Editing Ed Kranepool (section)

===1964: Earning the first base job===
With Harkness, [[Dick Smith (NL outfielder)|Dick Smith]], and [[Frank Thomas (outfielder)|Frank Thomas]] sharing first base, Kranepool received most of his playing time in right field at the start of the {{Baseball year|1964}} season. On May 24, [[Joe Christopher]] was batting .303 and had won a starting job in right field. He was awarded the right field job, and Kranepool was demoted to Buffalo with a .139 batting average.

Kranepool played just 15 games with the Bisons, hitting three [[home runs]] and [[batting average (baseball)|batting]] .352 to earn a promotion back to the Mets. On his last day with the Bisons, Kranepool played all 18 innings of a double header, before getting the call to come to [[Shea Stadium]] where the Mets were playing two games the next day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/06/unburied-treasure-the-ed-kranepool-story.html/|title=Unburied Treasure: The Ed Kranepool Story|website=metsmerizedonline.com/|date=June 25, 2012}}</ref> On Sunday, May 31, he played first base in game one of the [[Doubleheader (baseball)|double header]] against the [[San Francisco Giants]]. Kranepool also played first in the second game of the double header, which went 23 innings. Kranepool ended up playing all 23 innings, going four for 14 over the two games. In all, he played 50 innings in two days. "I wish we could have played another 40 minutes", Kranepool was later quoted as saying of the record setting double header that lasted nearly 10 hours and ended at 11:20 PM. "That way, I could always say I played in a game that started in May and ended in June."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN196405312.shtml |title=San Francisco Giants vs New York Mets Box Score: May 31, 1964 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

These two games were the start of a 13-game hitting streak that saw Kranepool's batting average rise to .264. For the season, Kranepool batted .257 with 10 home runs and 45 RBI.