David vs. the Krane

[Edgy MD]

You're all missing the key takeaway here. Krane was way ahead of hipster nation with his badass one-square-inch soul patch.

[Guest themetfairy]

HahnSolo wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Thanks for that, Carole. Puts to lie the notion that all babies are cute, jeez.

Maybe that's Benjamin Button. Because that's no baby face!

[G-Fafif]

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS
Through Games of 6/25/2012
1. Ed Kranepool 1,418
2. DAVID WRIGHT 1,340

COUNTDOWN: Krane Minus 78

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Keith Kranepool today

[Benjamin Grimm]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Keith Kranepool today

I was hoping somebody would do that! Thanks!

[Edgy MD]

Still looking a little constipated for the camera.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I definitely see the Kraneness in him.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Ed says he is 6 feet 7 inches tall.

[stevejrogers]

From when the Mets still didn't quite know what to do with Eddie: A 1984 piece reprinted by Mets Merized Online visited the lion somewhat shy of winter. Of course, after playing 17 years for the Mets, Ed Kranepool knows plenty about suffering; adversity was what the Mets were all about, so after a while, you develop a taste for crow. But now that this Metsian legend has hit 40, doesn�t nostalgia dictate that Kranepool have a taste of glory, or at the very least chicken, at a dinner in his honor. �I don�t need them to give me a dinner,� Kranepool says simply, but not very convincingly. Jim Schiaffo, the man who once hit Eddie grounders at Christmas, feels differently. �I�m personally disappointed,� says Schiaffo about the Mets� oversight. �Seventeen years with the team, and no recognition. They didn�t even buy this kid a sport jacket, for God�s sake.� �I hope that someday they will give him a day,� says ex-wife Carole. �I think it would take away some of the bitterness he feels about leaving the team. He�s hurting.�

Seems a bit too bitter for someone of Kranepool's stature. I agree the Mets didn't, and still to this day it seems, have quite the knack of giving honors out for long time ex-players.

But at the same time a case could be made that by 1984 they were clocking time until Seaver officially called it quits, which meant everyone was pretty much on hold for any sort of special day. Harrelson and Staub got inducted into the Mets based on pretty much exhausting non-player (save for a certain long time pitching coach) who deserved enshrinement and they didn't want to wait much longer for Tom to finally say "yeah, that's it, I'm done!"

And by the same token, never really been too keen on Kranepool being "honored" in the Mets Hall or given a day. Ambassador with the Mets organization? Sure. Trotted out for special events and ? Why not. Yeah he was an original Met, yeah he was at the time of that article a member of both postseason teams (though neither you could claim he was the true everyday starter) but it's by sheer attrition and being a "compiler" (TM Sports Pope Fatcessa) that landed him so high among the Metly leaders.

And I don't know, and granted this would be different 30 years ago, but looking at other all time team hit leaders, Kranepool's 1,418 is dwarfed by pretty much every team with a few exceptions, including franchises created after the Mets started. Okay granted teams like the Brewers, Padres and Royals have their hit king in the vaunted 3,000 club, but it does say something about honoring a pedestrian, mostly part time career. Especially when someone with about a decade less in service time is set to break it.

I mean is Ron Hodges all broken up that the Mets essentially gave him a Death of A Backup Backstop ending?

[G-Fafif]

Ed Kranepool is not to be subjected to pedestrian metrics. He is Ed Kranepool.

[Edgy MD]

We have to see that article for the snapshot in time that it was. 'Pool was a favorite of Mrs. Payson and lived in some protective bubble under her. Even Donald Grant complained of how she placed Krane off-limits from trade consideration. Lorinda DeRoulet didn't value his symbolic role with the team nearly as much and he understandably felt the chill of an Austenian plot developing around him.

When the team went up for sale, the plot became more of a War of the Roses type of deal as Kranepool threw his lot in with another bidding team, and envisioned himself the head of baseball operations or somesuch for them, placing himself on the wrong side of history with a second consecutive ownership group.

The early Doublepon ownership tried hard to bridge back to the past, reacquiring Kingman, Staub, and Seaver, bringing Harrelson back to coach, and bringing Shamsky into the booth. I'm sure full reconciliation with Kranepool was always on the agenda, but Ed's a businessman, and I'm sure he had his price, however modest.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The issue was that in '79 the organization was so disintegrated that nobody gave a crap and that Kranepool wasn't necessarily retiring voluntarily or happily.

[G-Fafif]

In the summer of '76, after Wayne Garrett had been traded, the Post (Maury Allen, I think) mused about where each of the five final '69 Mets still on the roster would be in five years. Tom Seaver would be broadcasting, Jerry Koosman would be farming in Minnesota, Bud Harrelson would be baseball coach at the University of San Francisco, Jerry Grote would be a rancher in Texas and Ed Kranepool would be the designated hitter for the Kansas City Royals.

I was a little surprised come 1980 that the Krane wasn't given a long look by some AL team. He was only 35 and he was lefthanded. But there were probably business reasons for Ed to stay in New York and it wasn't like he hadn't put a lot into playing ball already.

Mets did indirectly slap him in the 1986 postseason when he appeared in a commercial for the re-election of Al D'Amato to the senate while wearing what was presumably his last Mets uniform top (with the blue and orange collars and cuffs). Mets swiftly let the D'Amato people know they didn't want their trademark in a political advertisement and the spot was pulled.

[Edgy MD]

The bitter sunset, as detailed in his SABR bio:

His relationship with Mets front office, however, slowly headed downhill. It started in 1975, with the death of Mrs. Payson. Kranepool was the only player at her funeral, and her death hit him hard. �She was the sweetest person you�d ever meet,� Kranepool said. �You had a lot of respect for her for who she was, not because she owned the ballclub.� The new management fell to her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet, with whom Kranepool said he should have gotten along, but didn�t. Mrs. de Roulet wasn�t quite equipped to go from running social parties to running a corporation, and she preferred to rely on Joe McDonald, who�d become general manager in 1974, to make business decisions, instead of Donald Grant. �I didn�t have a good relationship with Joe McDonald. I didn�t respect him. I didn�t like him; he didn�t know anything about baseball,� Kranepool said. �There were termites who ate away at the organization, and he was part of the termites. Donald Grant got blamed for it, but Joe McDonald was the one who made the trades.� The sticking point in Kranepool�s disdain for McDonald arose from contract squabbles before the 1977 season. With the advent of free agency, players had more bargaining power and the ability to negotiate multiyear deals, and Kranepool said he needed some time to think over the figure McDonald had offered him. �I live 30 minutes from Shea Stadium; as soon as I got home, the phone rang--he�d taken back the contract,� Kranepool said. �I said, �Joe how could you rescind the contract? I just got home!� But that�s what he did. I cursed him out and used a lot of not-nice words I probably shouldn�t�ve been saying. And hung up.� Kranepool alerted Grant of the situation, and the two met at Fahnestock & Company, Grant�s firm on Wall Street, where a phone call to McDonald confirmed Kranepool�s story. �Donald Grant said, �You got the contract, and you got an additional $10,000,�� Kranepool recalled. �It was with a handshake that I signed the contract in his office. A three-year contract. When it was up in �79, I knew Joe McDonald was not going to offer me a contract.� As the Mets continued to tailspin back into their form of the early 1960s, Kranepool began hinting that 1979 would be his last year; the rift between him and Mets management was too deep, and he wasn�t getting very many opportunities to play--even as a pinch hitter--so his performance off the bench declined. And the fact that manager Joe Torre--at one time Kranepool�s roommate when the two were players--said little on his behalf, hurt even more. �Joe Torre knew what my plans were and didn�t protect me at the end, and I never talked to him again,� Kranepool said. �Joe Torre knew the situation. Sometimes, you have to be a man and stick up for your friends. I was the one that was his right-hand man in the three years as a manager, and he knew he had to protect his own job: �Let Ed fend for himself.� To me, that�s being a turncoat.� Torre would say years later that letting Kranepool go was one of the hardest things he ever had to do.[v] The final nail in Kranepool�s coffin came during the Mets� final homestand, when the Mets chose to honor retiring Lou Brock of the Cardinals and did not even acknowledge that Kranepool was probably suiting up for the final time at Shea. He received a short notice in the mail that offseason detailing his release, but not even the original: a carbon copy of the note sent to his agent, Dick Moss. Kranepool filed for free agency, but it seemed more of a formality. After 18 seasons, 1,853 games, 5,436 at-bats, 1,418 hits (for a .261 average), and 118 home runs, he was through. �I never knew I retired,� he said. �I went from one thing to another.� Kranepool had given thought to what he might do after his career was over; he had little interest in managing, but he felt he might be suited to work in the front office. Earlier that year, he had gotten wind from Charles Payson, Mrs. Payson�s widower, that the Mets might be up for sale, and Kranepool put together a group to buy the team, the package which he presented to Lorinda de Roulet that September. �And then she put together her friends, her social group, and they bought the ballclub,� Kranepool said. New owners Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday brought in Frank Cashen as the new general manager, and Kranepool left baseball for good. �I left the Mets when I should�ve been on top, and ended out at the bottom,� Kranepool said. �I can�t have any harsh feelings for the Wilpons and the team.� He unintentionally stirred up some minor controversy in 1986 when he appeared in a campaign commercial for friend and former U.S. Senator Al D�Amato in a Mets uniform, causing the team to release an adamant statement that it did not take political sides.

I tell you, though, he's a great interview, because niceties like "That's all water under the bridge," and "One mustn't speak ill of the dead" cut no ice with him.

[batmagadanleadoff]

It says a lot when you're not good enough to play for the 1980 Mets.

[Vic Sage]

I was a little surprised come 1980 that the Krane wasn't given a long look by some AL team. He was only 35 and he was lefthanded. But there were probably business reasons for Ed to stay in New York and it wasn't like he hadn't put a lot into playing ball already

.

I doubt his career ended because of his NY ties and resulting unwillingness to relocate. It was more likely because he sucked. He always sucked. and at that point he was old and he sucked. The only team he had any value for was the Mets, as an "original Met" and mascot. And when he had used that up, he was done.
It's blasphemy to say so, i know, but there you are.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yes, he says he "asked" teams not to draft him as a free agent, as they did then, but they still could have.

[G-Fafif]

Ed, with nothing controversial about David, to Brian Costa in WSJ:

"If anybody's going to do it, I'm glad it's David Wright, because he's a real gentleman and a class act," Kranepool, 67, said by phone Tuesday. "He's the marquee player of the Mets. He's their Derek Jeter."

Well, that last part is kind of revolting.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Heck, Costa then takes his pot shots:

"Except Wright's chase for 1,418 will hardly resemble Jeter's pursuit of the Yankees' all-time hits record. When Jeter set a new franchise mark in 2009, he surpassed Lou Gehrig, who had 2,721 hits.

It was an iconic moment, one Yankees great passing another. Wright passing Kranepool will be quite different. According to Stats LLC, the Mets' all-time hit mark is the 28th lowest in the majors, ahead of only the Marlins and Diamondbacks, both 1990s expansion teams."

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

That's not a pot shot.

[Edgy MD]

Well, it's technically incorrect. It's the 28th-highest mark. It's the third-lowest. Hire an editor.

Anybutt, I expect David to move that mark forward a bit.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

It's a pot shot because it has nothing to do with Jeter or the Yankees. Heck, not too many teams have had an inner-circle Hall of Famer play their entire career with them to establish that mark.

[batmagadanleadoff]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: It's a pot shot because it has nothing to do with Jeter or the Yankees. Heck, not too many teams have had an inner-circle Hall of Famer play their entire career with them to establish that mark.

Third lowest. 51st season of existence.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The way I see it, any time Ed Kranepool gets knocked out of first place on a Mets all-time list, it's an upgrade. Sure, David Wright's 1,419th hit will still be a low total for an all-time team leader, but hopefully he'll push that number well past 2,000 in the next few years.

Kranepool once led the team with 118 home runs. Now we have Darryl Strawberry's much more respectable 252. (How does that rank among other teams? My guess: Not great, but a lot better than Kranepool's hit total.)

[Frayed Knot]

The only slightly annoying thing about that Costas comment is that it fails to note that the Yanqui mark for hits was itself not all that high on the list of team marks.
I'm too lazy now to re-look-up the stats, but I remember checking it out at the time Jeter was approaching the mark (to great fanfare from some camps) and finding that it was around average among all teams and lower than that of most of the non-expansion franchises.

If context matters then it shouldn't just matter on one side.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

I have to imagine that the Padres, with Tony Gwynn, were higher, as well as the Cardinals with Musial, and the Braves, with Aaron. Probaby the Reds, too, though I know Rose went to Philly in his prime.

[Edgy MD]

That wasn't really his prime.

Pirates with Wagner. Orioles with Riptide....

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Brett, Cobb, Mays, Yaz, Yount and Cap Anson (Cubs) were all over 3,000 with their long-standing teams.

OE: Biggio over 3000 with Houston as well.

[Edgy MD]

Q: How could the Yankees not have a higher number? With all their quality play? And especially their hitters?

A: Because so damn many of those hitters were taken from somewhere else. And Gehrig died young. And DiMaggio retired young because he didn't want to play once the game got hard.

[Frayed Knot]

When Jeter first set the MFY hit record it was three hundred or so hits ago.
He has since passed the likes of Brett, Gwynn, Yount (and will pass Ripken with another two hits) so NOW the Yanx record is higher than KC, SD, Milw and soon-to-be Balt (and maybe a couple others - I'd have to check) but it wasn't then.

And the larger point is that, among all the MFY career offensive records, Hits was the least impressive. Ruth spent a half-dozen years being neither a hitter nor a Yanqui, Gehrig had his career cut short, Mantle walked too much and was two years into retirement by the time he was Jeter's age, Berra caught and so never had the 700+ PA seasons that Jeter has regularly, Dimaggio retired young plus missed several years to the military. and so on.