San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Mike Krukow: Broadcaster happy to keep working.
Mike Krukow was in midseason form. At the yard. Calling others “meat.” Telling anyone within the sound of his voice, “This is awesome.” Yes, it is.
Saturday was a delightful day for Krukow, a day after it was announced the popular Giants broadcaster got a twoyear contract extension and will call 22 road games from NBC Sports Bay Area studio in San Francisco, a creative way for the color commentator to keep partnering with playbyplan man Duane Kuiper.
“I seriously feel I hit the lottery,” Krukow said, “because I got a big chunk of the season given back to me.”
During Saturday’s FanFest at Oracle Park, the broadcast team was gathered in a perch just outside the rightfield foul pole, and fans lined up by the hundreds to meet the announcers and get autographs.
Krukow was the first of the broadcasters to greet fans, and many wanted to know about his new arrangement on the network’s socalled “SplitKast,” which allows Krukow to provide commentary in real time while watching a monitor of the game and maintaining a conversation with Kuiper, who’ll be in the stadium broadcast booth.
In 2014, Krukow made public he has inclusionbody myositis, a progressive muscle disorder that affects the legs, arms, fingers and wrists. He uses a golf cart to get around Oracle Park, where he’ll call all 81 home games this season.
Krukow said this studio idea was broached three years ago by director Jim Lynch and producer Jeff Kuiper, Duane’s kid brother.
“It wasn’t the time,” Krukow said. “This year, when I negotiated with Larry (Baer), it was for 81 games. I walked out of the office, and I just felt like I gave up the deed to my house. I was really bummed out about it.”
A few days later, Krukow got a call from NBC Sports Bay Area and was asked to consider the idea of calling games in the studio when the team is in Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix, 22 in all. Those were the cities he traveled to last year.
“I said, ‘Don’t tell me this because you’re going to get me pumped up about this,” Krukow said. “They set it up. They went back to Larry. He OKd it.”
Krukow was explaining his new gig to a reporter and momentarily halted the interview whenver fans approached, one by one.
“Can you sign my purse for me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Asked if he can capture the same vibe as he would at the ballpark when he’s alongside his buddy Kuiper and appreciating the views and gazing into the crowd, Krukow said, “Well, we’re going to make it work. I mean, that’s just the deal. Because the alternative is, we don’t do it. That, to us, is no alternative at all.”
“What’s up, meat? You a ballplayer? You any good? Attaboy. Nice going, lefthander. You raised ’em right, Mom.”
“I’m a grandma.” “Really? Well, nice to meet you.”
“If you ever watch me do the game, Duane does the game looking out the window at the field …”
“How ya doin’? Happy new year. Enjoy the season.”
“… When I watch the game, I watch a monitor. That’s how I watch a game. So I’m not changing at all.”
“How you doing? Have fun today.”
“So I went over and saw the booth, Duane was there Thursday. It’s doable. They’re going to have a camera on him, and I can cue him. He can look at me when he’s done talking like we always do. I was really impressed with what they did to set this up. It’s the big leagues, man. I sat in this room, and I’m going, ‘We can do this.’ Until that point, I had a little trepidation.”
“I’m a diehard Braves fan. I’ve been watching the Giants for so long because of you.”
“You can’t give me a better compliment than that. Thank you.”
“Sixtyfour’s a big number. That’s how many steps there are from my booth to the bathroom. I’m good for one trip.”
“How ya doin’? Welcome.”
“So it’s funny. When we get older, we need this game more than ever. The thing about it …”
“How are you? I like your jacket. Are you a skier or a snowboarder?”
“… I think it’s going to be something you’ll start seeing more teams do. Steve Blass, I’ll never forget when he started doing half the season, quit doing road games. He could’ve kept doing ’em. Marty Brennaman might still be in the game. Hawk Harrelson, he might not have quit. If this works, it’s going to create opportunity for some voices that people just don’t want to see walk out of the booth.
“I mean, I’ve had something taken away, and it got back. How cool is that? The road’s no longer an option. It’s not safe. So I’m looking forward to it.”