season home run record.
An interesting bit of information
that Sal imparted to us was that
Billy actually had a Major League
Baseball career. It seems that in
2008, on his 60th birthday, the
Yankees signed him to a one day
contract during spring training.
He led off the game and was able
to actually foul off a pitch before
striking out. He was released the
next day!
At the end of the session, Toby
Horowitz opened the mike for
questions and before you knew it,
another Siegel/Horowitz Men’s
Club Zoom session was history.
For club information please contact
Jerry Siegel at 347-235-4513
or jerrysiegel1185@gmail.com or
Toby Horowitz at 718-279-0082 or
tmhmgt@yahoo.com.
MEN’S CLUB
Ed Kranepool: A Very Special Zoom Guest
BY HOWARD ARKIN
The weather forecast for March 25 called
for a sunny day with temperatures in the
70s. This was a forecast certainly befitting
of Ed Kranepool’s appearance before the
North Shore Towers Men’s Club. Yes, baseball
was in the air. Ed’s Zoom lecture promised
to attract a large audience and it didn’t disappoint.
In “Zoomspeak” this meant that all of
the boxes on my computer were filled. To use some
baseball jargon, by 7:30 "they were hanging from
the rafters."
Kranepool spent his entire career, from 1962-
1979, with the New York Mets. It’s hard for me
to imagine any player currently spending 18 years
with the same team. The first seven years of his
career were spent with a team that many considered
to be one of the worst in baseball history. But
in 1969 things began to change. A man walked
on the moon and the New York Mets won the
World Series. Four years later they would come
within one game of duplicating the same feat.
Ed played an important part in each of those
years contributing to the team’s success. He
exhibited a great batting eye during his career,
striking out only 581 times in 5,436 times at bat.
Another phase of the game that he excelled in
was pinch hitting. His batting average in the
1970's was 396, and in one year he got 17 hits
in 35 times at bat.
A good part of the evening
was spent with our club
President, Toby Horowitz
calling on those in the audience
to direct questions to
Ed. Many of them pertained
to the glory years of 1969 and
1973. Ed stressed that he had
a very good relationship with
the Mets’ early management and its first owner,
Joan Payson. He also expressed enthusiasm for
the club’s future now that Steve Cohen is the
new owner. Money can do wonders.
Naturally Casey Stengel, Ed’s first manager’s
name came up. He said that Casey could “play
the clown” but would not extend the same role
to his players. When in 1963 Jimmy Pearsall
hit a home run and ran the bases backwards,
Casey had him released the next day. Ed had
his favorites over the years, as well as some “not
so favorites”. One of his “not so favorites” was
Met catcher Jerry Grote, whom he did not speak
to for nine years. Minneapolis Twins manager
Gene Mauch was also not at the top of his list.
In 1980, when Mauch called Ed and asked him
to join the Twins, Ed chose to retire rather than
play for him.
A few questions asked pertained to current
baseball rules. He believes that if baseball is
to have a designated hitter
it should apply to both leagues and the “shift”
should not be outlawed. He feels that the games
are too slow and he’s usually fallen asleep by the
time they end.
When he was asked who he thought was the
greatest player of all time, without hesitating he
chose his 1972-73 teammate Willie Mays. As
for pitchers, he had high praise for Bob Gibson
and Sandy Koufax. When asked about current
Met pitcher Jacob De Grom, he acknowledged
his great talent, but was disappointed that at this
point in his career he has had so few wins (70).
He attributes this to poor Met batting support
and an overreliance on relief pitching. I found
only one thing that I was in strong disagreement
with Ed. He felt that Met manager Yogi Berra
should have started George Stone over Tom
Seaver in Game Six of the 1973 World Series. If
any of you are really interested, Wikipedia will
give you the details.
As many of you might be aware, in 2019 Ed
underwent a successful kidney transplant at
Stony Brook Medical Center. The Men’s Club
wishes him well on his recovery and hopes that
his next lecture will be in person.
Don’t forget, щon Thursday, May 13, Professor
James Coll will be discussing the workings of the
Supreme Court. We look forward to seeing you
there.
Men’s Club Zoom Lecture
Sal St. George Talks Billy Crystal
On March 17, Sal St. George
was once again the moderator
of a Zoom lecture for the
North Shore Towers Men’s Club. The
topic for the evening’s lecture was
legendary comedian and actor Billy
Crystal. Prior to the start of his discussion,
Sal showed us a five minute
film montage of some of America’s
greatest entertainers of the 20th
century. He does this during most of
his lectures to highlight the contrast
between entertainment from the past
as compared to entertainment today.
Oh, for the good old days!
Billy Crystal was born in New
York City 74 years ago. As was the
case with many New Yorkers, he
found himself growing up in the
suburbs. In Billy’s case it was Long
Beach in Nassau County. His father
Jack and his Uncle Milt owned the
Commodore Music Store on 42nd
Street where Billy spent many
hours, probably planting the seeds
for his future life in show business.
Billy’s career got started in the 1970s
when he appeared at The Improv
and Catch A Rising Star, two wellknown
comedy clubs. He made a
few small appearances on Saturday
Night Live and by 1984 had become
a Saturday Night Live regular. His
catchphrase, "You look mahvelous"
(Billy’s imitation of Fernando
Lamas) still resonates today.
After an appearance on All in the
Family, he became close friends with
Rob Reiner, and the friendship has
endured until now. Rob directed
Billy in a few successful films in
the 1980s, the most successful
being “When Harry Met Sally.” This
earned Billy a Golden Globe nomination
in 1989. I'm sure that many of
you remember Rob Reiner’s mother,
while seated at an adjoining table to
Meg Ryan at Katz's Delicatessen,
uttering those immortal words,
"I'll have what she's having" after
watching Meg fake an orgasm. (Can
I say that?!?) In the 1990s, Billy’s
film career continued to soar. Two
of my favorites during this period
were “City Slickers” and “Analyze
This.” This was a time in his career
when he also found the time to host
The Academy Awards nine times.
In 2005 I got a chance to see Billy
in person. I remember one Saturday
afternoon driving into Manhattan
to see him in his one man show,
“700 Sundays.” The Tony Award
winning show chronicled his adolescent
years growing up in Long
Beach. Sports had always played
an intricate part in Billy’s life, especially
New York Yankees’ baseball.
In 2001 he successfully directed
a made- for-TV movie based on
Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris's
race to beat Babe Ruth’s single
May 2021 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 25
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