Ed Kranepool
Encyclopedia
Edward Emil Kranepool is a former first baseman
who spent his entire Major League Baseball
career with the New York Mets
.
Born in the Bronx, New York, Kranepool attended James Monroe High School
, where he began playing baseball
and basketball
. Mets' scout Bubber Jonnard
signed Kranepool in at the age of seventeen as an amateur free agent
.
at first base in a 9-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs
at the Polo Grounds
. He grounded out to Cubs second baseman
Ken Hubbs
in his only at bat. He made his first start the next day, September 23, where he played first, and went one for four with a double
.
Kranepool began the season splitting playing time with "Marvelous" Marv Throneberry
at first base and Duke Snider
in right field. By May 5, Throneberry's ineptitude at the plate (.143 batting average
and only one RBI in the first 23 games of the season) wore thin on Met fans and management, and he was demoted to the Mets' Triple A
affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons
. Tim Harkness
was awarded the first base job with Snider shifting to left field, and Kranepool becoming the Mets' everyday right fielder
. This, however, did not last, as Kranepool was sent down to the minors in July with a .190 batting average. He resurfaced later in the season as a September call-up, and went four for five with a run batted in
and a run scored in his first game back. He continued to hit better following his late season call-up, and managed to bring his batting average up to .209 for the season.
all splitting time at first base, Kranepool received most of his playing time in right field at the start of the season. On May 24, Joe Christopher
was batting .303, and had won a starting job in manager Casey Stengel
's eyes. He was awarded the right field job, and Kranepool was demoted to Buffalo with a .139 batting average.
Kranepool played just fifteen games with the Bisons, hitting three home runs and batting .352 to earn a promotion back to the Mets. His first game back was at first base in game one of a May 31 double header
against the San Francisco Giants
. Kranepool also played first in the second game of the double header, which went 23 innings. Kranepool ended up playing all 23 innings, going four for fourteen over the two games. "I wish we could have played another forty minutes," Kranepool was later quoted as saying of the record setting double header that lasted nearly ten hours and ended at 11:20 PM. "That way, I could always say I played in a game that started in May and ended in June."
These two games were the start of a thirteen game hitting streak that saw Kranepool's batting average rise to .264. For the season, Kranepool batted .257 with ten home runs and 45 RBIs.
pitcher
Warren Spahn
from the Milwaukee Braves. Kranepool gave up his number 21 to Spahn, who had worn that number his entire career, and began wearing number 7.
Kranepool was batting .287 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs to be named the sole Mets representative at the 1965 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
, though he did not play. By the end of the season, Kranepool's batting average fell to .253, but that was still enough to lead the team that lost 112 games that season, and finished in tenth place in the National League
. He also led his team with 133 hits
and 24 doubles.
In , Kranepool paced the Mets with a career high sixteen home runs to help the Mets avoid a last place finish and 100 losses for the first time in franchise history (95).
.
The Mets then went on an eleven game winning streak that included a two home run performance by Kranepool against the Los Angeles Dodgers
. By the end of the streak, the Mets were in second place, seven games back of the Chicago Cubs.
On July 8, Kranepool hit a fifth inning home run off Fergie Jenkins to give the Mets a 1-0 lead over the Cubs. By the time the Mets batted in the ninth inning, however, the first place Cubs had taken a 3-1 lead. The Mets scored three runs
in the ninth to win the game, with Cleon Jones
scoring the last run on Kranepool's single
to center.
The Mets completed their remarkable "Miracle" 1969 season, in which the team, backed by Kranepool, Tom Seaver
and Jerry Koosman
, won their first ever World Series title
against the Baltimore Orioles
. Kranepool hit a home run in game three of the series, a 5-0 win for the Mets.
On June 23, , Kranepool was batting just .118, and was demoted to the Mets' triple A affiliate, the Tidewater Tides. He considered retirement, but instead, he accepted his reassignment, and batted .310 in 47 games at Tidewater. He was back with the Mets by the middle of August, but saw very little playing time. For the season, Kranepool had only 52 plate appearances in 43 games.
Kranepool would bounce back with perhaps his best season in , batting .280 with 14 home runs, 58 RBI and an OPS
+ of 123. He also led the National League with a .998 fielding percentage. The late-career demotion marked a turning point for Kranepool, with him becoming a useful hitter and first baseman/outfielder
despite never entering a season with a specific full-time role.
In , Kranepool lost his starting job at first base to John Milner
. Kranepool still managed to play 100 games and making 320 plate appearances backing up Milner at first and Cleon Jones in left. The Mets won the NL East, and faced the Cincinnati Reds
in the 1973 National League Championship Series
. Kranepool's only appearance in the NLCS was in game five, and he drove in the first two runs of the Mets' series clinching victory to lead his team to the 1973 World Series
.
. When Mets owner Joan Payson died on October 4, 1975, she left the team to her husband Charles. While Joan had been the driving force behind the Mets, her survivors did not share her enthusiasm. Charles delegated his authority to his three daughters, who left control of baseball matters to club chairman M. Donald Grant
. According to an interview with Kranepool, he was the only Met player invited to Mrs. Payson's Funeral
The Mets enjoyed the second best winning percentage in franchise history in when they went 86-76 to finish third in the NL East. Kranepool was again a regular first baseman with the Mets that season, batting .292 with ten home runs and 49 RBIs.
He compiled his best offensive years from 1974 through 1977, hitting .299 in 431 games with 28 home runs and 156 runs batted in.
centerfielder Lee Mazzilli
became the face of the organization. Kranepool, perhaps as a symbol of the Mets' past glory, emerged as something as a fan favorite as well, despite a limited pinch hitting role he'd been relegated to at this point in his career. From through , Kranepool hit .396 as a pinch hitter, batting .486 (17-for-35) in the role in 1974, still the major league single-season pinch hit batting average record. After the Mets traded Jerry Koosman at the end of the 1978 season, Kranepool became the last of the 1969 Miracle Mets.
When he retired after the season at the age of 34, he left as the all-time club leader in eight offensive categories, of which he still leads in three (at-bats: 5436, hits
: 1418, and sacrifice flies: 58). He has also played more games in a Met uniform (1853) than any other player. He would become a legend among Met fans for playing eighteen seasons, all of them with the Mets. No other Met player has ever played for the team for that long. He was the last of the 1962 Mets to remain with the team, and the last of that team to retire from Major League Baseball.
Though still relatively young at this time, he was only useful as long as his pinch-hits kept dropping in. He had also reportedly had some friction with the team's ownership group, led by Lorinda DeRoulet, that was controlling the team after Payson's death. When the team was sold after the 1979 season to a group headed by Nelson Doubleday Jr. and Fred Wilpon
, Kranepool was part of one of the groups offering a losing bid.
Kranepool had a career fielding percentage at first base of .994 and .975 as an outfielder.
, the ad closed with Kranepool standing in the dugout, in uniform but lathered up and holding up a can of Foamy, saying, "I don't know, but now I shave every other inning." The closing narration was, "Foamy: More than thick and rich enough for New York's heavy hitters."
Another Gillette commercial featured Kranepool lighting a candle in his bathroom and trying to shave using Foamy during a blackout. The ad was clearly inspired by the New York blackout
of the previous season, which came during a Met home game at Shea Stadium on July 13, 1977. Kranepool also appeared in an ad for SportsPhone with Jerry Koosman.
He caught flack for a campaign commercial he did for New York
Senator
Alfonse D'Amato in which he appeared wearing a New York Mets uniform. Following protest from the Mets' ownership group, the commercial was quickly pulled. Kranepool also appeared on Saturday Night Live
in a cameo appearance, being interviewed by Bill Murray
during a skit filmed during spring training in , regarding Chico Escuela's (portrayed by Garrett Morris
) tell all book, Bad Stuff 'bout The Mets (a parody of Sparky Lyle
's tell all book about the New York Yankees
, The Bronx Zoo). He appeared as himself in a episode of Everybody Loves Raymond
along with several other members of the 1969 Mets.
in 1990. He is currently living in New York.
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
who spent his entire Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
career with the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
.
Born in the Bronx, New York, Kranepool attended James Monroe High School
James Monroe High School (New York)
For schools with a similar name, see James Monroe High School.James Monroe High School was a comprehensive high school located at 1300 Boynton Avenue and E 172nd Street in the Soundview section of the Bronx....
, where he began playing baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. Mets' scout Bubber Jonnard
Bubber Jonnard
Clarence James Jonnard was a Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Chicago White Sox in 1920, the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1922, the Philadelphia Phillies in 1926, 1927 and 1935, and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1929. He played 103 Major League games with 235 at bats, 54 hits, no home...
signed Kranepool in at the age of seventeen as an amateur free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
.
Seventeen year old debuts with the Mets
After batting a combined .301 at three levels of the Mets' minor league system in 1962, Kranepool received a September call-up in just his first professional season. At age 17, Kranepool was six years younger than the next-youngest '62 Met, a reflection of the disastrous decision of Met management to select mostly older veterans in the expansion draft. He made his major league debut wearing number 21 on September 22, 1962 as a late inning defensive replacement for Gil HodgesGil Hodges
Gilbert Ray Hodges was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...
at first base in a 9-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
at the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
. He grounded out to Cubs second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
Ken Hubbs
Ken Hubbs
Kenneth Douglass Hubbs was an American second baseman who played from to for the Chicago Cubs in the National League. He was killed in a plane crash near Provo, Utah prior to the 1964 season....
in his only at bat. He made his first start the next day, September 23, where he played first, and went one for four with a double
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
.
Kranepool began the season splitting playing time with "Marvelous" Marv Throneberry
Marv Throneberry
Marvin Eugene Throneberry was an American Major League Baseball player, best remembered as the starting first baseman for the 1962 New York Mets, a team which set the modern record for most losses in a season with 120....
at first base and Duke Snider
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...
in right field. By May 5, Throneberry's ineptitude at the plate (.143 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
and only one RBI in the first 23 games of the season) wore thin on Met fans and management, and he was demoted to the Mets' Triple A
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons
Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons are a minor league baseball team based in Buffalo, New York. They currently play in the International League and are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets...
. Tim Harkness
Tim Harkness
Thomas William Harkness is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1961 to 1964 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets....
was awarded the first base job with Snider shifting to left field, and Kranepool becoming the Mets' everyday right fielder
Right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
. This, however, did not last, as Kranepool was sent down to the minors in July with a .190 batting average. He resurfaced later in the season as a September call-up, and went four for five with a run batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
and a run scored in his first game back. He continued to hit better following his late season call-up, and managed to bring his batting average up to .209 for the season.
Earning the first base job
With Harkness, Dick Smith and Frank ThomasFrank Thomas (NL baseball player)
Frank Joseph Thomas is a former left fielder and first and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Cincinnati Reds , Chicago Cubs , Milwaukee Braves , New York Mets , Philadelphia Phillies , and the Houston Astros...
all splitting time at first base, Kranepool received most of his playing time in right field at the start of the season. On May 24, Joe Christopher
Joe Christopher
Joseph O'Neal Christopher is a former outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from through . Listed at 5' 10", 175 lbs., he batted and threw right-handed....
was batting .303, and had won a starting job in manager Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel , nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in ....
's eyes. He was awarded the right field job, and Kranepool was demoted to Buffalo with a .139 batting average.
Kranepool played just fifteen games with the Bisons, hitting three home runs and batting .352 to earn a promotion back to the Mets. His first game back was at first base in game one of a May 31 double header
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...
against the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. Kranepool also played first in the second game of the double header, which went 23 innings. Kranepool ended up playing all 23 innings, going four for fourteen over the two games. "I wish we could have played another forty minutes," Kranepool was later quoted as saying of the record setting double header that lasted nearly ten hours and ended at 11:20 PM. "That way, I could always say I played in a game that started in May and ended in June."
These two games were the start of a thirteen game hitting streak that saw Kranepool's batting average rise to .264. For the season, Kranepool batted .257 with ten home runs and 45 RBIs.
All-Star
Prior to the start of the season, the Mets acquired future Hall of fameHall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn
Warren Edward Spahn was an American Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in the National League. He won 20 games each in 13 seasons, including a 23-7 record when he was age 42...
from the Milwaukee Braves. Kranepool gave up his number 21 to Spahn, who had worn that number his entire career, and began wearing number 7.
Kranepool was batting .287 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs to be named the sole Mets representative at the 1965 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
1965 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1965 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 36th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 13, 1965 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota...
, though he did not play. By the end of the season, Kranepool's batting average fell to .253, but that was still enough to lead the team that lost 112 games that season, and finished in tenth place in the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
. He also led his team with 133 hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
and 24 doubles.
In , Kranepool paced the Mets with a career high sixteen home runs to help the Mets avoid a last place finish and 100 losses for the first time in franchise history (95).
Miracle Mets
On May 21, , the Mets won their third game in a row for a .500 winning percentage 36 games into the season for the first time in franchise history. This was followed by a five game losing streak that saw the Mets fall into fourth place in the newly aligned National League EastNational League East
The National League East Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies are tied for the most National League East Division titles . All of Atlanta's NL East titles came during a record stretch of 14 consecutive division titles...
.
The Mets then went on an eleven game winning streak that included a two home run performance by Kranepool against the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
. By the end of the streak, the Mets were in second place, seven games back of the Chicago Cubs.
On July 8, Kranepool hit a fifth inning home run off Fergie Jenkins to give the Mets a 1-0 lead over the Cubs. By the time the Mets batted in the ninth inning, however, the first place Cubs had taken a 3-1 lead. The Mets scored three runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
in the ninth to win the game, with Cleon Jones
Cleon Jones
Cleon Joseph Jones is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who is best remembered as the man who caught the final out of the "Miracle Mets" improbable World Series Championship over the Baltimore Orioles....
scoring the last run on Kranepool's single
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...
to center.
The Mets completed their remarkable "Miracle" 1969 season, in which the team, backed by Kranepool, Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...
and Jerry Koosman
Jerry Koosman
Jerome Martin Koosman is a former left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies between 1967 and 1985...
, won their first ever World Series title
1969 World Series
The 1969 World Series was played between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Mets prevailing in five games to accomplish one of the greatest upsets in Series history, as that particular Orioles squad was considered to be one of the finest ever...
against the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
. Kranepool hit a home run in game three of the series, a 5-0 win for the Mets.
Demoted to Tidewater
| Period | BA Batting average Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :... |
OBP | SLG | OPS On-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League... |
| Through 1970 | .246 | .298 | .358 | .656 |
| After 1970 | .278 | .333 | .398 | .732 |
On June 23, , Kranepool was batting just .118, and was demoted to the Mets' triple A affiliate, the Tidewater Tides. He considered retirement, but instead, he accepted his reassignment, and batted .310 in 47 games at Tidewater. He was back with the Mets by the middle of August, but saw very little playing time. For the season, Kranepool had only 52 plate appearances in 43 games.
Kranepool would bounce back with perhaps his best season in , batting .280 with 14 home runs, 58 RBI and an OPS
On-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
+ of 123. He also led the National League with a .998 fielding percentage. The late-career demotion marked a turning point for Kranepool, with him becoming a useful hitter and first baseman/outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
despite never entering a season with a specific full-time role.
In , Kranepool lost his starting job at first base to John Milner
John Milner
John David Milner was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he grew up a huge Hank Aaron fan, even appropriating his idol's nickname, "The Hammer." He was a member of the "We Are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates team that won the World Series...
. Kranepool still managed to play 100 games and making 320 plate appearances backing up Milner at first and Cleon Jones in left. The Mets won the NL East, and faced the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
in the 1973 National League Championship Series
1973 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 6, 1973 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OhioThe starting pitchers, New York's Tom Seaver and Cincinnati's Jack Billingham, produced a classic pitcher's duel in Game 1. The Mets threatened in the first, loading the bases with one out, but Cleon Jones grounded into a...
. Kranepool's only appearance in the NLCS was in game five, and he drove in the first two runs of the Mets' series clinching victory to lead his team to the 1973 World Series
1973 World Series
The 1973 World Series matched the defending champion Oakland Athletics against the New York Mets, with the A's winning in seven games to repeat as World Champions....
.
Joan Payson passes away
Kranepool batted .300 in consecutive seasons in and , sharing first base duties with Milner and Dave KingmanDave Kingman
David Arthur Kingman , nicknamed "Kong" and "Sky King", is a former Major League Baseball left fielder, first baseman, third baseman, and designated hitter. The towering 6' 6" Kingman was one of the most feared sluggers of the 1970s and 1980s...
. When Mets owner Joan Payson died on October 4, 1975, she left the team to her husband Charles. While Joan had been the driving force behind the Mets, her survivors did not share her enthusiasm. Charles delegated his authority to his three daughters, who left control of baseball matters to club chairman M. Donald Grant
M. Donald Grant
Michael Donald Grant was the chairman and a minority owner of the New York Mets baseball club from its beginnings in 1962 to 1978.Grant was born in Montreal in 1904, the son of Hockey Hall of Fame goalie Mike Grant...
. According to an interview with Kranepool, he was the only Met player invited to Mrs. Payson's Funeral
The Mets enjoyed the second best winning percentage in franchise history in when they went 86-76 to finish third in the NL East. Kranepool was again a regular first baseman with the Mets that season, batting .292 with ten home runs and 49 RBIs.
He compiled his best offensive years from 1974 through 1977, hitting .299 in 431 games with 28 home runs and 156 runs batted in.
Pinch-hitter
Matinee idolMatinee idol
Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre stars who are adored to the point of adulation by their fans.The term almost exclusively refers to male actors. Invariably the adulation was fixated on the actor's looks rather than performance...
centerfielder Lee Mazzilli
Lee Mazzilli
Lee Louis Mazzilli, , is a former Major League Baseball player, coach, and manager. On December 11, 2006, he was hired as the lead studio analyst for SportsNet New York, the New York Mets' cable television network...
became the face of the organization. Kranepool, perhaps as a symbol of the Mets' past glory, emerged as something as a fan favorite as well, despite a limited pinch hitting role he'd been relegated to at this point in his career. From through , Kranepool hit .396 as a pinch hitter, batting .486 (17-for-35) in the role in 1974, still the major league single-season pinch hit batting average record. After the Mets traded Jerry Koosman at the end of the 1978 season, Kranepool became the last of the 1969 Miracle Mets.
When he retired after the season at the age of 34, he left as the all-time club leader in eight offensive categories, of which he still leads in three (at-bats: 5436, hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
: 1418, and sacrifice flies: 58). He has also played more games in a Met uniform (1853) than any other player. He would become a legend among Met fans for playing eighteen seasons, all of them with the Mets. No other Met player has ever played for the team for that long. He was the last of the 1962 Mets to remain with the team, and the last of that team to retire from Major League Baseball.
Though still relatively young at this time, he was only useful as long as his pinch-hits kept dropping in. He had also reportedly had some friction with the team's ownership group, led by Lorinda DeRoulet, that was controlling the team after Payson's death. When the team was sold after the 1979 season to a group headed by Nelson Doubleday Jr. and Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon is a real estate developer, baseball executive and the majority owner of the New York Mets.-Biography:...
, Kranepool was part of one of the groups offering a losing bid.
Kranepool had a career fielding percentage at first base of .994 and .975 as an outfielder.
Gillette commercials
In a 1978 television commercial for Gillette Foamy shaving cream. The ad began with black-and-white film footage of Kranepool striking out, and an announcer saying, "From 1962 to 1970, Ed Kranepool batted .227. Then Ed switched to Gillette Foamy." The ad showed Kranepool in front of a mirror, lathering up and shaving, and switched to color footage of him hitting a ball down the right-field line. The announcer said, "Since 1971, Ed's batted .283! What do you think of that, Ed?" As baseball players had long had a reputation for being superstitiousSuperstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
, the ad closed with Kranepool standing in the dugout, in uniform but lathered up and holding up a can of Foamy, saying, "I don't know, but now I shave every other inning." The closing narration was, "Foamy: More than thick and rich enough for New York's heavy hitters."
Another Gillette commercial featured Kranepool lighting a candle in his bathroom and trying to shave using Foamy during a blackout. The ad was clearly inspired by the New York blackout
New York City blackout of 1977
The New York City blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout affected most of New York City from July 13, 1977 to July 14, 1977. The only neighborhoods in New York City that were not affected were in southern Queens, and neighborhoods of the Rockaways, which are part of the Long Island Lighting...
of the previous season, which came during a Met home game at Shea Stadium on July 13, 1977. Kranepool also appeared in an ad for SportsPhone with Jerry Koosman.
He caught flack for a campaign commercial he did for New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Alfonse D'Amato in which he appeared wearing a New York Mets uniform. Following protest from the Mets' ownership group, the commercial was quickly pulled. Kranepool also appeared on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in a cameo appearance, being interviewed by Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
during a skit filmed during spring training in , regarding Chico Escuela's (portrayed by Garrett Morris
Garrett Morris
Garrett Gonzalez Morris is an American comedian and actor from New Orleans. He was part of the original cast of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980.-Early life and career:...
) tell all book, Bad Stuff 'bout The Mets (a parody of Sparky Lyle
Sparky Lyle
Albert Walter "Sparky" Lyle is an American former left-handed relief pitcher who spent sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball . He was a closer from 1969 to 1977, first for the Boston Red Sox and then the New York Yankees. A three-time All-Star, he won the American League Cy Young Award in 1977...
's tell all book about the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, The Bronx Zoo). He appeared as himself in a episode of Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
along with several other members of the 1969 Mets.
Post retirement
Ed Kranepool made a living after retirement as a stockbroker and restaurateur, and was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of FameNew York Mets Hall of Fame
The New York Mets Hall of Fame was created in 1981 to recognize the careers of former New York Mets players, managers, broadcasters and executives. There are presently 25 members...
in 1990. He is currently living in New York.