Latest news with #MikeKrukow
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Giants Announcer Shares Unexpected Dodgers Confession Amid NL West Race
Giants Announcer Shares Unexpected Dodgers Confession Amid NL West Race originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Between his seven seasons pitching for the San Francisco Giants and the decades he's spent calling their games, Mike Krukow has seen enough of the Los Angeles Dodgers to last a lifetime. Advertisement In his own lifetime, Krukow has a Dodgers-related wish—and no, it doesn't involve their first 100-loss season since 1908. NBC Sports Bay Area showed an intriguing graphic during Friday's 8-7 Giants victory over the Dodgers. As it turns out, Krukow's 1.94 home ERA is the lowest of any starting pitcher in the Dodgers-Giants rivalry since both teams moved to California in 1958. Six-time All-Star Fernando Valenzuela ranked second on the list with a 2.07 ERA, setting the stage for Krukow's heartwarming admission. 'I hope Fernando Valenzuela gets into the Hall of Fame someday,' Krukow said. 'We know that Clayton Kershaw's gonna be in the Hall of Fame,' Krukow added. '[Sandy] Koufax and [Juan] Marichal, of course.' Advertisement Valenzuela, who died last October, earned 6.2% on his first Hall of Fame ballot in 2003. However, he fell off the ballot a year later; candidates need 5% to stay on the ballot, and Valenzuela only tallied 3.8%. Valenzuela went 173-153 with 3.54 ERA and 37.3 bWAR in 17 seasons, 11 coming with the Dodgers. After throwing 17 1/2 scoreless innings in 1980, he burst onto the scene with a 2.48 ERA and eight shutouts in 1981. Valenzuela captured NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year honors, helping the Dodgers to their first championship since 1965. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando ValenzuelaMalcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports Valenzuela earned All-Star honors the next five seasons and posted four top-5 Cy Young finishes in that span. He pitched a no-hitter in 1990, his final season with the Dodgers, and played for five teams through 1997. Advertisement We'll see if Krukow eventually gets his wish. Valenzuela could potentially enter the Hall of Fame later this year via the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee. The current Dodgers hold a four-game lead over the Giants in the NL West. Related: MLB Makes Impressive Shohei Ohtani Announcement Before All-Star Break Related: Dodgers Predicted to Add Paul Skenes in 6-Player Trade This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
19-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Celebrating Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper, the ultimate teammate, on his 75th birthday
SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Krukow cannot recall the specific year but he remembers it happened at the Phoenix airport. He and his inseparable broadcast partner, Duane Kuiper, were returning home after calling a couple of Giants spring training games. They were reading at the gate when a young mother sat across from them. Advertisement She looked exhausted. Her 2-year-old was in a state: fussy, red-faced, screaming, either hungry or wet or both. Krukow peeked over the spine of his book at Kuiper. 'You have no chance today, pal,' Krukow said. 'You're really gonna bet against me?' Kuiper replied. The woman had no idea that she was about to be drafted onto Duane Kuiper's team. And if there's one thing that Kuiper has done his entire life — starting with his immediate family, then during a 12-year major league career that ended in 1985, and throughout nearly four decades as the beloved play-by-play voice of the San Francisco Giants — it's taking care of his teammates. 'Took him two minutes and he worked his magic,' Krukow said. 'That kid was on his leg, calm as can be, and he held that baby for a half hour. And that was huge for mom because she was maybe 23 or 24, all by herself, and you could see she'd been through hell. She was able to go to the bathroom, get something to eat. I can't tell you the number of times he did that. And not just in airports. 'We'll be in the booth and a young family will stop in for a visit with a little one, out of sorts, not impressed at all, not having any fun. I'll say, `You met your match this time.' No. Within two minutes that 15-month-old will be on his knee laughing and giggling. It's a true gift.' Kuiper famously hit one home run in 3,379 major league plate appearances. Yet, in his 75 years of life, which he and his family will celebrate on Thursday, the impact he has made on others is outsized. 'I really can't believe he's turning 75,' said Jeff Kuiper, Duane's brother and longtime television producer. 'Probably because he's still just a big kid at heart.' The Giants' schedule couldn't have created a more perfect 'This is Your Life' matchup for Kuiper's birthday: home at Oracle Park with the Cleveland Guardians in town. Kuiper played seven smooth-fielding seasons at second base for Cleveland, where Hall of Famer Frank Robinson was his teammate and manager for a time. When the Giants hired Robinson in 1981, he made it a priority the following season to sign Kuiper for a bench role. Kuiper was 32 and his knee would never be the same after Butch Hobson knocked him unconscious while busting a double play in a 1980 game at Fenway Park. But Robinson knew that Kuiper's soft skills were as sharp as ever. Advertisement 'When I got there in '83, I was amazed by his ability to work the room,' Krukow said. 'He'd go to every locker and find out where each guy was at, who needed to be shown some love. He pulls people out of their shell. His people skills are almost like a sixth sense. He finds out what you need before you know you need it. And then he'll make sure you have it.' Decades after fielding his last ground ball, Kuiper is still making sure his teammates have what they need. He's the one who lobbied the Giants to provide a motorized chair for Krukow when his advancing battle with Inclusion Body Myositis, a muscular disorder, made walking up ramps and stairs impossible. The greatest gift for Giants fans is that Kuiper is still in the broadcast booth, still providing the crescendo calls on walk-off hits, still capturing the drama in the big moments and still finding quiet joy in all those sticky-faced, slice-of-life vignettes in the stands. Four years after a serious cancer diagnosis forced him from the booth while he underwent chemotherapy, he is grateful that his scans are clean and his enthusiasm for the game is as fully dialed up as ever. The way Kuiper sees it, he has a lot more to give. But you don't let a 75th birthday go by without a fair amount of receiving. So The Athletic spent the past couple weeks asking some of the people who knew him best: What makes Kuip the ultimate teammate? Dave Flemming joined the Giants as the fourth and most junior member of their announcing team before the 2004 season. Twenty-two years later, he is … still the fourth and most junior member of their announcing team. Even so, Flemming's voice has become as synonymous with Giants baseball as Kuiper, Krukow and Hall of Famer Jon Miller. But he was once a rookie finding his way among legends. In a lot of ways, Kuip was the one who made my transition the easiest. I've told this story to many, many young broadcasters, because I think about it every day to this day. It was literally my first game ever in the big leagues. It wasn't the pre-computer era, but I didn't have a laptop in the booth, that's for sure. It was more of a paper, analog world back then. So you get this stack of info, three inches thick, more than you could ever digest. And I think a lot of young broadcasters, they're nervous, right? You want to prove you know what you're talking about. 'I gotta read all this, I gotta take notes.' Advertisement And so Duane walks into the booth that first game I ever did, and he picked up my pile of stats and he turned around and he dropped it all in the garbage can. At first I was like, 'What?! What did he just do?' And he laughed and we all had a chuckle and he goes, 'Look. You don't have to fool anybody. You don't have to prove anything. You don't have to tell Giants fans somehow that you know what you're talking about. Giants fans know their team. You're coming in for the first time. It's OK if you don't know as much about the team as fans do. That's OK! Just call the games, focus on what you see in front of you, keep it simple, and they will love you.' It was great advice and not just for being popular or being liked. It was great advice for what's important about this job. He's just about the most social, emotionally aware person that I've ever met. He finds the humanity in things like when a player messes up, when a fan drops a foul ball or a kid starts crying because he drops his ice cream. It's not just poking fun. It's not having a laugh at somebody's expense. He finds a way to relate to that person, like, 'Hey, this is what happens in everyday life.' He's got incredible empathy for people. He really does. Devers burst onto the Oracle Park scene with an RBI Double last night. Here's how it sounded from Dave Flemming on KNBR! 🎙️⬇️ — KNBR (@KNBR) June 18, 2025 Jon Miller needed no breaking in when he joined the Giants' broadcast team in 1997. He already was a beloved regional voice in Baltimore after calling Orioles games for 14 seasons, and as the voice of ESPN's flagship 'Sunday Night Baseball,' his national profile was without peer among baseball announcers. But as a radio man who moved to television, Miller was always interested in honing his skills. The most important thing Miller picked up from Kuip? Sometimes the best thing a TV announcer can do is have the grace to stay out of the way. During Matt Cain's perfect game (in 2012), he had the play where (Gregor) Blanco makes this incredible catch. As it got deeper in the outfield and you saw how far away Blanco was, you thought, 'OK, the no-hitter's over.' So Duane gave a great, dramatic call on it. Then he laid out. He did not just keep on going. He made that call with all the urgency in his voice, and then it's just the roar of the crowd and the follow-up shots of Cain and Blanco. He let the pictures tell the story. That's an under-appreciated aspect of what he does, what Vin Scully did, what all great broadcasters do who understand the essence of doing that job for television. Even the moment of the final out, it's a perfect game, and he had the call, all the drama, and then he laid out. I'm listening to my call on KNBR the next morning and I'm thinking, 'I wish I had laid out, too.' #OTD in 2012 – Gregor Blanco's catch AND Matt Cain's perfect game. #ForeverGiant — SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 13, 2020 Duane loves to have a laugh on the broadcast and for him a good laugh is always collaborative. He says working with Kruk just makes it so much easier. Like, 'I just have to say who's up to bat and Kruk does the rest.' Well, he does the rest because Duane allows that. He willfully gives that up. The baby thing? That's real! He was playing in Cleveland with Buddy Bell and he tells Buddy one day in spring training, 'I want you and your wife to take a night off. I'll be Uncle Kuip and babysit for you.' That became a regular thing, and those boys he babysat (David and Mike) became big leaguers. There's not many broadcasters in the game that can tell a story like, 'Here comes David Bell to the plate, and let me tell you about the time I was his babysitter.' But that's him as a teammate. Amy Gutierrez is an eight-time Emmy Award-winning producer, reporter, TV host and children's book author who served as the in-game reporter on Comcast/NBC Sports Bay Area from 2008-2019. From interviewing an emotional Matt Cain after his perfect game to the three World Series championship runs to squealing as Tim Lincecum gleefully dropped an F-bomb on live TV, 'Amy G' will always be familiar to Giants fans. But if not for Kuiper and Krukow, she says she would've quit after two seasons and missed covering the most accomplished run in franchise history. Advertisement It was a difficult time for me in my career. They put me on the broadcast and I wasn't given much direction on what the job should be. My daughter, Grace, was 5 months old. I'm a fish out of water and dealing with daily things, horrible things people were saying in chat rooms and on the radio. I made a conscious choice to only talk about it with my husband at home. I'd just go to the ballpark and keep my head up. But I was going to hang it up after my second season. I thought, 'I know I'm a good storyteller and good producer but maybe I'm not cut out for being an in-game reporter.' Sometime around then, Duane says, 'Come up to the booth. It'll be just the three of us.' They said, 'Listen, here's the deal: we want you with us. We know what you're going through and what they say on the radio. We know this is hard on you. We have wives, sisters, daughters. We get it.' I had to hold my head back so the tears wouldn't fall. So I hugged them and went about my day and my very first hit, Duane says on air, 'Let's go down to Amy G, and we're happy about it.' It stopped me in my tracks. Duane wanted to let every (jerk) know that he and Mike wanted me there. It gave me so much levity. It turned my career around. Duane is one of the kindest people I've ever met in my life. What really comes out in Duane is how much he values family. I saw it not only with how he was with his wife and children but how he was with my children. I didn't bring Grace to a game till she was 4 and Zachary was 7. He fell in love with Grace but part of what he does is try to get your goat. So he says to Zach, 'Here's what I'm going to teach you: You're going to pick a booger out of your nose and flick it at your sister.' I was like, 'Oh my god, Duane, can you not?' But he knew Zach was the older one and not getting as much attention. He did something to pull Zach in and make him feel special, too. That's what he always does. Mike Krukow pitched for six seasons with the Chicago Cubs and one in Philadelphia before the 6-foot-5 right-hander joined the Giants in a trade before the 1983 season. He and Kuiper hit it off instantly. There is no recording of their first broadcasts together because they were jargon-laced, goof-off sessions on the dugout rail. Little did anyone know that those ribald commentaries would be the unofficial start of what's believed to be the longest tenured local announcing partnership in Major League Baseball history. As a teammate? There's none better. To this day he checks in with everyone on the crew. He'll remind you to take your vitamins. He figures out what you need before you know you need it. The electric wheelchair? That was all him. He told the Giants, 'We need him back on the field. We need him in his world again.' Part of his people skills is finding the underdog. And he does the exact opposite with the alphas. We'll do an appearance, 800 people in the audience, and he'll sit back and check everyone out and say, 'I've got my guy.' It's usually so obvious, finding the alpha. So he'll single him out and say to the audience, 'Listen, I'd really like to do my home run call for you, and if you don't mind, I want someone to take a swing like you're at Oracle Park.' And he'll point to the alpha and say, 'How about you?' It'll be, 'What's your name? John Davis? OK, get in your stance and here we go.' And Kuip will set it up, pitcher into his windup, here's the 3-2 pitch on the way, and John Davis will swing, and … 'Swiii-iiing and a miss.' And everybody will laugh and he'll say, 'Ah, just kidding, let's do it again.' And John Davis will let it rip, and .. 'Swiii-iiing and a miss, strike two.' And John Davis, you can see he's getting a little red in the face. So you think the gag's up and he'll hit the third pitch out, right? 'Swiii-iiing and a miss, and John Davis strikes out.' And everybody will be ha-ha-ha laughing except John Davis. Then he'll look for the little introverted woman in the back and he'll get her up there and go through the same thing: 'Kenley Jansen with two outs, runner at second base, checks the runner, Debbie Moore steps in the batter's box, she is 1-for-63 on the season, and here's the pitch, and THERE'S A DRIVE, LEFT FIELD, OUTTA HERE!' So in his way he's calmed the alpha down and elevated the wallflower and who knows? Maybe that'll be a moment she'll always remember. He's been a best friend since 1983 and in that time we've lost parents, we've lost friends, we've had children. We've had life come at us. And we've used each other a lot to get through a lot of things. What greater gift is there in life than to have a friend to share the day you had your first child or the day you had your first grandchild? We're at an age now where we don't know how many more days we have to do this. We don't know how many more games we'll be able to do. But I'll say this: We don't take them for granted. Not one time do we ever take it for granted. We've been jackpot winners twice. Dannon Kuiper Rease is the oldest of Duane's two children (along with son Cole) and the mother of Andy (5) and Kit (3) with a baby boy expected to arrive at the end of September. She and her family are taking her dad out to a birthday dinner at a hibachi restaurant Thursday night. It's the least she can do for the world's greatest grandpa. Advertisement He waters my plants every day. He picks my kids up from school. He drops them off. He's nonstop, always grandparenting. And it's not like he's retired. He's working! If I need something from the store, he's there. It's always been that way since I was a kid. If you're on his team, he's looking out for you. He used to send my brother and me postcards on every road trip. Now he sends them to my kids. He'll be gone for, like, two days and they'll get a postcard from LA with 'Hi Andy, I'll be home in two days. See you then.' My brother and I like to say that in every phase of our lives from birth to adulthood, he aced it. He was great at chasing us around as kids, at imaginative play, and as teenagers he was great at being calm and stable and listening to whatever we were going through. And now as an adult he helps me with my kids, wants to go to lunch, fixes stuff around the house. He has risen to the occasion in all the phases of my life, and that goes for my mom too. (Michelle Kuiper died unexpectedly in February 2022. She was 64.) He circles back. When he was going through chemo, he'd go every week to this place and get hooked up to all the IVs. He'd spend five hours a day there. The nurses were different every day of the week but he never forgot them. Even now and then he'll drop off a kringle or donuts for them. He circles back for the people who have been there for him and there's probably a thousand of them in his brain at any given time. He'll go pick up lunch for them or leave a note, thanking them for their service. Growing up, he'd leave every one of my teachers Giants tickets, and if it was a teacher giving me a bad grade, they probably got more Giants tickets. Me, my mom, we were all so relieved he pulled through because he was really, really sick. He watched every game he missed (in 2021) and it pained him to not be there. He knew he needed to avoid the crowds and stay healthy. So that first game he went back was incredible. He was so excited and I don't think the best part for him was calling the game. It was seeing all his people from the parking lot attendant to the press box. It was a part of his routine and he didn't get to do that for a long time, and we all worried he wouldn't be able to do that again. He once told me that whenever a ballplayer would complain that they were missing their kid's birthday or they felt like they weren't showing up, or they felt like a bad dad or husband, he'd say to them, 'Look, you're going to miss a lot of things. That's why when you are there with them, you have to be fully there.' That wasn't just his advice. That's what he did. That's why I don't remember the times he was gone. I just remember all the times he was there. (Top photo of Kuiper in April: Darren Yamashita / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why Kruk believes Giants ‘redefined' themselves after Padres series
Why Kruk believes Giants 'redefined' themselves after Padres series originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area NBC Sports Bay Area's Mike Krukow explained how the Giants 'redefined' themselves with a pair of comeback wins over the San Diego Padres amid recent roster moves in talking to KNBR's 'Murph and Markus' on Friday. Advertisement 'You're into June, and now you're in arguably the biggest series of the year for you so far, given how they lost the first four games to the Padres, and they needed to prove to themselves that they can hang with the Padres; with that move going down, that's exactly what they did,' Krukow told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. 'They salvaged the series and redefined themselves. 'I'm repeating myself, but it is the most important thing I've said today in regards to the Giants. What has come out of this series is that they have redefined themselves as a team; they see themselves as a better team because of what they did those last two games of the four-game series.' San Francisco took the last two games of its dramatically narrow four-game series with San Diego after dropping the first two. As Krukow said, the Giants needed to leave with something after dropping their first four games against the Padres earlier in the 2025 MLB season. And, after splitting the series in which every game was decided by one run, the Giants appear rejuvenated to many, including Krukow, and with much thanks to the franchise's first-year president of baseball operations. Advertisement 'With Buster [Posey] making the move, that had everything to do with it,' he said. The former San Francisco pitcher highlighted Posey's decision to shake up the roster, specifically by designating fan favorite LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment, as the gutsy decision-making that the organization desperately needed. Krukow felt the Giants needed a spark to get back on track and prove their seriousness. 'Oh, 100 percent,' Krukow said about Posey's leadership being on display. 'And it's instinct, too; instinct to know that everyone in that clubhouse is waiting – waiting for a game-changing move. What this also says is – who's a better guy than LaMonte Wade Jr.? Nobody. And he's a fan favorite. Advertisement 'That was not an easy decision, as you kept thinking he was going to put it together, and he couldn't do it, and time ran out.' After making some changes and grinding out a pair of wins over San Diego, San Francisco appears to have 'redefined' itself, according to Krukow. The 35-28 Giants, who now trail the 35-26 Padres by one game for the National League's second wildcard spot, will take it. Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast
New York Times
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How to watch the San Francisco Giants in 2025: Schedule, broadcast info and blackout rules
This year's San Francisco Giants look competitive and compelling. Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski have both splashed balls into McCovey Cove in the last year, while Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee and Wilmer Flores tout respectable power. Pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray are holding things down atop the starting rotation, and fan engagement is unsurprisingly strong: Nothing like it, indeed. But keeping up with nightly broadcasts in 2025 is needlessly difficult and overly complicated — from streaming restrictions and channel rotations to blackout rules within the local market. Here's our best effort to make sense of it all, specifically for Giants fans. Make sure you're following the team and the MLB for updates in your feed. Staff writer Grant Brisbee is our San Fran beat writer, offering consistent roundups and takeaways from each series. Advertisement Fubo is a cable-cutting streaming platform that offers local and national channels, along with add-on sports packages. Any game on NBC Sports Bay Area, KNTV, ESPN, Fox, or MLB Network can be streamed here (more information on these networks is available below). TBS games cannot. What you need to watch these games: The 'pro' plan starts at $84.99 per month, with an additional charge for 4K Ultra HD. For more baseball, there is the add-on, which streams every out-of-market game for $29.99 a month, and the 'sports lite' package (with MLB Network) for $9.99 a month. The core broadcasters, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Dave Flemming and Jon Miller, each signed a multi-year extension this spring. Miller is best known for his work on ESPN games until 2010, and he is a current member of the Radio Hall of Fame. When it comes to TV, though, it's about the two Ks: Krukow and Kuiper. Krukow is a three-time California Sportscaster of the Year and won 20 games for San Francisco in 1986. His visage is featured at Oracle Park as part of the Giants Wall of Fame. Kuiper is in his 32nd consecutive season with NBC Sports Bay Area. A left-handed second baseman, Kuiper played the final four seasons of his pro career with SF. Reliever Javier López, who won three World Series rings with the franchise, does select road games. He's joined by postseason hero Hunter Pence, who is a natural in color commentary and analysis. What you need to watch these games: Fubo, DirecTV Stream (starting $80-90 monthly), YouTube TV (starting at $82.99/month) What you need to watch these games: A carrier in your territory that has NBC Sports Bay Area, like any of the following — Additionally, select games are available over-the-air on KNTV, the NBC sister station, which can be found on channel 11. All Giants fans are encouraged — well, don't be like Robert De Niro in 'The Fan' (1996). Even with the team's deep local roots and massive media market, a significant number of viewers are tuning in from beyond San Francisco's designated territory. The package has these out-of-towners covered, with every regular-season inning from across the league (excluding national and in-market regional games). It costs $149.99 annually. Fubo offers the add-on for $29.99 a month. Advertisement Meanwhile, MLB Network airs almost 300 local broadcasts for national audiences, so you can catch some Giants games there. MLB Network also offers 26 unique, produced-in-house 'showcase' games that are not subject to local blackouts. What you need to watch these games: MLB Network for select games / for all of them The league has partnered with ESPN since 1990; that ends this fall. Yup, the purveyors of the iconic music are indeed opting out of their remaining baseball broadcasts. For this season, you'll still find select primetime matchups here. Jon Sciambi (play-by-play for the Cubs) and Karl Ravech are usually on the mic, alongside five-time World Series winner David Cone and well-traveled utility hitter Eduardo Pérez. Generational baseball narrator Joe Buck returned to the booth for a memorable Opening Day affair, but he's sticking with football now. For ESPN, think Sundays, especially 'Sunday Night Baseball.' Giants games on ESPN: Fox is where you'll hear Joe Davis (voice of the Dodgers, jeer as you wish), Jason Benetti (Tigers) or Adam Amin (the NBA's Chicago Bulls) on the call. Retired Silver Slugger catcher A.J. Pierzynski, playoff bellwether Adam Wainwright, 1992 Rookie of the Year Eric Karros and Dontrelle Willis (aka the D-Train!) rotate in the booth. Three Hall-of-Famers are on this network. The studio pregame features Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, while John Smoltz does color commentary. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal can be seen reporting from the field, too. Fox usually has a Saturday spot. Giants games on Fox/FS1: TBS has the Tuesday action, with Brian Anderson (Brewers) and Ron Darling (Mets) as the mainstays. The pre- and post-game shows are stacked with 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins, three-time All-Star Curtis Granderson and all-time great hurler Pedro Martínez. TBS games can also be streamed on Max. The playoff broadcasts add decorated and beloved former Giants manager Dusty Baker. Bob Costas was on the mic before his retirement last fall. Advertisement Giants games on TBS: none scheduled The purple metropolis now has 'MLB Sunday Leadoff' games free from blackout restrictions. Giants games on Roku: Like with Roku, you can stream more baseball games from your smart TV. Unlike Roku, the Apple TV+ games are regionally blacked out. Alex Faust (also of NHL and Jeopardy fame) is on these calls, as is Wayne Randazzo (Angels). Giants games on Apple TV+: none scheduled For national MLB games in general, think: Streaming and betting/odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo by Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images)
