn the ropes at the minor league level, he got it in the Big Show, like drinking water from a fire hose, not so easy. I met Ed once, and asked to see his WS ring. I couldn't believe the size of this guy. The ring diameter had to be as large as a half dollar. Absolutely one of my favorites, along with Kooz, Swo, Buddy, Tom Terrific, Cleon and Tug!

Abe
August 4, 2002
Does anyone remember a game against the Astros,in the late 70's,when Ed Kranepool left the field with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th?The Mets were winning 4-0 and the Mets retired the Astos without Ed on the field.I think I remember Manager Bill Virdon protesting the game because of this. I believe the next day they played the play over again and Houston scored one run to make the final 4-1.

dean friedman
August 18, 2002
Baseball was a different creature as I grew up, compared to what it is now! The constant wanderings of players from franchise to franchise were unknown. Mr. Kranepool was a hero to me. His trips to the World Series in 69 and 73 were a triumph for all true METS fans and , indeed, for all baseball fans. My favorite player today is Gary Sheffield. I wince every time he changes teams, especially now , since he is a BRAVE and I am a MARLIN fan. I salute Mr. Kranepool and I remember the days when a franchise player was loyal to the franchise and the franchise was loyal to him.

Shari
August 20, 2002
I saw Ed Kranepool during the All Amazing Team Ceromonies (That was the only part of the Met game I could bare to watch) Is ti me or does anyone else notice that as he gets older he looks more & more like the actor/comedian Robert Klein?

Gary Brown
September 23, 2002
My grandfather knew someone at Shea who got us into the Mets locker room before a game when I was 13. The Krane was sitting in his underwear talking on the phone. I asked him for his autograph. All I had was a leaky fountain pen that smeared ink on his left hand. With the phone to his ear, Krane said, "Uh, I don't think the ump will let me play with this ink on my hand." But I got the autograph. He became my favorite Met of all time from that moment on.

The thing I admired about Krane the most was when he came back in 1971 from his season in the minors and won back the starting position at first base. He had a fantastic season that year with lots of clutch base hits. Krane could have easily thrown in the towel and retired. But he ate crow and stayed on with the club right up until 1979. He should have his number retired.

Scott Lingle
January 7, 2003
I was one of Ed's biggest fans growing up. I was a Met fan in a house of all Yankee fans. I wore # 7 in baseball from a kid thru college because of Mr Kranepool. I have a picture of Ed and Mickey Mantle together with Shea Stadium in the background. Ed had autographed it - but not Mickey. Because my mother is a Mickey fan I let her know that's because Mickey forgot how to spell his name. Presently that picture hangs in my sons bedroom and he now wears # 7 in b.

Joe Figliola
January 8, 2003
A great off-field memory I have of Ed are in the form of two commercials: One was for shaving cream (I want to say Gillette), where the announcer said "From 1962 to 1970, Ed Kranepool batted .239. Then Ed used Gillette shaving cream. From 1971 to 1977, Ed hit .289. How do account for that, Ed?" Then you'd see a closeup of Ed with plenty of lather on his face saying basically, "How should I know?" I always loved the baseball portion of that ad, where you him screwing up and making contact.

The other commercial (circa 1976) Ed was in was a public service announcement for diabetes that featured his son Keith in a YMCA pool with a beach ball and wearing an oversized wet t-shirt.

On the field, Ed was great. I scored his 100th career home run against the Expos in 1976! The previous year, Ed topped all Mets I scored with a .444 mark!

Bob R.
January 9, 2003
Ed's career is unlike any other I can think of. He started as the boy wonder, the teenager who would be the next great star. Then came the gradual disillusionment as it became clear he lacked the talent to be great. Then came his later career, as he developed into a fine role player and one of the best pinch hitters in the game. I doubt any player will ever again play as many years with the Mets - or any team - as Ed did. He didn't have great power (although he did hit a homer in the '69 Series) and he was a slow runner. But he was good enough to last 18 seasons in the major leagues and play in two World Series, and that has to count for something.

Mr. Sparkle
January 15, 2003
Casey Stengel once said of Ed " He's only 17 but he looks like he's 30." Wes Westrum called him "the oldest looking 22 year old in baseball." Not exactly high praise. Dallas Green would have run him out of town.

John F
January 29, 2003
Ed was my favorite Met. He reminded me that steady performance and desire is what makes a winner.

mets
June 5, 2003
I remember in the late sixties whenever he came to bat the sign man over the third base dugout at Shea held up a sign which read "SUPER STIFF." He epitomized what can happen when a player is rushed to the major leagues at 18 years old. Gil Hodges sent him to the minor leagues for a spell. He was not a bad fielding first baseman and actually became productive when Gil Hodges platooned him with Donn Clendenon in 1969.

flushing flash
June 5, 2003
Krane actually had one of the best fielding % by a first baseman of all-time. I wonder, though, what would happen if you included a range factor in that calculation. I'm sure he was spared many errors when he simply couldn't get to the ball.

Bob P
June 5, 2003
Flushing Flash, that's a great point. I went to baseball-reference.com and looked up Krane's range factor. Eddie wound up playing 1,304 games at first base, or the equivalent of a little more than eight full seasons. Over that period, his range factor was 8.64 while the league's range factor was 8.63.

However, I totally agree with your assessment that fielding percentage doesn't tell the whole story. Bill James has said that he feels another good indicator of a first baseman's fielding skills is the total assists per game. Kranepool had 779 assists in 1,304 games, an average of .597 per game. In comparison, Keith Hernandez, who is generally recognized as an outstanding first baseman, had 1,682 assists in 2,014 games, for an average of .835 assists per game.

Joe M
July 20, 2003
I spent half of my youth in Brooklyn defending the talents of this great player. Krane was awesome in the month of April, sometimes batting .360. I loved the way he stood at the plate. Always had a home run stance.

Big Vin from Staten Island
July 23, 2003
What can you say about Ed? A geniune nice guy and a pretty decent ball player at that. I recall his promo work the Yonker's Raceway horse racing track. "Yonkers Raceway! Come to Yonker's Raceway!"

The Mook
December 28, 2003
Eddie's career seemed to be divided in two. Pre 1970 and post 1970. He was sent down to Tidewater in 70, when the Mets brought up Ken Singleton and returned a different man. Krappy Kranepool had become Steady Eddie. Put in a good ten years with the Mets before becoming a stockbroker and making the late Doris from Rego Park wealthy.

Peter Lester
January 25, 2004
Met him once in the Woodbridge, NJ mall. What a pleasant, delightful man. We shared a frankfurter and talked about the Nixon administration.

Steve Green
March 22, 2004
My Dad (who played some serious second base in his days) grudgingly followed those new Mets in the early 60's, mostly because we were left with no more Dodgers. Jack Fisher, Al Jackson, Charlie Smith.... and Good Lord -- ex-Yankee Casey Stengel running the team!

But Dad, astute as he was a ballplayer, maintained that the younger Kranepool 'stepped in the bucket' when he batted -- against lefty or righty pitcher. That's just the way he batted in his early days. It seems he eventually stood in there, right foot resolute, when he turned into the pinch hitter and .300 hitter he became in his later Mets career.

So it was kinda fun to watch him step in the bucket at Shea in 1969 and hit one over the 410 sign off a Baltimore pitcher (Watt? Leonard?)

Jonathan Stern
June 23, 2004
I saw Kranepool perform for the Mets during his last season (1979). I remember that the first time I ever saw him on TV (lumbering up to hime plate to pinch- hit), I immediately went "Ugh!" He didn't look like a ballplayer. He looked like a typical father of someone from the local PAL league (or maybe a member of my temple's Men's Club), who decided, for kicks, to suit up and take his swings for the Mets. You know, paunchy, schlubby, old-looking. And he was only 34! Come to think of it, so am I as I write this. Yeesh.

But boy could he hit, even then. And the cries of "Eddie! Eddie!" from the small-but-loyal Shea faithful were enough to melt my heart. I was at a game in which Joe Morgan hit a towering pop fly down the first base line. Kranepool went to the wall and caught, while pausing to glare at a fan who almost took it away from him. Amidst more chants of "Eddie! Eddie!" Morgan argued fan interference, but to no avail.

Last season, I'm walking around Shea before a game when out of no place, coming towards me - ED KRANEPOOL! Out of youthful habit, I almost blurted out "Kin I have y'autograph?" but I recovered and asked him if I could shake his hand. He said, "Yeah, showa, how y'doin'?" I replied, "Even better now!" I then looked around to make sure he didn't get mobbed on his way into the Diamond Club. I would have felt terrible if he did.

To all of you who complain about mean players refusing autograph, I have this to say: You can lose an autograph (or, as too many do, sell it), but you can't lose a handshake.

Ray Hunt
July 1, 2004
Though born and raised in N.Y, I've been living in Philly half my life now, but grew up during the 70's - what pitching! - as a Mets fan, and always will be. 'Til this day when we trade baseball stories, a few of my friends down here are Mets fans, Ed Kranepool's name always pops up, and leaves a twinkle in our eyes. We all unequivocally agree though most outside of N.Y. area don't know who he was or ever heard of him except through conversations like ours, that bar none, Ed Kranepool was the best pinch hitter of all time!

B Ro
October 18, 2004
I attended a baseball camp in Pennington, New Jersey during the summer of 1977. One afternoon, Ed Kranepool and Joe Pignatano were guest speakers/instructors. After speaking, Ed, on the request of the campers, agreed to take a few cuts in the batting cage. He was only swinging half speed off the pitching machine....but the ball was exploding off his bat with a sound and velocity I had never heard or seen up close before. He was the first major leaguer I saw hit from just a few feet away and it made an impression....which was, "Big leaguers are good. Real good."

Mike
May 6, 2005
When I was a little kid in the late seventies, I was a huge fan especially knowing he was also from Long Island. I got to meet him at a fair at the raceway, took a new-fangled "computer portrait with him" that I still have. It's one of my prized possessions.

Cliff B.
May 18, 2005
I've been a Met fan since the beginning--1962. In 1979, I moved from New Jersey to Washington, DC. A few years later, I joined the New York Mets fan club of Washington, which was dubbed the Eddie Kranepool Society. The leaders of the club invited Kranepool to a dinner in D.C., where he would be the featured speaker. To everyone's surprise, he accepted the invitation, took the train down to Washington, and had dinner with about 40 of us Met fans.

He then spoke for about an hour, telling us stories about Casey Stengel, Gil Hodges, the World Series, the Polo Grounds, and more.

At one point he took questions from the audience, and one member asked him who he thought the best third baseman was that the Mets ever had during his playing days, considering they had so many, and he said it was Wayne Garrett. He said that Garrett never really was given a good chance to secure the position, but when he played there, he was good and would have gotten better.

Kranepool was very gracious that evening, stayed late, answered questions, and took photos with just about everyone. For someone who has been a Met fan from the beginning, it was a magical evening.

Ron S
July 10, 2005
Having been the consumate Mets fan right from the beginning in 1962 and being a left handed first baseman myself and being that Eddie was so young, he became my favorite Met very quickly. Imagine my delight when he was the guest speaker at my Nottingham Little League graduation in 1963 and he handed me my trophy. It must have been very close to his 19th birthday. It was really something. Yes, I still have my trophy.

Joe P.
July 10, 2005
Ed Kranepool was always my favorite Met! Ed Kranepool never forgot his roots and came to speak at his old school P.S. 36 in the Bronx back in 1973. I was there and will never forget that. Ed always was a fan favorite and always took time out to talk and to interact with the fans. He is a TRUE Bronx legend!

Ken Aven
July 13, 2005
Just check out my e-mail handle: krane7. That should say it all. Ed Kranepool played at the same Bronx High School that my mother graduated from some 20 years before him - James Monroe High. That connection and the fact that when the Mets were created I was only 7 years old have stayed with me through my entire life.

Ed Kranepool will always be the Mets to me. He was big, strong, and slow in 1962 and he stayed that way through his entire career. I hated when Donn Clendenon was brought to the 1969 team and shared the first base position with him. But he still got into a lot of games.

I remember seeing Krane with a giant bottle of champagne on TV during the locker room celebration. Everyone else had beer but he stood out.

The Mets were loyal to Kranepool by allowing him to stay and be their pinch hitter in the late 70's when most New York fans had abandoned the team for the Yankees. His service to both the Mets and to the Long Island community should be rewarded by his number being retired.

Bob R
July 13, 2005
More than anything else, Kranepool serves as an example of never giving up. He was definitely rushed to the major leagues too soon, then expected to be a power hitter instead of the line-drive hitter he really was. I still remember when he got sent down to the minors in 1970, which must have really stung. But he hung in there, came back and eventually had a terrific second act as a pinch hitter in his later years. Never a great talent, but he'll always be a favorite for millions of Met fans just because of his sheer persistence.

Bob
July 26, 2005
In 1970, on Mother's Day, my family had dinner at a Restaurant called "The Dugout" in Amityville, NY. It was owned by Ed Kranepool and Ron Swoboda. I still have an actual original menu. You wouldn't believe the price of Filet Mignon.

Metsfan39
October 4, 2005
I was actually very fortunate to meet Ed at a baseball card show in Freehold New Jersey in 1980. Back then autographs were free and Ed was my favorite Met for a very long time, and I got to meet him that day. I had quite literally each one of his Topps baseball cards from his rookie card in 1963 (which he shares with Tony Oliva) through his final card in 1980. As a 9 year old, he was the first celebrity I ever met and I was like a deer in the headlights. He was impressed that I had gone to the trouble (along with my dad who to this day loves collecting baseball cards with me) of collecting each of his cards. He was very gracious and signed each card for me and thanked me for being a fan. Ed was and still is a gentleman of class and is still one of my favorite Mets to this day.

KMT
November 25, 2005
Like many others here, growing up, Krane was one of my favorite players! I don't really care about his, "Sign with a winning team" comment! Not only was he rushed, the Mets milked that hometown boy routine to its fullest! I remember reading another quote by Ed that his going down to Tidewater in '70 taught him how to hit! The numbers certainly show that to be true! Through good times and bad, he was a fixture in N.Y. for 18 seasons. Hope he's doing well!

Bob R
December 22, 2005
Ed will always have a special place in my heart because he hit the game-winning homer in the very first baseball game I ever attended! It was July 1, 1965, and my dad took me to Shea Stadium to see the Mets play the Reds. My mom had clipped coupons from the Borden's milk cartons so we got free tickets to the grandstands! (Total savings: $2.60) With one out and one on in the first inning, Ed belted a 2-run homer and the Mets were off to a 5-1 victory. I was 10 years old and will never forget it as long as I live. I've thought of that game often since my dad passed away in 1987.

Tom L
January 4, 2006
I remember being 10 or 11 years old, and cruising the first base line with my scorecard and pen for autographs during batting practice, when ol' 'Steady Eddie' comes over to the stands to talk to a security guard. I'm in the front of a pack of a dozen or so kids, charging the rail to get his signature, and when I get there I realize I'm leaning into the gate next to the dugout that opens up onto the field. Well the gate was unlatched, and sure enough, Boom! I land on the field in a heap, scraping my elbow, and being lifted back into the stands by number Seven! The guard is chasing the other kids away, and before he can say anything to me, Eddie looks at my bloody elbow and says, 'I guess that earns you an autograph!'

Tunis35
February 24, 2006
I was at Modell's on E 42nd St in Manhattan just before the Subway Series in 2000 and Modell's was having a contest for the best all time Mets fan. The judge was Ed Kranepool. I made the finals along with the old women who used to sit behind home plate and spin her arms in a circle. First prize was a $500 gift certificate, a television appearance with the greatest Yankee fan and tickets to all the games. I dressed up in Mets glasses, a Mets beach shirt, had on blue and orange sneakers and sang the song Meet the Mets. I had the the entire audience, which was quite large, singing and dancing and by far got the biggest applause. The older lady then got up and in a barely audible voice said "I love the Mets" and spun her arms in a circle. Much to the disbelief of everyone in attendance, Ed Kranepool awarded her first prize. He got booed out of the store. I later found out from the store manager that the women also babysat for several of the Mets players. After 6 years I've been waiting to to tell this story and state the following; "Drop Dead Ed". How sad that one of our most loved Mets would cheat and fix a contest. What a creep.

Anthony R
March 21, 2006
I remember the "classic" film clip of Ed playing the outfield at Shea in 1977, and he was chasing a double off the wall hit by some pitcher on the Reds named Tom Seaver. A micro-cosm of the sad times ahead for a proud franchise.

Bonbolito
May 24, 2006
As a kid I read in Mad magazine that Ed was the guy whose baseball card you'd get in every pack when you really wanted Pete Rose. A couple of times at games, and even on TV, I'd hear someone let out a deep and throaty "KRRRRRRAAAAAAANNNNNNEEEPOOOOOOL"! when he'd come to bat. Going to games now I fight the urge to do that.

GoMets2006!
June 2, 2006
I will never forget my Grandfather from New Jersey watching a Mets game in the mid 70's yelling at the TV in his joisey accent "Hey Kranepool, get the lead out!" I called him once while watching a game and Ed actually had a stolen base!

Harry Balzac
June 9, 2006
I remember back in the Mid-70's when Ed was comin' around the bend of his career. I saw him once at a game and asked him to sign a baseball card of mine. He looked at it and told me it wasn't a Topps. He only signs Topps. He left to go get ready for the game I told him to stop "Stepping in the bucket when he swings." Not sure if he appreciated that coming from a fan.

SAL
June 14, 2006
VERY RUDE And nasty person; met him at a church function in 1987 and he did not sign a single autograph or say hi to a single person.

agee_of_aquarius
August 24, 2006
I remember watching Krane being interviewed in the clubhouse after the Mets beat the Reds in the '73 playoffs to win the pennant. He said "I hit .239 in 1969 and we won it, and this year I hit .239 and we won it again!" Actually, Ed hit .238 in '69, but who's counting?

Frank
September 8, 2006
One snowy, winter night in 1965 Ed Kranepool spoke at a Knights of Columbus "smoker" in Albany, NY, my hometown. A 12-year-old me, die-hard Mets fan, attended (but didn't smoke!). Mr Kranepool graciously signed a baseball card for me. I still have it. Hard to believe then and now that Ed was/is just 9 years older than me. I hope he's doing well.

Mr. FF
October 1, 2006
I remember seeing Ed as a rookie at the Polo Grounds. We then had a box 8 rows back from the visiting dugout at the "new" Shea in back of the nut wearing the derby with all the signs. It wasn't until a few years ago that I actually got to know Ed personally. He is as nice and as gracious off the field as he was on. I love him.

=Chuck=
October 28, 2006
Ed Kranepool came to my grade school when I was 11 or 12 and talked to us about making it to the big leagues; sort of a motivational speech for lack of a better description. Afterward, the school set up a table for him on the auditorium stage and he proceeded to autograph photos for every kid. I'll never forget that, and I still have the picture! A class act all the way.

Diamond Dave
March 11, 2007
I became a Met fan in June of 1969. My Dad, (who became A Mets fan in '62 5 years after the Giants broke his heart and moved to SF) decided at age 6 I was old enough to go to a Mets game. That day Agee had a couple of hits but every time Ed Kranepool came up my dad would yell "BIG ED" LETS GO, BIG ED." By 1971 I was understanding more about the game and watched almost every game on WOR channel 9 and my dad ALWAYS announced "BIG ED" when No. 7 strode to the plate. By 1972 I was telling him "Kranepoop stinks, I can run faster than him" but my dad never wavered and he told me when my favorite player gets traded (Agee) I can root for BIG ED. Well Tommie Agee was traded after 1972 but I still didn't like BIG (stiff) ED.

If not for Joan Payson his career would have ended in 1970. What other player gets sent to Tidewater after 8 years in the bigs? He was a good pinch hitter in mid late 70's but overall average at best. But my Dad sure loved him.

My son is now 4 and has a Mets theme in his room. One section is dedicated to the '69 Mets, one to the '86 Mets and there is one lone 5 x 7 photo of BIG ED in honor of my dad who never met his grandson. I tell him that's Big Ed.

james van der wall
April 1, 2007
My Dad used to take me early to the Polo Grounds to see the Mets games. We would wait for the players to come in their civilian clothes and ask for autographs. I was never very aggressive, much to Dad's dismay. But the best story was when I was in a pack of autograph seekers and came back empty-handed to Dad and said, "Ed Kranepool stepped on my foot!" It remains a family treasured story.

Bill Deegan
April 12, 2007
46 years as a Mets fan and Eddie remains my Number One Favorite Met. I remember as a 12 and 13 year old tracking his batting average every day in a spiral notebook. How come they never had a "Day" for him?

Illya Lasting
April 14, 2007
I met Ed when I was a kid, he actually handed me one of many little league trophies. I have many signed pictures and one very early in his career, framed minor league shots of him when he was with the Buffalo Bisons. Very nice piece if anyone is interested in it.

Bill Browning
April 23, 2007
I guess you could say "I knew him when." I attended P.S 36 with Eddie. He was my safety patrol captain back in the early 50's. Pretty quiet for the most part, but,one hell of a ball player,and one great gentleman. Hey Eddie, remember Mr. Doffey? Take care old friend.

LouieMaz
May 1, 2007
Last year there was a Negro Leagues mobile Museum at Shea. Not only did I get to see the legendary Buck O'Neil in one of his last public appearances but I met Ed Kranepool. Eddie walked in a back door of the mobile museum with a Met employee. I spotted him right away. I think I caught him off guard, because it seemed no one else recognized him. (What true Met fan wouldn't recognize Ed Kranepool?) Anyway I gave him a "Hi Eddie, How ya doing?" He acknowledged me and shook my hand. All I had was my camera phone but I had to take advantage of the photo op. He took two pictures with me because I accidentally deleted the 1st one. He was very nice about it and said it was not a bother. He seemed both happy and proud that he was still a popular Met. He took both pictures with a big smile. Heck of a nice guy. Thanks Eddie.

Randy E
April 12, 2008
Krane was my favorite growing up on Long Island......he came to our little league awards one year in Island Park and another year him Tug, Rocky, and Gentry appeared at Nathan's in Oceanside. They spent a lot of time talking about baseball and about being a big leaguer. I always loved watching him play and can say that he brought me and my dad closer together. My Dad's been dead since 1982 but the memories still live on. Thanks for everything, Eddie.

Tom L.
April 12, 2008
I know this will annoy all the Kranepool lovers out there.

Right before the 1976 season, a bunch of the Mets were at the Staten Island Mall to sign autographs to kick off the season. (Can you imagine them doing this today?) They gave out the previous years yearbook (the one with Seaver on the cover) and you could go all around the Mall to get them to sign anything. I was 13 at the time.

All of the players and coaches were very nice, including supposedly miserable guys like Dave Kingman. (Who was very nice to all of the kids.) When me and my brother wne to the table with Ed Kranepool and and bloated Mickey Lolich, they were sitting back in conversation and decided they had signed enough and told us no more autographs. Kranepool joked that his had was broken and the fat slob Lolich thought that was hilarious and they basically laughed us away.

To this day I have no use for either of them, there was no reason to do that to us. If they wanted to take a break they could have.

Kranepool was mediocre at best, he's only beloved because he was with the team forever. Lolich was one of many stupid Mets trades.

Jim Snedeker
July 22, 2008
I was listening to a tape of a 1963 broadcast. Ed is up and Ralph is announcing. Ralph says, "What a beautiful swing! I don't see how he won't become one of the all-time greats!"

pockmarxz
October 6, 2008
Consistent mediocrity and I say that with respect. Hit exactly ten home runs five times. I don't think any major league player in history ever did that. I loved it when during an interview Krane was asked about the Mets and their decline during the seventies. Krane described Joe MacDonald as an "incompetent." I would love to sit down in private with Krane and discuss the state of the organization during his time there. If anyone knows where the bodies are buried it would be Ed Kranepool.

Mike B
January 13, 2009
My favorite memory of Eddie was watching a Cincinnati Reds-Met game on tv back in the Sixties. The Mets were trailing by one run in the bottom of the ninth, with two men on and Eddie at bat. Both runners took off circling the bases when Eddie hit a long fly to center. As Vada Pinson was camping under the fly ball, his legs gave out from underneath him and he ended up flat on his back on the warning track. As luck would have it, the ball came down directly into Pinson's glove while he was still lying flat. I met Eddie recently at a signing show and asked him if he remembered the play. He shook his head and and said, "like it was yesterday."

sal
February 9, 2009
I went to a church sports night event in a church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in May 1987. Bobby Jackson was there and was great, and Vito Anterfurmo was nice. However Ed Kranepool was not and did not sign a autograph or talk to a single fan, a big time tool.

Joe Figliola
March 9, 2009
I don't think I ever read more about a player with such a Jekyll and Hyde personality as Ed Kranepool. Yes, he could be surly, as indicated in the personal encounters written on this site. The Jack Lang book on the Mets also illustrated this side of Ed when he reportedly dissed advice from Duke Snider on how to break a batting slump.

However, Kranepool was very kind to me when I had a book idea about the Amazin's nearly two decades ago. I mailed him a list of questions and he responded quickly and thoughtfully. He, in particular, had some very kind things to write about his experiences with and learning baseball from Casey Stengel.

Even had I not written him, I don't think I could say anything negative about Ed. He did his best, and me and friends enjoyed watching him play when we were kids.

E Smith
February 15, 2010
Guess who I literally bumped into at Target in Garden City in the detergent aisle a couple of years ago? Ed Kranepool and his wife. After I acknowledged who he was, he remarked cheerily, "Everybody's gotta eat." I found him very personable. I remarked that I watched his debut on TV. After a brief chat, we shook hands and we went our separate ways.

art
April 15, 2010
He is still my all time favorite player 30 years after he retired. He was there for all the big plays: the bloop single to show the Mets could beat the Cubs with 2 out in 9th, the home run in the World Series in his only game, the 2-run RBI to beat the Reds in 1973 replacing an injured Staub, the great glovework at first base, the clumsy outfielding, the great pinch hitting, the 18 years on one team as a born and bred New Yorker. He is always on any baseball show about Willie, Mickey and the Duke as he saw them as a kid AND played against (and with Willie and the Duke) as an adult. The best, and by almost all accounts (saw a few negative ones here and everybody can have a bad day) a great guy.

AJP
March 23, 2011
When I was a kid (after the 1978 season) I attended an Ed Kranepool appearance at Bayside Federal Bank on Bell Blvd. Ed posed for pictures and signed autographs. All for FREE!! Players would not even consider asking for money to sign autographs back then! Ed was quite stiff and not friendly. The next week Roy White did the same appearance and was ebullient and friendly. Even so, I stayed a Kranepool fan and a Mets fan.

Bernard
June 29, 2011
He still signs for free. He had a signing at Citi Field prior to a game a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe the size of his 1969 WS ring. It was huge.

Mitch45
January 30, 2012
I saw Ed Emil play in the 1970's. He was an OK player. For a big guy, he should have hit for more power. I think he's endeared to Mets fans because he was an original Met and is one of the very few players to have played his entire career with the Mets.

Shickhaus Franks
October 6, 2012
In April 2012 at Hofstra University, they had a gathering of several former Mets including Ed; I wasn't there but Andrea Peyser of the New York Post was and she wrote a good article in her column. According to Peyser, Ed basically ripped that pill-popping, rule-breaking, gambling-with-the-Mafia low life aka A-Bum #13 of the Yankees.

JFK
February 13, 2013
I saw a stat I could not believe. In his 18 year career Ed only hit 6 home runs against left handed pitchers.

NYB Buff
February 26, 2013
JFK, Here's an even more surprising fact about Ed. In his entire 18 seasons with the Mets, he never hit a grand slam.

Bob Smith
October 30, 2015
As a kid discovering baseball at about 10 years old, my first favorite player - and still is - was Ed Kranepool. He was a lefty, as I was; he played first base, like I did. Even through college, I bought a newspaper to look in the box scores to see how Ed did on a day-to-day basis. A great pinch hitter, I don't think Kranepool got nearly enough kudos for his fielding; he wasn't fast or flashy, but I don't ever recall him making very many mental mistakes in the field; he had steady hands and turned a killer 3-6-3. Kranepool looked, acted, and spent his Mets career as a true pro. I miss those days of my youth, and having a favorite player like Ed to look up to and learn from. But it's all fine; I've had the chance to meet Ed a few times, and he's been a real gentleman. Here's hoping he spends his retirement years happy and healthy, and safe in the knowledge he really was an important part of the New York Mets...and a favorite player of so many fans.

Salamander
October 9, 2017
Ed was a Met from the beginning, but he was not brought through the farm system correctly. The team impeded on his minor league progress by trying to use him as an early drawing card. Being a local high school standout, Kranepool was placed on the major league roster periodically as a means of generating income. Constant promotions and demotions were bound to slow down his development as a player and really did. If Ed had been given at least three or four continuous seasons of minor league experience, he would have been a lot more productive in the majors later on. The Mets did him an injustice.

Raymond Malcuit Jr.
November 13, 2019
My father said that Ed Kranepool had a pretty swing.

Adam
May 16, 2023
I am a 59 year old lifetime Mets fan. I know Tom Seaver was the face of the Mets, but my favorite player was, is and always will be Ed Kranepool. I became a first baseman because of Ed. He was not the greatest Met, but he was my guy. When Ed developed diabetes, I was one already. I developed a condition in 2008 called Sarcoidosis, an over inflammation of the immune system. The disease eventually clogged my kidneys and I was told I had end stage renal disease. Four and a half years of dialysis later, I received a kidney transplant. Again, I would cross Steady Eddie's path. When I found out that Ed needed a kidney transplant quite urgently, I did what I could. I wrote a letter to the very fine Mets blog Faith and Fear in Flushing, run by the outstanding Greg Prince. At the end of his essay about Noah Syndegard, a piece titled; Forever is a mighty long time, Mr. Prince told of Kranepool's plight. Mr. Prince was kind and generous enough to remember the letter I had sent asking for help for Ed. As things seemed to be getting worse, I read in the Daily News that my hero had gotten his transplant. I was overjoyed! Ed will be 79 on his next birthday.

Gets by Buckner
September 10, 2024
Rest in Peace Ed! The original Met who only played for one team, The Mets! You will never be forgotten!!

Rich Mercado
September 10, 2024
Ed Kranepool is a class person and certainly a fine ballplayer. We are all so lucky to have him in our lives and at such an early age. God will bless Ed for ever and ever. We were all so lucky to have him in our lives and celebrate his being a New York Met.

Timothy McMahon
September 12, 2024
Ed Kranepool was the guest speaker at our 1971 Little League banquet in Stamford Ct. I had a broken arm at the time and he signed my cast. I still have the cast. I treasure it because Ed was my favorite Met and I played 1st base. I don’t know if it is worth any money but it’s priceless to me. I venture to guess it is a one of a kind thing?