Mike Krukow didn’t exactly sugarcoat the state of the SF Giants, and in doing so he put a blunt, ugly label on a season that has been hard to watch from just about every angle.
During a recent KNBR appearance, the longtime broadcaster zeroed in on Sunday’s dispiriting loss to the Colorado Rockies - a game manager Tony Vitello also had harsh words for - and cut straight to the heart of the matter. “People are paying to see this brand of baseball.
And that’s disgusting… Their concentration is out the door. You still have to have pride when you go out there and put that uniform on.”
That word lands because it fits. Krukow knows all about miserable baseball in San Francisco; he was part of the 1985 Giants, who finished 62-100, still the worst record in franchise history since the move to San Francisco.
He understands what a lost season looks like, and right now the Giants are giving off that same dead-eyed energy. They look lifeless far too often, and there’s a real chance they could tie or even break that 1985 mark.
The timing makes it sting even more. Krukow is set to retire after this season, which means this is the end of an era for Giants fans who’ve relied on his voice for years. He’s stepping away, and while there’s always the hope he won’t stay gone forever, the reality is that he won’t be around nearly as much going forward.
It’s a rough way to close out a broadcasting run that deserved something better. Nobody was asking for a World Series, but a playoff push and even a little October life would have given Krukow a proper send-off. Instead, he’s being sent out with this mess.
His final game will come on September 27 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and that only adds to the bleakness. The Giants have had emotional farewells before, including Hunter Pence’s going away scooter at the end of 2018 and Bruce Bochy’s big send-off after 2019. But the results around those goodbyes were brutal, too: a 15-0 loss to the Dodgers to finish 2018, then a 9-0 drubbing to close out the next season.
A similar blowout would not exactly be a shocking finish here. It would, however, feel painfully on-brand for a 2026 Giants season that Krukow himself has already summed up perfectly.
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For the Giants, the question is no longer simply how good Gonzalez can be, but how soon they may need to find out at the big league level. With the organization searching for answers amid its current struggles, his timeline may be in line for a serious rethink, and what once looked like a patient, long-term plan could now be moving into a much more urgent conversation. [Read more 🡒]