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Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

G-Fafif Dec 22 2017 05:48 AM

When you can't keep Ed Kranepool in the fold, you're having a very bad week. Wally Matthews visited with the Met of Mets for the Times and finds the man who's played more games than anybody ever as a Met is Kranepool non grata to the owners. How can a player who is truly Mets royalty, who was playing for Casey Stengel when he was just 17 years old, end up on the outs with the franchise? According to Jay Horwitz, the Mets’ longtime spokesman, the trouble stems from a remark that Kranepool made perhaps five or six years ago to Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer and the son of Fred Wilpon, the team’s principal owner. The remark, Horwitz said, came during an annual team dinner and apparently occurred during the period when the Mets, under serious financial pressure because of their involvement in the Bernard Madoff fraud scheme, were looking to recruit investors to buy a minority stake in the club. As Horwitz tells it, “Ed approached Jeff in front of a lot of people and said, ‘I hear you are selling shares in your team.”’ And then, according to Horwitz, Kranepool added: “I don’t want shares. I want to buy the whole team so I can run it better than you and your father.”’ Asked about that remark, Kranepool remembered the exchange somewhat differently. Kranepool’s name had emerged around that time in connection with a group that was expressing interest in buying the Mets outright. That effort didn’t go anywhere, but Kranepool said Wilpon had made a disparaging remark to him about it. “One thing led to another, and we had some words,’’ Kranepool said. The result has been disruption in a relationship that began when Kranepool, as a teenager out of James Monroe High School in the Bronx, briefly made it to the Mets in 1962, the team’s inaugural season. After that, he found a niche for himself, a 6-foot 3, left-handed hitter who never had more than 16 home runs in a season and who finished with a career average of .261. In all, Kranepool played under eight managers, from Casey Stengel, whom he loved, to Joe Torre, whom he did not. He played alongside some Mets who are forever identified with the franchise’s most inept moments (think Choo-Choo Coleman and Marvelous Marv Throneberry) and with others (think Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Tug McGraw and Cleon Jones) who were among the best to wear the team’s uniform. Kranepool saw it all, earned the nickname Steady Eddie and was eventually inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame. And in the years after Citi Field opened in 2009, he was paid by the team to socialize with fans in the luxury suites. Then came the confrontation with Jeff Wilpon. And as Kranepool awaits the transplant, he said, the only member of the Mets who is checking on him is Horwitz. “Jay Horwitz is a sweetheart,” Kranepool said. “He’s been a true friend and a gentleman. He’s called me a couple of times. But he’s the only one who has. Not that I need them to do anything for me, but Fred or somebody could have called to say, ‘How you feeling?’” “I did a lot for that ball club,’’ Kranepool added. “Don’t treat me like an outsider.’’ Neither Fred Wilpon nor Jeff Wilpon responded to an interview request, but Jeff Wilpon issued a statement through Horwitz. “Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with Ed as he battles through health issues,” it said. These days, Kranepool walks with the help of a cane decorated with Mets logos... As the article explores (and has been public knowledge), Ed has bigger problems than being snubbed by overly defensive owners, but geez. From what I've observed, he's never been a big practitioner of tact, but he's Eddie Bleeping Kranepool, which means something in the realm of Metsiana. Unless he's literally urinating in the punch bowl, you indulge his outburst, you be the bigger man, you pat him on the back and you say, in so many words, all right, Ed, we'll see you next homestand. And tomorrow you get his number from Jay and you give him a call. Honestly, the shall we say questionable running of the club I can handle as part of the game and business and all that. This is the stuff that stings most.

G-Fafif Dec 22 2017 06:18 PM Re: Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

If Omar's first act is bringing Eddie back to Citi Field, reinstating Minaya was a great move. He always did have an eye for Met prospects.

Edgy MD Dec 22 2017 06:32 PM Re: Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

G-Fafif wrote: From what I've observed, he's never been a big practitioner of tact, but he's Eddie Bleeping Kranepool, which means something in the realm of Metsiana. Yeah, as a guy that has failed twice to buy the Mets, and always seemed to be trying to put together a big deal (he seems to be trying to work an angle on a kidney), he has pretty much had a forced-at-best relationship with Mets bigwigs since the day Mrs. Payson died. It would seem that a halfway decent director of alumni relations should have been able smooth this out on the down low, but if being an avid watcher of Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame politics has taught me anything, being an old man with declining relevance airing perceived and real grievances in public is a sad thing to watch. It's like, sheesh, Ed, take care of your health, play with your grandkids, don't get into a public feud trying to humiliate the Wilpons. Let them do that on their own.

TheOldMole Dec 23 2017 12:52 AM Re: Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

I really don’t care what Kranepool said to Jeff Wilpon. He deserves all the honor and respect the Mets can give him.

MFS62 Dec 23 2017 02:24 AM Re: Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

TheOldMole wrote: I really don’t care what Kranepool said to Jeff Wilpon. He deserves all the honor and respect the Mets can give him. This. Later

Edgy MD Dec 23 2017 03:05 AM Re: Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

And all the respect and well-wishes we can give him, no doubt.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 23 2017 12:08 PM Re: Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

Boy has this become another bad month for the Wilpons. Eddie is a piece of work.

Ashie62 Dec 23 2017 10:51 PM Re: Our Namesake (Mr. Crane Pool)

These senior issues are difficult to navigate. R-e-s-p-e-c-t!