Kranepool hopes for kidney miracle
Ex-Met needs transplant, has lost toe
@bylindsayjones HE IS one of the beloved players on the 1969 Miracle Mets team that shocked the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, including his Game 3 heroics when he socked a home run in the 5-0 Amazin’s win.
But former Mets first baseman Ed Kranepool, who spent his entire career in Flushing, is in need of another miracle now as he prepares for the fight of his life: the 72-year-old Kranepool just had his left big toe amputated Wednesday after an infection surfaced last summer, and he is on a Stony Brook University Hospital waiting list for a kidney donor, what Kranepool calls “the second stage” after this week’s procedure.
In preparation for a possible kidney transplant and the anticipated sizeable medical bill down the road, the New York City-born Kranepool is having his prized ’69 World Series ring and other memorabilia auctioned off this spring.
“We’re going to see from here where we’re going to go. I need a kidney,” Kranepool told the Daily News Thursday from his hospital room at North Shore University Hospital, where he had the toe removed. “The perfect way to make it work and get the longevity out of it is to get the perfect match. It’s a procedure that two people have to agree on doing. I’ve already gone in for my testing. But you have to be ready to move (if a donor is found) and that could be overnight.”
Kranepool, one of the original members of the Mets’ inaugural 1962 team that lost a whopping 120 games under manager Casey Stengel, said he’s been a diabetic for 38 years and that the infection he got last August could have been related to his diabetic condition. A month later, in September 2016, Kranepool said he was having breathing problems and immediately went to the hospital.
“I was on a boat trip. I was rushed to the hospital and I thought I was having a heart attack. The doctor said, ‘I have good news and bad news. The good news is it’s not your heart. The bad news is you need a new kidney.’ It was kidney failure,” said Kranepool. “It’s like getting hit in the head with a sledgehammer. You’ve felt pretty healthy your whole life. That was scary. That’s when it bangs you in the head — now you’ve got a problem. It’s not something where you can take medicine. You have to take that (next) step.”
Kranepool said that he used antibiotics to treat the infection in his foot, but that the dosage had to be curtailed significantly after the kidney diagnosis so that he wouldn’t damage his kidneys further. His health was exacerbated when the infection later spread to the bone in his foot. “It created an infection to the bone — osteomyelitis,” said Kranepool. “The doctors decided that I couldn’t wait.” Kranepool said he was walking around Thursday after the procedure and that overall he felt “good.” “I won’t do any feet commercials,” Kranepool joked. “You gotta look at the bright side. They got the infection. The swelling (in his foot) has gone down. This whole thing is for the second stage, the kidney.” Sports memorabilia dealer Spencer Lader is handling Kranepool’s business affairs and the Kranepool items will be sold through Goldin Auctions, whose founder is Ken Goldin. Goldin told The News that the Kranepool ’69 bauble could fetch a princely sum. “It will definitely go for over $50,000, and it could approach $100,000,” said Goldin. “We have never had a Mets ’69 World Series ring.” Goldin said the Kranepool ring will be sold on May 20 in their spring auction, which starts in late April. The ring will be sold in a live event at midtown’s NYY Steak restaurant. Kranepool said that family members are certainly the first consideration when it comes to finding a match for an organ donor — he has a son and a daughter — but that there are many factors that play into finding the perfect match. “Everything has to match. You don’t want to exhaust all your options,” said Kranepool. “It’s a numbers game. You want to get the best possible match. They say you can live 20, 25 years with a healthy kidney.” Kranepool is hoping by making his plight public, he can find a donor match that much sooner. “You do what you have to do. Even coming out of surgery, my wife Monica was more upset than I was,” said Kranepool. “I don’t think I missed a day of work in 18 years with the Mets. But now — you’re not Superman anymore. I’ve helped a lot of people over the years, done a lot of work for diabetics. You always think it’s going to be somebody else and not you. You know what? It happens.”