 |
 |
Edward Emil Kranepool
New York Mets
First Base
Born: November 8, 1944, New York, NY
Signed: Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent, June 27, 1962
Major League Teams: New York Mets 1962-79
World Series Appearances: New York Mets 1969, 1973
Died: September 8, 2024, Boca Raton, FL (age 79)
Ed Kranepool played in 18 major league seasons, and his complete list of career transactions from his Baseball Reference page is extremely impressive:
At the end of his career, Kranepool had amassed 1,853 games with the Mets, still tops in franchise history. He was a member of the original expansion Mets in 1962 at the age of 17, an All-Star in 1965, a World Series winner with the Miracle Mets in 1969 and a top pinch-hitter for the club during the latter part of his career between 1974 and 1979.
Primarily a first baseman, Kranepool's best season came in 1971 when he drove in a career high 58 runs and hit .280 with 14 home runs. He owned a lifetime batting average of .261 with 118 career home runs. Kranepool was the original all-time hits leader for the Mets with 1,418, but he's since been surpassed by David Wright (1,777) and Jose Reyes (1,491). He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1990.
Died: September 8, 2024, Boca Raton, FL (age 79)
Ed Kranepool played in 18 major league seasons, and his complete list of career transactions from his Baseball Reference page is extremely impressive:
At the end of his career, Kranepool had amassed 1,853 games with the Mets, still tops in franchise history. He was a member of the original expansion Mets in 1962 at the age of 17, an All-Star in 1965, a World Series winner with the Miracle Mets in 1969 and a top pinch-hitter for the club during the latter part of his career between 1974 and 1979.
Primarily a first baseman, Kranepool's best season came in 1971 when he drove in a career high 58 runs and hit .280 with 14 home runs. He owned a lifetime batting average of .261 with 118 career home runs. Kranepool was the original all-time hits leader for the Mets with 1,418, but he's since been surpassed by David Wright (1,777) and Jose Reyes (1,491). He was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1990.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #618
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Vintage Sports)
The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Kranepool was the most regularly used first baseman for the Mets, making 97 starts at the position, but losing playing time as the season progressed to Donn Clendenon (#208). He batted .238 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs. From his SABR biography, written by Tara Krieger:
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #228
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1963-80
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Archives Snapshots #AS-EK
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 210 in the Beckett online database as of 1/25/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Vintage Sports)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. My second stop was the aptly named Vintage Sports table. I always appreciate a dealer with clear signage explaining their pricing method, and Vintage Sports had a marker in their selection of 1969 Topps cards laying out that cards without a sleeve were $1 and cards with a sleeve were $2. I had one "high number" in a sleeve, and that was a whopping $4.
I found 28 commons needed before moving on to my third stop. This was the 24th of 28 total cards bought from Vintage Sports, and the 59th of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day. Sleeved, this card cost less than $2 after a dealer discount.
A great-looking card of the legendary Met, and Topps used a photo that works really well with the set's design. The cartoon on the back of the card highlights Kranepool's status as the dean of the Mets' roster, and he'd go on to play another decade with the club.
Accuracy Index: Kranepool's card earns the standard +5.
1969 Season
Kranepool was the most regularly used first baseman for the Mets, making 97 starts at the position, but losing playing time as the season progressed to Donn Clendenon (#208). He batted .238 with 11 home runs and 49 RBIs. From his SABR biography, written by Tara Krieger:
"Spring Training, Gil Hodges (#564) wanted you to lead by example," Kranepool said of early 1969. "He built the ballclub around leadership. First, we had to get over .500 - we never got to the .500 level before - it's the only way to win the game. The team that makes the fewest mental mistakes does. We didn't beat ourselves; we had good pitching and defense; we started to play well. We did get to .500, beat L.A. and San Diego, and went on a 10-game winning streak."
. . . The Mets finished the year with a league-best 100-62 record and swept the Braves in the three-game divisional playoff to win their first pennant and face the 109-win American League champion Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Though Kranepool played all three NLCS games against Atlanta - and batted .250 - Kranepool was benched in favor of the right-handed-hitting Donn Clendenon for all but one of the Series' five games (the only game started by a right-handed pitcher). Kranepool made it count, hitting a home run off Dave Leonhard (#228) in the eighth inning of Game Three. After 800 defeats - most of which Kranepool had witnessed himself - the Mets were crowned world champions.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #228
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (18): 1963-80
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Archives Snapshots #AS-EK
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 210 in the Beckett online database as of 1/25/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment