Ailing Kranepool makes pitch for kidney donation
There was friction in the past between the two sides, but that’s over. This was only about helping someone who needs help.
Ed Kranepool, an original Met who spent all 18 of his major league seasons with the organization, was at Citi Field on Monday spreading awareness of his plight.
Kranepool, who has battled diabetes, is fighting serious health issues, is in need of a kidney transplant and is hoping to find a donor.
“Obviously an organ donor is somebody that would volunteer to give up one of their good organs. They have two [kidneys]. If they want to give one out I would certainly appreciate it. I need it at some point,” said Kranepool, 73, a Bronx native. “I’m down to about 18 percent capacity on both of them. Both are failing, so it’s just a matter of time.”
Kranepool, who threw out the first pitch, lost all the toes on his left foot to diabetes. But he seemed remarkably upbeat. He even stopped and chatted baseball and hitting with Michael Conforto in the Mets’ dugout.
“I’m feeling pretty good. From the outside, everything looks pretty good but I’m still looking for a kidney, still looking for a donor. That’s the important thing right now,” said Kranepool, who played all 1,853 of his career games with the Mets and was a member of the 1969 World Series champs. “I lost all the toes on my left foot, but they have this new shoe [and] I’m walking fairly well.”
But the kidney issue is beyond alarming. Anyone seeking to help can write Kidney4kranepool@gmail.com or call Stephen Knapik at Stony Brook Transplant Hospital at (631) 444-6944.
“This is about Ed and trying to get some awareness for his battle right now with his kidney and hopefully this does a little something,” said Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, who sat in the dugout with Kranepool. “We appreciate everything Ed is doing and we’re just here to support him.
“It doesn’t matter who reached out to who. We’re happy to have Ed here. As you can see, he just spoke to Conforto for a while. He’s been around baseball so long, the things he can impart, just in a five-minute conversation with somebody like Michael. He’s done it with other players before. It’s just invaluable to us.”
And Kranepool needs help so it’s time to help.