Ed Kranepool

Edward Emil Kranepool III (November 8, 1944 – September 8, 2024) was an American professional baseball player who spent his entire Major League Baseball career with the New York Mets, predominantly as a first baseman while also seeing time in the outfield. Born in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx, New York, he attended James Monroe High School, where he played both baseball and basketball. Mets scout Bubber Jonnard signed him in 1962 as a 17-year-old amateur free agent.

In that first professional season, Kranepool batted a combined .301 across three levels of the Mets' minor league system and earned a September call-up. At 17, he was six years younger than the next-youngest 1962 Met, a reflection of management's decision to stock the expansion roster mostly with older veterans. He made his major league debut on September 22, 1962, wearing number 21, entering as a late-inning defensive replacement for Gil Hodges.

Kranepool remained with the Mets through his retirement in 1979. He was a member of the Miracle Mets, the 1969 World Championship team, and by the time he retired he had become the last remaining Met from the franchise's inaugural 1962 season.