Mike Krukow has announced that he’s retiring from broadcasting San Francisco Giants’ baseball games at the end of the season. All good things must come to an end, and Kruk’s 36 years of providing color commentary were a very, very good thing.
Having moved to New Jersey 14 years ago, I no longer catch his wisdom and wit daily as I did during my California years. But I still catch him occasionally, mostly through clips posted on social media, and it’s always a pleasure.
Mike Krukow was a fine pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and the Giants during a 13-year Major League Baseball career. He won’t make the Hall of Fame for that work, but it certainly influenced his credibility during his broadcast career. I hope (expect, really) that he’ll end up in the hall as a recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. He deserves it.
Along with broadcast partner and inseparable friend Duane Kuiper, Kruk manages to inform and entertain fans with deep knowledge of the game and an appreciation for the quirks and absurdities that show up on the field and in the stands. Kruk and Kuip have various catchphrases that surface almost every game that apply to what’s happening. Whenever an opponent strikes out and dejectedly heads to the dugout, Kruk sardonically blurts out, “Grab some pine, meat!”
Kruk and Kuip mainly handle the television broadcasts while Frick awardee Jon Miller and Dave Flemming handle radio. They cross over to the other side now and then and get together as a foursome for the “post-game wrap,” where their talents, complementary skills and wit are brilliantly displayed. Like all Giants fans, I’m trying to imagine them picking their players of the game without Kruk in the mix.
We all knew one of those men would be the first to step down. With the debilitating, degenerative muscle disease that has limited his travel the last few seasons, Kruk was likely the first to go. Now it’s happening.
I’ll close with my favorite recollection of Kruk on the microphone. I was driving home to Modesto, California, one night from some long-forgotten event in nearby Turlock. I was listening to the Giants on KNBR radio out of San Francisco while merging onto Highway 99, which was wet not from rain but from drippings from the trailers of trucks hauling loads of tomatoes for processing into ketchup, etc.
After an opposing player struck out at this game, Kruk and Kuip spotted a young boy in the stands holding a sign that said, “Grab some pie, meat.”
Kruk and Kuip cackled about that for some time, and I was in stitches.
Thanks, Kruk, for all these wonderful years. 🧢
The Ball Caps Blog 
He will be missed. A lot of the old school guys are leaving and the new announcers are stat obsessed to the point of boredom.
I’ve tried to numb myself to the exit velocity references.
Nice tribute Dan……i listened to Krukow and Kuiper at least a dozen times and the way they included the crowd and the kayaks in mccovey’s cove, i feel i got closer to san francisco.