I know a batch of ballplayers and sportswiters and the like, so I called somebody or other who knows the former Mets 1bman. Ed called back w/in 5 minutes. I axed him to send an autographed photo to my aging mother (who has a "thing" for lefty sluggers.. Um, Duke?). Ed apparently did it immediately. Birthday gift. He was a perfect gentleman, we joked around a bit, and he apparently signed it and mailed it immediately.
A lot of these guys are jerks. And I throw it back at them. Ed is a "prince".
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But: they rushed him into the majors at age 17. This is not a typo. With a proper minor league apprenticeship he would have learned skills a highskool kid simply ain't borned with. Conventional wisdom says he developed "late", but he was an 8-year veteran at age 25. Plus he was surrounded by charlatan teammates and front office knaves. I'm not sure if he "finished school" (some dudes do it in the offseason), but he's apparently a clever enough businessperson not to be living in a cardboard box on some Alphabet City grate. He had a really nice swing and "good hands", not much range, accurate-but-not-strong arm, ran slowly, but posesses some odd MLB records (single-season PH avg., I'm pretty sure.)
A decent life lived. Oh, and he's really "not that old". You and Casey can look it up.
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Kranepool's batting success was reflected in a 1978 television commercial for Gillette Foamy shaving cream. The ad began with black-and-white film footage of Kranepool striking out, and an announcer saying, "From 1962 to 1970, Ed Kranepool batted .227. Then Ed switched to Gillette Foamy." The ad showed Kranepool in front of a mirror, lathering up and shaving, and switched to color footage of him hitting a ball down the right-field line. The announcer said, "Since 1971, Ed's batted .283! What do you think of that, Ed?" As baseball players had long had a reputation for being superstitious, the ad closed with Kranepool standing in the dugout, in uniform but lathered up and holding up a can of Foamy, saying, "I don't know, but now I shave every other inning." The closing narration was, "Foamy: More than thick and rich enough for New York's heavy hitters."
huqw
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