The real Forever Giant

Thank you, Mike Krukow

I was always a Kuip guy growing up.

The highlights on SportsCenter would roll and I’d punctuate home runs with OUTTA HERE! and plays at the plate with GOT ‘EM! Duane Kuiper’s baseball vocabulary became my own.

Between the highlights, though, Mike Krukow taught me how to watch baseball.

To notice if a starter was throwing about 15 pitches per inning. To see when a pickoff throw was called from the bench. To understand if a breaking ball was coming through the front door or the back.

Yeah, yeah, there’s the catcher in the SQUAAAAT and GRAB SOME PINE, MEAT.

But in a moment of celebration I might say “thankyouverynice.” Or in a less celebratory moment I might be “hacked off.”

Point is, nobody taught me more about the game than he did.

I’m a proud student of the Mike Krukow School of Baseball. And while we’ll all be graduating a bit sooner than expected, I’ve loved every moment of it.

Thank you, Kruk,