Legendary San Francisco Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow will hang up the headset after 36 years at the conclusion of the 2026 season. Upon learning of the news, ESPN’s Buster Olney made one request for the MLB Hall of Fame.
The honor that Olney is referring to for broadcasters is the Ford C. Frick Award. The award is handed out every season, going to broadcasters who’ve spent at least 10 years calling games and made “major contributions to baseball,” according to the MLB Hall of Fame website.
Every year, a subcommittee picks the ballot for the yearly award, with 10 candidates in consideration. Ballots are cast in November, with the results being announced during the Winter Meetings in December. The electorate is comprised of previous Frick Award winners, plus three baseball historians/columnists.
MLB Reporters Plead for Giants Legendary Broadcast Duo to Be Inducted Together
What Olney proposes is that the Hall of Fame recognize both Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow at the same time. Alex Pavolvic of NBC Sports Bay Area and The Athletic‘s Andrew Baggarly share similar sentiments.
The earliest that either Krukow or Kuiper could receive the Frick Award is the 2028 season. Every five years, the committee shifts to the pre-Wild Card (before 1995) era. That five-year cycle concludes in 2027.
When either Kuiper or Krukow is named a Frick Award winner, they’d be the third Giants broadcaster to receive the honor. The last two broadcasters to receive the award are Russ Hodges (1980) and Jon Miller (2010). Miller still broadcasts Giants games on the radio for KNBR, alongside Dave Flemming.
Kuiper and Krukow have been in consideration multiple times throughout their careers. The former was a finalist for the 2026 award, which ultimately went to former FOX Sports lead television announcer Joe Buck. Buck has since moved on to ESPN, primarily calling NFL games for the Worldwide Leader in sports.
As Pavlovic alluded to, they prefer not to let broadcasters go in together. But when Kuiper and/or Krukow are on the ballot again in 2028, it will serve as a stress test. It will be interesting if the subcommittee makes an exception and allows the pair to win the award together, given their contributions to the game as a pair.
Legendary Giants Broadcast Duo of Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow in Final Season Together
The legendary pairing of Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow has called Giants games since the 1994 season. As the pair enter their 70s, their time behind the mic is slowly coming to a close.
In their time together, the Giants won three World Series Championships between 2010 and 2014. It marked their first championships since moving to San Francisco ahead of the 1958 season.
In addition to spending the last 33 seasons together, the duo also were the voices behind the MVP Baseball series. The EA baseball franchise, especially its 2005 release, is considered one of the best baseball video games to play.
Justice delos Santos of the East Bay Times reports that Kuiper plans to continue calling games.
Kuiper jokingly compared his new broadcasting situation to baseball in the Bay Area in an interview with The Athletic. There used to be two teams in the area for over 50 years; now there’s only one after the Athletics moved out of Oakland after the 2024 season.
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