Ed Kranepool, longtime Mets star and Hall of Famer, dies at age 79

Ed Kranepool, a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame, died on Sunday, the team announced Monday afternoon. He was 79 years old.

Kranepool, the Mets' longest-playing player in team history, suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Boca Raton, Florida.

Kranepool made his Mets debut in 1962 when he was just 17 years old. He only played in a few games that season as the team lost 120 games – a Major League Baseball record. Kranepool was one of the surviving members of that team asked last month about this season's Chicago White Sox threatening the Mets' infamous record.

“I feel sorry for you,” he said. “Better you than me.”

Fortunately for Kranepool, it was nothing serious. The first baseman was selected as an All-Star for the first and only time in the 1965 season and helped the team win the World Series in 1969. Kranepool hit a home run in Game 3 of the World Series that year.

Kranepool played 18 seasons with the Mets, making it back to the World Series in 1973 before retiring after the 1979 season. He finished his career with a .261 batting average, with 118 home runs and 614 RBIs.

Kranepool played 1,853 games for the Mets in his career, the most in team history. He was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in 1990. Kranepool, who went to high school in the Bronx, received a kidney transplant in 2019 and has battled diabetes in recent years.