Kuiper returns to Giants’ booth

The ballpark and airwaves were abuzz Saturday night with the return of Duane Kuiper to the Giants’ broadcast booth.

Kuiper joined his longtime partner, color commentator Mike Krukow, for the middle game of the threegame series against the Pirates.

In the pregame show, when studio host Greg Papa welcomed back Kuiper and mentioned he was missed, Kuiper said, “Hey, missed me.”

It was Kuiper’s first broadcast since June 6. He had announced he was dealing with a

Imedical condition that required chemotherapy.

“Sitting on that couch after a while ... my wife is so happy that I walked out of the house today,” Kuiper said Saturday. “She gets six hours where she doesn’t have to worry about me tripping or falling or what I’m going to eat.

“Anyway, I’m thrilled to be back, and the one thing I definitely learned while I was gone for whatever it was, two months or so, is how much I appreciate my partners because I got a chance to watch them for all those games, and I certainly do appreciate them.” Krukow didn’t know Kuiper would join him in the booth, and when Kuiper walked in, Krukow choked up and embraced him: “Come here, see me. God, what a sight for sore eyes. God bless ya. Hey, God bless ya. Oh, man. Got my boy back.”

Kuiper said he had decided several days ago to broadcast the weekend games. Somehow, the news didn’t reach Krukow. “What a buffoon,” Krukow said. “I’m the only guy in the Bay Area that doesn’t know he’s coming back. Yeah, he got me good.”

In the second inning, Kuiper reflected on the reunion and noted, “It was exactly what I was thinking about, all those moments on the couch.” “We missed him,” Krukow said, “and we got him back.”

John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: jshea@ sfchronicle.com

Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper, who had been absent while undergoing chemotherapy, returned to work Saturday.