#Listen to Episode 10 of ‘Amazin’ But True’: DeGrom’s Just Fine, Owner Bids feat. Ed Kranepool

Take a deep breath Mets fans, it looks like Jacob deGrom is going to be fine. The Mets ace said Thursday that he believes he will be ready to pitch on Opening Day next Friday at Citi Field against the Braves. To talk deGrom and everything going on with the Mets, it’s time for a brand new episode of the “Amazin’ But True” podcast with Nelson Figueroa and I.

We talk about the importance of deGrom’s health, his back and having a good mattress to sleep on. Figgie and I then dive into the bids to own the Mets, the report of Sheldon Adelson getting involved, the bids by Steve Cohen and A-Rod with plenty of help. We also discuss artificial cheers and crowd noise being incorporated at games and why there should be boos, too.

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Lifelong Met and 1969 World Series champion Ed Kranepool then joins the show. Kranepool talks about his debut in 1962 on the first Mets team, growing up a Yankees fan, not striking out much, being a good pinch-hitter, no fans in the stands this season, the Wilpons as owners, if Steve Cohen should buy the team and being close with his 1969 Mets teammates. As someone who owns every Mets yearbook and has 20 signatures from the 1969 Mets, this was an incredible conversation with a rare player that spent his entire career with one team and started in the big leagues at just 17 years old on a brand new team that lost 120 games.

Kranepool on when they thought they had a shot to win in 1969:

Kranepool: From the start of the year in spring training I think Gil’s (Hodges) approach to the game was for us to get to .500. We had improved a little bit in ’68, but in 69, he said if we win some of those close games, you learn how to win, we’re gonna be a better ball club for it if everyone contributes, and we started to play pretty good baseball. When we went to California and swept the California teams and that was unusual because the Giants and Dodgers had great ball clubs, good pitching and really they dominated us over the years, but we swept them. We won 10 in a row. We came back to New York and we were just closing in on .500 and we played Chicago and beat them a couple ball games and we were playing good baseball and Gil said, “Hey you guys are a pretty good team, you gotta start believing in yourself”, and we did. We played better baseball, in the second half we won over 60 games, the second half of the season, so we were a great ball club from June onto the end of the year where we caught up with everybody including the Cubs who had such a big lead because their players got tired and (manager) Leo (Durocher) had a tendency to play the same guys every day and in some cases it’s OK if it’s cool weather, but when you get to Chicago the weather is hot in the summer and you’re playing day baseball back in those days. He wore them out and he had no reserves to put in and the Mets just passed them and we wound up winning the pennant by I guess close to 10 games. We were a great ball club and we should’ve won more pennants and more World Series, unfortunately we lost our manager two years later who passed away, Gil, but he was our inspirational leader. He made all the moves as a manager is supposed to make to help the ball club. They don’t win games on their own, they make the moves that are important for a team to survive and Gil was a great manager.

Kranepool on the Wilpons, potential new owners:

Kranepool: Well that’s up to them what they wanna do. Am I a fan of the Wilpons? I respect them as businessmen and they were very helpful with me securing a kidney last year. Jeff was very good to me. He got the press surrounding me and we got a lot of publicity and I really achieved my one goal was to get a kidney, so I have to respect them and I appreciate what they did. If they choose to sell the ball club, I hope they get a good deal. They wanna win. I don’t believe any ownership that takes an obligation on like this wants to lose. They’re baseball fans. Fred has been a fan his whole life, he loved the Dodgers and followed them and was able to pick up the Mets very cheaply, so it may be a great opportunity to sell them, take your profits and run. I’m sure they’re trying the best they can to put the best team on the field and sometimes finances get involved and you know you’re forced to sell. I wish them good luck. Steve Cohen, I hope he gets the ball club. He’s a big baseball fan and I think he wants to own the ball club and he wants to make a good deal so it’s up to him but he’s got some work to do. I hope he gets an opportunity. A-Rod I think should stay with the Yankees, he’s got enough things to worry about his fiancee (Jennifer Lopez) or his girlfriend or whatever you wanna call her. Take care of her. I think there’s a lot of showmanship. But I’d love to see Steve Cohen and let him do something.

Kranepool on importance of having a Mets fan as an owner:

Kranepool: Well that’s what I think Steve would do and I think he has the right approach to it but let’s see you never know what’s gonna happen. I thought we had an opportunity back in 1980 with the ball club but it was sold to Mr. Doubleday … and Wilpon and I was gonna be involved back then so let’s see what happens and I wish all these guys good luck. Hopefully Met fans benefit from a new owner if that’s to be and they have a winning team.

Figgie and I have some big guests planned ahead with new episodes coming out Mondays and Thursdays throughout spring training 2.0 and twice a week throughout the season. Follow us on Twitter @JakeBrownRadio & @FiggieNY to keep up with guests coming on the show. 

Catch up on all episodes of “Amazin’ But True,” a New York Mets podcast, by subscribing to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The next episode will be released Monday afternoon.