Tag Archives: Ed Kranepool

Newsday.com:

The most difficult moment in Ed Kranepool’s long wait for a kidney transplant came only about a month ago. Some two years after it was determined the Mets icon would need one, a friend from Florida had volunteered and testing proved him a match. Kranepool was hosting him at his Long Island home when they decided on a date and called to schedule the procedure for the first week of January.

That’s when the bad news came. The friend had a prostate condition that ruled him out.

“I was devastated,” Kranepool said Wednesday night before he and Art Shamsky appeared at the Newsday campus for an event marking the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Miracle Mets and previewing the upcoming baseball season. “It sets you back because you have all your hopes up and you’ve finally gotten a match . . . It’s really hard when it is the most important thing to you.”

The 74-year-old Kranepool said friends tell him he “looks very good, which is better than I probably feel” and he regained his optimistic outlook after a couple days. He remains on a waiting list and has resisted dialysis and the lifestyle change it would bring.