Mike Krukow, the voice generations of San Francisco Giants fans grew up with, has announced he will retire at the end of the 2026 season, closing out 36 years in the broadcast booth alongside partner Duane Kuiper. The 74-year-old former pitcher revealed the decision as he continues to manage inclusion-body myositis, a rare degenerative muscle disease he disclosed in 2014 that has increasingly limited his travel and mobility, forcing him to rely on a motorized wheelchair.
According to KTVU, the Giants organization confirmed that Krukow will step away after this season, ending a run that began in 1990 when he started as a part-time analyst at KNBR before moving into a full-time broadcasting role in 1994. Krukow and Kuiper, known to Bay Area fans simply as “Kruk and Kuip,” have called games together ever since, becoming, according to the dossier's reporting, the longest-running active broadcasting duo in Major League Baseball, a partnership that reportedly began in the early 1990s.
A Pitching Career That Preceded the Microphone
Krukow spent 14 years in the majors as a pitcher, compiling a 124-117 record with a 3.90 ERA across stints with the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the San Francisco Giants. His signature season came in 1986, when he went 20-9 for the Giants, made the NL All-Star team, and finished third in Cy Young Award voting. He joined San Francisco in December 1982 in a trade that sent future Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and pitcher Al Holland to Philadelphia, a deal that also brought pitcher Mark Davis to the Giants.
Krukow's standing with his own teammates predated his broadcasting fame. He was voted by fellow players to receive the Giants' Willie Mac Award for spirit and leadership in both 1985 and 1986, and he was later inducted onto the team's Wall of Fame. That reputation as a clubhouse leader carried directly into the booth, where he narrated some of the franchise's most memorable eras, including Barry Bonds' record-breaking milestones in the mid-2000s, Matt Cain's perfect game in 2012, and World Series championships in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
Living With a Rare Muscle Disease on the Job
Inclusion-body myositis causes progressive, irreversible muscle weakness in the legs, forearms, and wrists, and it is exceedingly rare, affecting an estimated 5 to 9 out of every 1 million adults. Krukow shared his diagnosis in 2014, and the disease has since limited how much he could travel with the team for road broadcasts. To keep him on the air despite that limitation, NBC Sports Bay Area adopted so-called splitcast technology in recent seasons, allowing Krukow to deliver color analysis from a San Francisco studio while Kuiper called road games on location.
Giants president Larry Baer called Krukow the team's spiritual leader and a forever Giant, according to the dossier's account of the team's statement. In his own retirement statement, Krukow quoted the Bay Area band Green Day, and he and his wife Jennifer said they love and respect their Giants family, adding that they have had the time of their lives with the organization.
Emmys, a Frick Award Nod, and a Farewell Set for September
Krukow's broadcasting résumé includes 13 Emmy Awards and back-to-back honors as California's Sportscaster of the Year in 2015 and 2017. He was also named a national finalist for the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence in both 2017 and 2024, with Kuiper named a finalist on the same 2024 ballot. Beyond the booth, Krukow and Kuiper reached a national audience when they voiced play-by-play and color commentary for EA Sports' *MVP Baseball* video game series from 2003 to 2005.
The Giants will celebrate Krukow at Oracle Park on September 27, capping a tenure that taught generations of Bay Area fans the rhythms of the game through catchphrases like in the squat for catchers behind the plate. His retirement follows the March 2024 departure of longtime Oracle Park public address announcer Renel Brooks-Moon, who had held that role since 2000, marking a broader generational shift among the fan-facing voices tied to the ballpark. Hoodline previously reported that Krukow was a 40-year family friend of Duane Kuiper's brother, former A's broadcaster Glen Kuiper, underscoring how deeply the Krukow-Kuiper partnership was woven into Bay Area baseball beyond the Giants booth itself.
