Kevin Frisch: My days in the Mets’ dugout – Belmont, MA – Belmont Citizen-Herald

Stumbled across this
Kevin Frisch: My days in the Mets’ dugout – Belmont, MA – Belmont Citizen-Herald

and here’s a taste.

In the early 1970s, my family lived in Amityville (yes, of “horror” fame; but that’s another column). Our home happened to be just two blocks from a bar and restaurant called The Dugout. And The Dugout was owned by none other than Mr. Met — no, not that giant-baseball-headed mascot; I’m referring to longtime player Ed Kranepool, who had the distinction of playing for the team in each of its first 18 seasons.

A first baseman who occasionally turned up in the outfield, Kranepool rode the Mets arc from expansion exasperation, to miracle turnaround in 1969, to unlikely World Series appearance in 1973, to renewed futility in the late 1970s. While never a Hall of Fame-caliber player, Kranepool was nonetheless productive enough for long enough to still hold Mets team records for most games played, at-bats, hits, doubles and total bases in a career.

But best of all, from my 10-year-old perspective, he owned The Dugout.


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