This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
NEW YORK -- When the Mets gather at Citi Field on Friday for their home opener, they will take a moment to honor a man who, in some ways, was the Metsiest Met of all.
Eighteen members of Ed Kranepool¡¯s family will be on hand to celebrate the life of a player who joined the Mets during their inaugural season in 1962, stuck with them through five 100-loss seasons, witnessed the impossible reversal of the 1969 World Series title and -- for good measure -- played another decade in Flushing after that. Kranepool, who died from cardiac arrest in September, is the Mets¡¯ all-time games played leader by a significant margin and was the franchise¡¯s hit king for the better part of five decades.
In addition to a ceremony before their home opener, the Mets will honor ¡°Steady Eddie¡± all season with a No. 7 sleeve patch.
¡°What he was most proud of was he played all 18 years of his career with the Mets,¡± said vice president of alumni relations Jay Horwitz. ¡°He just adored the Mets.¡±
A Bronx-born ¡°bonus baby,¡± Kranepool signed with the Mets for $80,000 straight out of high school, joined the team later that year and was in the Majors for good by late 1963. He proceeded to spend the rest of the 1960s and all of the ¡®70s in Queens, appearing in 1,853 games and making the 1965 All-Star team. He entered the Mets Hall of Fame in 1990.
Later in life, even as Kranepool¡¯s health began to fail, he made regular public appearances in his role as a team spokesman, while also becoming an advocate for organ transplants. He passed away last September, Horwitz said, while watching a Mets game.
¡°That typified who Ed Kranepool was,¡± Horwitz said. ¡°He just bled orange and blue.¡±
Along with Kranepool¡¯s wife and sons, his former teammate Art Shamsky will be there Friday to honor him. The Mets also plan to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 2000 National League championship team and the 10th anniversary of their 2015 pennant winners, inviting John Franco and Al Leiter from the former team, and Bartolo Col¨®n and Juan Lagares from the latter. Those players will take part in ceremonial first pitches.
In another nod to history, the Mets will hold a moment of silence for Sarah Seaver, Tom¡¯s daughter who passed in February and was instrumental in advocating for a Seaver statue outside Citi Field.
Finally, members of the Shea Family will be present for the annual Shea Floral Presentation, a tradition that dates to the first Opening day at Shea Stadium in 1964 -- Kranepool¡¯s first full season with the Mets. Consider that appropriate. If ¡°Shea¡± is the surname most associated with the Mets, ¡°Kranepool¡± is nearly as high on the list.
¡°He wasn¡¯t a super, super, superstar, but he did a lot of great things,¡± Horwitz said. ¡°He had a great career. ¡ He was a guy that was devoted to the franchise. I¡¯m just glad that we can honor him in this way.¡±