In addition to embracing a CARDINAL as their all time first baseman they ignored one of their own: Ed Kranepool.
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| Ed Kranepool Baseball Digest page 2, August 1963 via Wikimedia Commons |
Kranepool's career was not exceptional: one all star selection - 1965, OPS+ 98 but his 5,997 PA are 900 more than David Wright, the only all time Met with as many as 5,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Kranepool
When he retired after the 1979 season at the age of 34, he left as the all-time club leader in eight offensive categories, of which he still leads in three (at-bats: 5436, hits: 1418, and sacrifice flies: 58). He has also played more games in a Met uniform (1853) than any other player.
Maybe Mets are ashamed or embarrassed that their all time player at first base was so mediocre. But at least he was a Met and not a Cardinal like Keith Hernandez. Would Kranepool have been selected had he, and not Hernandez, been doing color commentary in recent years on Met TV games? Are Mets and their fans so shallow? Hernandez competes against Paul O'Neill, the former Yankee right fielder who comments during some Yankee games, for the distinction of being the least prepared and least knowledgeable.
The Mets exiled their greatest prodigies: Tom Seaver, the only Met in the Hall of Fame, and the two bright Met stars who succumbed to illegal drugs: Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.
Seaver won the Cy Young award in 1969, 1973, 1975 and led the Mets to their inexplicable 1969 World Series victory and yet the Mets exiled Seaver ... twice. From baseball-reference.com:
June 15, 1977: Traded by the New York Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman and Pat Zachry.
December 16, 1982: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the New York Mets for Jason Felice (minors), Lloyd McClendon and Charlie Puleo.
January 20, 1984: Chosen by the Chicago White Sox from the New York Mets as a Free Agent compensation pick.
Lest Met fans forget their shameful heritage. "Free Agent compensation". Tom Seaver, the franchise as Met fans would moan, was no more to them than "Free Agent compensation". Seaver won his 300th game at Yankee Stadium pitching for the White Sox on Phil Rizzuto Day. Years later Seaver announced for the Yankees with Rizzuto.
And what of Strawberry and Gooden? After their banishment they were brought back to New York and rehabilitated ... by the Yankees. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was personally responsible. That no-hitter that Johann Santana finally provided to the Mets after 50 years was preceded by many years by a no-hitter thrown by Gooden ... for the Yankees.
And to demonstrate their lack of class, the day after Steinbrenner died, neither Strawberry nor Gooden said a word about him in their induction speeches into the lame Met Hall of Fame. Both Strawberry and Gooden showed what no class ingrates Mets can be.
Mets, just go away. You're an embarrassment to New York.
4 comments:
dude. kranepool is one of our beloved mets, but he was a mediocre player. he COMPILED all those "all-time" met numbers over 18 years; there is a reason why people like wright and reyes eradicated many of his "records" in less than half the time.
keith hernandez is one of the most admired and revered players in our team's history. his acquisition is one of the two most siginifcant trade acquisitions in our history (along with mike piazza); his contributions on and off the field helped transform our franchise for a decade or more of our still-only five-decade history. he's easily the greatest defensive first baseman in our history if not BASEBALL history, and probably the greatest defender at ANY position for a met, save perhaps for rey ordoñez in his prime. at bat, hernandez was as clutch as any met hitter ever, and the leadership he provided is still unmatched in our annals. as a met k.h. has a ring and several gold gloves, and even as an analyst, while he may not be the type to express his baseball knowledge in the same academic way as gary or ron, he knows a shitload about the game and he's entertaining as hell, because he's so REAL.
shall i go into how "embarrassed" yankee fans should be, for constantly crowing about "tradition", "grace", "pride" and all that other shit, yet having no problem rooting for the cheating, obnoxious, classless likes of a-rod, clemens, pettitte, giambi, knoblauch, sheffield, justice, etc., many of whom were KEY reasons why the "dynasty" of the late 90s and 2000s happened? why you championed someone like steinbrenner, who was about winning at ANY cost, even his soul? how clemens almost crippling piazza was ok because mike owned him? how the sterlings, waldmans and kays of the world are a-ok even though their cartoonish, homeric, idiotic shticks go against everything your organization allegedly stands for?
f the yankees. i'd rather root for a team i can like and get behind on a personal level and come in last EVERY year than root for tools like you guys.
Thanks for making my case.
So Kenneth clearly you're enraged at Reggie Jackson's enshrinement in Cooperstown with a Yankee cap, his being an Oakland A and all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reggie_Jackson_Plaque.JPG
Thanks for pointing that out. No, I'm not outraged but it's silly for Reggie to wear a Yankee hat on his HoF plaque when he has these PA:
Oakland 5,432
Angels 2,721
Yankees 2,707
I liked Reggie when he played for the Yankees but he is an Oakland Athletic.
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