It’s been an awful season for the San Francisco Giants, in virtually every way imaginable. But on Thursday morning, arguably the hardest piece of news all season landed: Mike Krukow is retiring.
The beloved broadcaster announced on Thursday morning that the 2026 season will be his last in the booth. The news was shared via the team’s social media accounts, as well as in a press release. The organization also announced that there will be a celebration for Krukow on the final day of the season, September 27.
Here’s the full statement from the legendary broadcaster:
I just want to let everyone know that I will be retiring at the end of the season. I want to take this time to thank you for your incredible support.
Jennifer and I have been so blessed to be able to stay in the game for as long as we have and it’s really made it impossible to feel sorry for myself that my career is coming to an end.
We are bracing for the emotional hits we know we are going to feel in the next few weeks. Jennifer and I are wondering if it is even possible to let everyone know how deeply we love and respect our Giants family.
Our time together has been a gift.
When Green Day asked, “I hope you’ve had the time of your lives,” we certainly have.
Thank you.
— Mike Krukow
The news is gut-wrenching for any Giants fan, as Krukow’s voice has been synonymous with the team for more than three decades. It is, frankly, difficult to imagine the Giants without Krukow.
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While the news is heartbreaking, it’s hardly surprising. Krukow has been dealing with a degenerative muscle disease, inclusion body myositis, for some time now. In recent years, he’s dramatically reduced the number of games he broadcasts, and has stopped traveling for road games. When he and his broadcast partner Duane Kuiper call home games these days, Kuiper does so from the ballpark, while Krukow is in the NBC Sports studios back in the Bay Area.
Unfortunately, that toll became too difficult for Kruk. In an interview with Alex Pavlovic, Krukow revealed that his reasons for retiring are entirely due to his health.
“I don’t want to quit,” the former All-Star pitcher told Pavlovic. “Unfortunately the rules change, first from year to year and then month to month and now it’s day to day. It’s becoming unsafe. My home in Reno is so much safer and it really is the determining factor in how I can’t do games anymore.”
It the coming days and weeks, we’ll pen lots of words about how great Krukow is, and how dearly he’ll be missed. For now, though, we’ll just let his words do the talking.
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Thank you, Kruk.
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