“Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
Life is fleeting. I was deeply saddened upon learning of the passing of veteran Boston Globe columnist Nick Cafardo. For well over a decade, I would start most of my Sunday mornings the same way with a hot cup of coffee, pancakes – if I was lucky, and going online to read Nick’s Sunday Notes in the Globe. His loss yesterday was sudden and stunning and baseball will not be the same to me without him. Rest in peace, Nick.
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It was great to see the New York Mets take the field on Saturday, for their first Grapefruit League game of the year. To hear their bats cracking and their gloves popping, felt like a true rite of passage and a clear signal that the long offseason is done and that spring has finally sprung.
As if right on cue, top prospect Pete Alonso made his first spring at-bat as memorable as it could be by blasting a home run to left-center and staking an early claim on the team’s first base job – a job that is his to lose according to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.
The Mets would go on to take the spring opener by a score of 4-3 over the visiting Atlanta Braves, and it was interesting to learn that before the game, Ed Kranepool gave our promising young slugger a few tips, which begs the question, “Hey Eddie, how about some tips for Amed Rosario, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo?”
Kranepool was on hand, along with former teammates Cleon Jones and Art Shamsky to celebrate the start of what will be a season-long celebration of the 1969 Miracle Mets – the earliest recollection of my soon-to-be obsession. I would end up taking the proverbial plunge a couple of years later in 1972, when I became a true dyed in the wool Mets fanatic who bled orange and blue and couldn’t get enough of them.
Now I’m not gonna say that either of Jones, Shamsky and Kranepool were my first favorite Mets players growing up, as that honor went to Ron Swoboda, Jerry Grote and Tom Seaver. But as Eddie Kranepool’s career began to wind down and he was eventually limited to a role on the bench as the team’s top pinch-hitter, it was during this time when I became Eddie’s biggest fan.
The first time I ever felt the the ground shake at Shea Stadium… The first time I ever witnessed the delirium of the world’s most passionate fan base…. The first time I ever heard the ear-popping roar of the crowd… Was during a Mets vs Reds game at Shea Stadium during the Summer of 1974.
I remember it like it was yesterday… The Mets were losing 3-1 and in the bottom of the seventh, Ed Kranepool was coming in to pinch hit for Tom Seaver. Tensions were still pretty high against the Cincinnati Reds, stemming from the Bud Harrelson vs Pete Rose brawl from the previous season. And to make matters worse, Rose was responsible for all three Reds runs.
Now I don’t know if that was the sentiment driving what would happen next, but the entire throng of fans at the game began chanting, “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!,” as Kranepool walked up to the plate. It still gives me goosebumps whenever I think about it.
It was the first time I ever saw Kranepool come out to pinch hit and definitely the first time I ever heard Shea Stadium roaring and resonating with what would become a routine occurrence from that day forward.
With time running out for the Mets, Kranepool would line a two-out single that sparked a two-run rally that would eventually end on a towering home run by The Hammer – John Milner for you unwashed younger Met fans. It was a momentous victory – not because the Mets were in a pennant race, they weren’t – but because it was a one-finger salute to Pete Rose and at the time, our arch rival Cincinnati Reds. Anyway, that’s what it felt like to me at the time.
Of course, what I didn’t know then, was that Ed Kranepool would go on to become one of the most preeminent pinch-hitters in the history of the game, and to this day, he still holds the record for the highest pinch-hitting batting average in a season, .486 in 1974 (min 30 PA).
Ed Kranepool wasn’t a big-time bat, as his career .693 OPS would attest, but if ever there was a shining example of a clutch hitter – Eddie was it. In fact, he was such an integral part of that 1969 team, mostly for how he rose to the occasion whenever the game was on the line in that magical season.
In 48 plate appearances with two outs and runners in scoring position, Kranepool batted an incredible .342 in 1969, with a .479 on-base percentage and a .953 OPS. How’s that for clutch? How are four walk-offs in one season (step aside Wilmer!) for clutch?
Ed Kranepool has earned his place in Mets royalty, and it’s not because he played for them longer than any other player. Eddie was as clutch as they came, but he’s always been just as classy, a true fan favorite, and one of the true great ambassadors the Mets have ever had.
