Sunday’s season finale had all the markings of a farewell for Mike Krukow, but Duane Kuiper made sure it didn’t turn into a heavy one.
Before fans even made it into the ballpark, Kuiper was already working his own angle on the Giants announcer’s last game. The team had spent September running a graphic of a smiling Krukow beside the words “Atta babe, Kruk” as a tribute to one of his familiar lines.
Kuiper decided Krukow needed a little competition on the wall. Early Sunday morning, he added a handmade stick-figure self-portrait next to it, complete with an emoticon head, the label “Kuip,” and a “boiler” potbelly.
On the broadcast, Kuiper said he had slipped down to the field before the game and used a model and duct tape to finish the piece.
Krukow said the joke landed exactly right.
“I gotta tell you, it kind of took the edge off. I was coming here feeling a little melancholy today and that made me laugh hard. So, thank you, partner,” said Krukow.
“Kinda sums up our relationship, doesn’t it,” replied Kuiper.
The pregame tributes kept rolling from there. Three of Krukow’s children performed the national anthem, fans showed up wearing Krukow’s No. 39 jerseys, and after the first inning the Giants announced the home booth had been officially renamed the “Kruk and Kuip Broadcast Booth.”
Kuiper even had one more punchline ready for the moment.
“Next year, I'm gonna get a sharpie, and you know what that's gonna say? Kuiper broadcast booth,” said Kuiper to howls of laughter from his partner.
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