Kuiper feels ‘good,’ eyes return to broadcasting

Still feeling OK near the start of his chemotherapy treatments, Duane Kuiper said he is cautiously optimistic he can broadcast this weekend’s Giants’ series with the Oakland A’s at Oracle Park, starting with Friday’s game.

Kuiper, who turned 71 on Saturday, announced earlier this month that he would need to miss some Giants broadcasts on NBC Sports Bay Area and KNBR as he began chemotherapy treatments due to his health condition, which has not been specified.

Kuiper told KNBR’s “Murph and Mac” show on Tuesday that he’s feeling, “pretty good.”

“I am new at this whole chemo thing. You read about it, you have friends that go through it; you don’t real details about it until you jump in the water, and then the water

can be a little weird,” Kuiper said. “You really don’t know what to expect from day-to-day how you’re going to feel.

“So far I’ve had a month’s worth of treatments, three more months to go. The original schedule was every Friday, but that got kicked back last week, so this week it’s going to be Thursday, which is giving me a lot of hope that I can do the weekend series.”

Kuiper said he will listen to medical professionals before he determines his schedule, which will remain fluid.

Friday’s game with Oakland will mark the first time since Sept. 29, 2019 that a full capacity crowd will be allowed inside the China Basin ballpark, a circumstance that could complicate his return with his immune system compromised due to his treatments.

Kuiper said his doctors have said he can go to work, but “you can’t be around a lot of people. Well, I’m going right to a place that’s going to have the most people in one area and any place. So I’m going to have to really watch it as far as sitting down in the middle of a group. And it’s going to be hard to do because everybody’s going

to want to come up and see me, and it’s coming from a good place. They’re coming from a great place.

“But Mike (Krukow) and I are going to have to watch it fairly closely.”

Kuiper played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1985, with the first eight coming with the Cleveland Indians and the last four with the Giants.

A 13-time Emmy Award winner, Kuiper has become one of the Bay Area’s most beloved sports broadcasters, as he and Krukow are in their 31st season together as the Giants’ broadcasting duo.

“That’s primarily what I want to do, but as we found out over the course of this, it doesn’t take more than one or two or three nurses or doctor’s opinions to change that in an instant,” Kuiper said Tuesday.

“But so far we’re on track, but it’s important. I know my voice is going to be weak and it’s going to be a little bit different, but I’m ready for that, and I’m sure our fans are ready for that too.”

Kuiper said he’s been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, saying he’s received about 200 text messages as he’s heard from longtime friends, Giants players, and fans

“I heard from people that I haven’t heard from in 50 years, and I heard from Giants players that I’ve never met because

of the COVID, which was super nice,” Kuiper said. “And I obviously heard from all the guys that I know, and everybody in the organization.

“When you’ve been around as long as I have, you’re going to have touched a few bases, so it’s been great. It’s been overwhelming. It’s been great for my kids. It’s been really super.”

Kuiper said he fell on June 14 while he was working in his garage, breaking two of his ribs and punctured his lung. He spent the night in the hospital.

Kuiper said he had trouble falling asleep after he got home the day after the accident but was able to find a comfortable position on the couch. He fell asleep with the Giants’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks still in progress and missed Mike Yastrzemski’s eighth-inning grand slam that capped an improbable comeback for San Francisco, which won 9-8.

“I got up the next morning to look at my iPad, thinking I’m going to see an 8-3 final or 8-5, and they won the game,” Kuiper said. “I listened to (Jon Miller’s) call, I listened to (Dave Flemming’s) call. I listened to every possible call I could find, I listened to Arizona announcer’s calls. I couldn’t get enough of it.”