DALLAS – The collective legacy of Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow is defined not by their resumes, but by theirs Impact on the game of baseball. Still, there is no shortage of people in the baseball world who want to see Kruk and Kuip win the Ford C. Frick Award together.
These people will have to wait at least another year.
On the one hand for the second year in a rowKrukow and Kuiper fell short Wednesday of winning the award, which is given annually to an MLB broadcaster for “outstanding contributions to baseball.” The honor went to Tom Hamilton, longtime radio announcer for the Cleveland Guardians.
Other nominees included Skip Caray, Rene Cardenas, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Ernie Johnson Sr., Dave Sims and John Sterling.
Given that they’ve been one of the best pairings in baseball for three decades, Krukow and Kuiper will likely have another chance to win the Frick Award.
Kuiper entered the broadcast booth full-time in 1986 after his playing days. Aside from a year spent with the Rockies in 1993, Kuiper has been on the air in San Francisco for nearly four decades.
Krukow began working as a part-time color commentator in 1990, covering 14 games in his first season in the booth. Her workload increased to 45 in 1991 and 72 in 1992 before becoming full-time in 1993. When Kuiper returned from Denver in 1994, Kruk and Kuip officially became a full-time duo in San Francisco, a position they have held for three decades and counting.
“Mike has been the best color announcer on a baseball team for the last 30 years,” Kuiper said of Krukow. “You’ll get discussions from people in Atlanta. You’ll get discussions from people in Houston. They could argue all they wanted, but I know he was the best.”
“It’s not often that an analyst, step by step, reaches the level he reached as a broadcaster,” Krukow said of Kuiper. “That just doesn’t happen often. I think his uniqueness justifies his presence on this list and will hopefully one day justify his selection as a Ford C. Frick winner.”
Mel Allen and Red Barber were named the first recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award in 1978, but there have not been multiple winners in a single year since. Time will tell if the Hall of Fame will make an exception to properly honor the Giants duo.
“I want each of them to win the award for their individual skills and accomplishments,” former Giants manager Corey Busch told this news organization. “I don’t want a Ford C. Frick to go to the team of Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper. Everyone deserves to win as an individual. However, I think it would be wonderful if both received this award in the same year. There’s no reason they can’t make this exception considering they are incredibly worthy as individuals and have been together for so long.”
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