Former All-Star and World Sequence champion Ed Kranepool handed away on Sunday, the Mets introduced. Kranepool spent his total 18-year MLB profession with the franchise. He was 79 years previous.
Kranepool debuted with the Mets at 17 years previous in 1962, the membership’s inaugural season. Over 18 seasons and 1,853 video games, he helped them win their first two NL East titles, their first two NL pennants, and their first World Sequence title in 1969. He made the Nationwide League All-Star group in 1965.
The 6-foot-3 first baseman is probably finest remembered for his house run in Recreation 3 of the 1969 World Sequence, however his significance to the group goes properly past one swing of the bat. Kranepool held the franchise file in hits from 1976 till 2011. As of in the present day, he ranks second amongst all Mets gamers in profession plate appearances, third in hits, fourth in doubles, and fifth in RBI. He additionally ranks among the many high 10 in runs and walks. Whereas 1000’s of gamers have suited up for the Mets over the previous 63 seasons, nobody has performed extra video games for the franchise than Kranepool. Fittingly, he was inducted into the New York Mets Corridor of Fame in 1990.
Along with his longevity and lengthy listing of accomplishments, Kranepool will probably be remembered for his pinch-hitting and first base protection. In 1974, his thirteenth main league season, he appeared in additional video games as a pinch-hitter than at another place. He went 17-for-35 (.486) in its place batter that yr, setting a file for the best single-season batting common by a pinch-hitter (min. 30 AB). His file nonetheless stands in the present day (per Baseball Almanac). Furthermore, though he performed lengthy earlier than the times of superior defensive metrics, Kranepool put up a powerful .994 fielding share over greater than 10,000 innings at first base in his profession. Longtime teammate Jerry Koosman described Kranepool as “the most effective first baseman [he] ever performed with” in a press release relayed by the Mets.
Kranepool may even be remembered for the management position he continued to play lengthy after he final took the sphere. As Mets homeowners Steve and Alex Cohen wrote in a press release following his passing, “Ed continued to work tirelessly in the neighborhood on behalf of the group after his taking part in profession ended.”
We at MLB Commerce Rumors ship our sincerest condolences to his household, buddies, and colleagues, in addition to the various followers mourning his passing.
