Steady Eddy

I loved the New York Mets, like every other boy in my seventh grade class at South Woods Middle School in Syosset, New York in the miracle season of 1969.  We were glued to our transistor radios that year.

Outfielder Ron Swoboda lived close to me in Syosset, on Cherry Lane and I will have the starting lineup of the team committed to my memory forever.

So it was sad to hear that Big Ed Kranepool died this week.

The Metropolitan first baseman was an original Met, breaking in with Stengel and the club in 1962. 

He was a Met for eighteen years.

For his career, the Bronx native posted an average of .261, with an OBP of .316 and a slugging percentage of .377. Kranepool has his name in the Mets’ record books. Besides ranking first in games played with 1,853, he is second in plate appearances (5,997); third in hits (1,418), at-bats (5,436) and total bases (2,047); fourth in doubles (225); fifth in RBIs (614); ninth in walks (454); ninth in runs scored (536); and 11th in triples (25).

Ed was a steady player, his numbers weren't earth shattering but he was a remarkable pitch hitter.

Kranepool was a .396 over a five-year span from 1974 to ’78. In 1974, he set a record for highest batting average as a pinch-hitter in a single season (minimum 30 at-bats), going 17-for-35 — a surreal .486 clip that still stands to this day. For his career, he had 90 pinch-hits, six of them home runs.

Unfortunately he is the fourth Met of the miracle season to pass. away this year, joining Jim McAndrew, Jerry Grote and Buddy Harrelson.

You need your superstars to win, your Seaver, your Cleon Jones and your Tommy Agee. But you need lunchpail guys like Kranepool too. Thank you Ed for all that you did for the New York Mets!