Quotes from Sunday’s Retirement Ceremony<\/p>\n
Giants President Larry Bair:<\/p>\n
Jackie Robinson once said, “Life is to be measured by the impact it has, by one’s impact he or she has on other lives. By that standard, Mike Krukow is second to none in Giants history. Mike. 43 years, 43 years as a Giant. You’ve carried the torch on the mound, in the booth. We all know, you are the 20-game winner, division champ, ’87, World Series ’89, inaugural Wall of Fame class, fierce competitor on the mound. We know your accomplishments in the booth. But above all, from the organization, every single person who has ever had a badge to walk in the doors of 24 Willie Mays Plaza or Candlestick Park, what we’ll remember you most for is your authenticity, your bold authenticity, your love for your family, your love for all people, all people that worked in this ballpark, your love for the game, your love for the Giants, and your love for San Francisco.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Buster Posey (San Francisco’s catcher on the 2010, 2012 and 2014 World Series championship teams and currently the Giants’ president of baseball operations):<\/p>\n
Kruk and Kuip are authentic. Their genuine friendship that has played out through the TV screens for multiple decades is certainly part of the magic. They’re funny, they’re smart, witty, and most definitely knowledgeable about the game of baseball. You two have a way of making Giants fans feel like they’re part of something bigger than a baseball game. They make people feel like they’re part of a community working toward a common goal. They, and all of us, have shared the highs and the lows, the triumphs and the defeats through their masterful storytelling. And I’m grateful for that. Both Kruk and Kuip have volunteered their time to help us raise money for childhood cancer. Also, Mike and Jennifer have posted events at their house over the years to raise money for the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation. One of the many attributes that I admire about Kruk is his compassion for those in need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Bob Brenly (former player and manager of the Giants):<\/p>\n
I’m going to tell you a real quick story about the first time I caught this guy in a big league game. He had come to the Giants in ’83. I’m catching Mike Krukow against the San Diego Padres. Every sign I put down, he shook off. And it got worse. He would first just shake his head no. Then he’d shake his head no like this. Then he’d roll his eyes toward the heavens. And then eventually he would step off the mound. Why do I have to throw to this country pumpkin catcher? Who is this guy? Well, let me tell you how the first inning went. He walked the leadoff man. He got an out. Then he walked the number three hitter, which brought up Terry Kennedy, who hit a double, drove in two runs. Then he walked another batter. Then he finally struck out a man to end that first inning. We came to the plate in the bottom of the first and made three outs as fast as you could possibly imagine. So now I’m back behind the plate again. Hanging signs. First batter of the second inning reaches on an error by… The next batter hits a double. Now, this was the number eight hitter in the Padres lineup. So I got a new ball from the umpire and I walked out to the mound. And he’s got his glove out waiting for the ball. And I spiked it in his glove as hard as I could. And I said, let’s see if you can get the doggone pitcher out. And I went back behind the plate. Gave up a hit to the pitcher. Got another out. Then gave up a single and was pulled from the ball game. Now the reason I tell this story — I think that was the moment that he made me believe that I was good enough to catch him.<\/p>\n
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For Giants fans, this is as close as a disaster as an earthquake, losing Mike Krukow on Giants telecast. But the feeling I have more than anything else is envy. I envy Duane Kuiper for getting to work with Mike Krukow all these years. And exactly the same way I envy Mike Krukow for having the opportunity with Duane Kuiper. I’m envious of you fans. You’ve had the treat of nearly four decades of listening to the best broadcast booth in all of baseball. Brenly also noted that he hit .224 in the 1983 season. Kuiper hit .250. Krukow hit .254. “He trumped us both.”<\/p>\n
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Will Clark (former Giants player):<\/p>\n
He is the career leader in ERA at Cal Poly. He won 124 games in the major leagues, played 14 years for three teams, seven years with the Giants. He played in 369 games. And as he gives a little dig to his partner right here, he had five homers and 54 RBIs as a career. In 1986, he was 20-9, he was our All-Star, and he had one of the most phenomenal years I got a chance to play behind. Just absolutely dealt the whole year. He is a two-time back-to-back Willie McCovey winner (the Giants’ most inspirational player). That shows you how much he’s respected with the Giants, dugout and clubhouse. He took myself, Robbie Thompson, and other rookies down the line, Matt Williams, Kurt Manwaring, and they all listened to everything he said. That’s how we became big leaguers, and that’s how we turned this organization around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Daniel Lurie (San Francisco mayor):<\/p>\n
This is a joyous occasion because for more than three decades, San Francisco got to listen to the two of you, the two best to ever do it. We got Barry Bonds’ 756, we got Matt Cain’s perfect game, we got three world championships, and through it all, we got Kruk and Kuip. These two have been the voices for generations of Giants fans. We listen to them in our cars, we listen to them in our homes, we listen to them with our parents, and then years later, we listen to them with our kids. And somehow, it never really felt like they were broadcasting to us. It felt like they were sitting there talking with us. They made an entire city, an entire region, feel like their teammates. Kruk and Kuip, you two have called some of the biggest moments in Giants history, but you also have become part of that history. And I’ll join the growing chorus saying that when Cooperstown comes calling, as they should, and as we know they will, you should go in together. I’m going to do something that I have never done as mayor, and I can’t think of two people that I’d rather give them to. Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper, it is my honor and privilege to present you both keys to the city and county of San Francisco. If either of you shows up at City Hall, I want to make sure you can get in.<\/p>\n
Mike Krukow:<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know these things were real. So this means we can park anywhere we want, right? Perfect!<\/p>\n
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Duane Kuiper:<\/p>\n
I want to start by going back to the year that Mike was diagnosed with this horrible disease (inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disease), which was around 2007. I kept thinking, what if on that day that he’s diagnosed, he doesn’t broadcast anymore? Well, we had him for an extra 20 years. And those 20 years for him were not easy. We used to watch him try to get on and off an airplane, almost impossible to do, given his condition. But he pulled it off and never complained. What I got out of this, and the mayor mentioned it, if Mike misses those 20 years, think about the most important three years in this franchise’s history. He misses not one World Series, not two, but he misses three. And we had him for all of them. Since he made the announcement to retire (about six weeks earlier), even though it’s slightly sad, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him happier because finally he could make this decision on what he wanted to do. And he certainly has done it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And taking a page from Jim Valvano’s infamous “Don’t ever give up” speech,” Kuiper said of Krukow, “He makes me laugh, he makes me cry, he makes me think, and now today he really does make me cry. I love you, brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I will miss his 100 percent effort for the perfect day. His ability to make people feel good. It is such a talent. I’ll miss Mike being what he really should have been. And that’s a teacher. He would have been everybody’s most favorite teacher. I’ve seen him teach kids in our booth how to shake hands. I’ve seen him take our number one draft pick and show them how to hold the ball different to make this ball move. And on the golf course, forget it. I mean, he’s a teacher on every hole. There’s no doubt that he would have been a fabulous teacher.”<\/p>\n
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Mike Krukow:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Krukow’s long list of people he thanked included “my incredible partners, Jon Miller and Dave Fleming, whose talent and love for the game have been inspiring. They welcomed Duane and me into the broadcast booth to join with them and tell the historical playoff runs in the greatest era in San Francisco Giants history. The games we did together are the moments that we are most proud of as broadcasters.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wife, Jennifer. When we were in high school together in 1970, I was a senior, she was a little junior, and every day after lunch she would walk me to my English class. Then one day I reached out and I held her hand, and she looked up at me and she winked. And that was it. I never let her hand go. Thank you, baby.<\/p>\n
And to my dear friend, Duane Kuiper. The tough and stubborn Dutchman from Racine, Wisconsin, who when we were teammates, I couldn’t wait to get to the yard and suit it up with him. His intensity as a player, and his ability to find humor in the day-to-day pressure of the big leagues was enlightening.”<\/p>\n
Krukow and Kuiper were teammates with the Giants for three seasons (1983-85). “As players, we would do mock broadcasts, sitting in the dugouts. And when our baseball careers had ended, we were blessed to have been able to do it for real. Our partnership has lasted 36 years, and our sides still ache from all the laughs.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aside from the memorable San Francisco moments noted earlier in the ceremony, Krukow reminded the more than 10,000 fans who remained in the ballpark after the team’s 10-inning 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers what Giants baseball is all about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have booed the Crazy Crab, we\u2019ve endured the torture, we\u2019ve feared the beard,\u201d Krukow said. \u201cWe have laughed at the rubber chickens, the ugly finders, the shin burgers, the pea rods and the magic wandoos. We have cheered the splash hits, we have loved our ball dudes, we have bragged about our gamer babes \u2014 you never let me down \u2014 and we have enjoyed the Jung Hooligans, and we have cringed every time they have changed the name of our beautiful stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve given each other knuckles and high fives and game faces and Buster hugs and stank eye and \u2026 we have pleaded for them to let Pablo eat, pitch to Barry, and let Timmy smoke. And we have watched our players get Oracled, Cained, and they break out a new version of the pop-up dance every day. We have found out that Hunter Pence eats pizza with a fork, can\u2019t parallel park, still uses a night light, and he thinks Crocs are stylish. We wore Madbum underwear and we were ordered to keep calm and just Panik. We love our foghorn, McCovey Cove and the great big baseball mitt in left field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is who we are and we are not making apologies forever. It\u2019s Giants baseball. And it was given to us by someone we loved and it is what we are going to give our children and in turn, they will someday pass it on to theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three of Krukow’s children, Tessa, Wes and Chase, sang the national anthem prior to the first pitch Sunday and also sang \u201cThe Parting Glass” at the end of the postgame ceremony.<\/p>\n
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Ford C. Frick Award:<\/p>\n
Krukow has been a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award four times, while Kuiper has been up for the award five times. Both will be eligible for the award, presented by the Baseball Hall of Fame for excellence in baseball broadcasting, in 2027.<\/p>\n
Under current rules, Krukow and Kuiper would have to be elected as individuals, not as a tandem. In 1978, Mel Allen and Red Barber were the first two recipients of the inaugural Ford C. Frick Award. Since then, only one broadcaster has been elected every year for the last 48 years.<\/p>\n
The Hall of Fame rarely makes exceptions, but a loud majority wants to see Kruk and Kuip be elected together. That includes the legendary Bob Costas.<\/p>\n
Costas, the 2018 Ford C. Frick winner, said many members of the current committee are in favor of Krukow and Kuiper going on the ballot together, but \u201cthe Hall, for some reason, hasn\u2019t allowed that to happen yet.\u201d In Costas\u2019 estimation, if Krukow and Kuiper go on the ballot together, they\u2019ll eventually be elected.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext year in Cooperstown, Krukow and Kuiper should be standing together. It\u2019s long overdue,\u201d said Brian Anderson, the Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster who has also been a finalist. \u201cI think the Hall of Fame needs to make some sort of an adjustment or an amendment because they are exactly what the definition of a Hall of Fame broadcaster would be. Everything that Ford Frick stands for, that\u2019s what they are, and that\u2019s what we all strive to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Mark “Mud” Grant, a color commentator for the San Diego Padres: \u201cI respect everything about the Hall of Fame, and I\u2019m all about the rules, but there are certain things in sports that are a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quotes from Sunday’s Retirement Ceremony Giants President Larry Bair: Jackie Robinson once said, “Life is to be measured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-869095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}