Duane Kuiper

Last updated

Duane Kuiper
Duane Kuiper at 2012 Giants victory parade.jpg
Kuiper at the 2012 World Series victory parade
San Francisco Giants
Second baseman
Born: (1950-06-19) June 19, 1950 (age 74)
Racine, Wisconsin, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 9, 1974, for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
June 27, 1985, for the San Francisco Giants

According to an Aug. 21, 2019 story in Sports Broadcast Journal, Kuiper uses a deep baritone voice when a player swings and misses, when a dramatic play is made, and when he calls home runs.

Kuiper is noted for his distinctive calls beginning and ending each game: after the result of the first batter of the game, he says, "And that's how this game gets started"; when the ball game is over, Kuiper says, "And that's the ball game!"

When Kuiper states the pitch count on a batter, he often calls "nothing" in lieu of calling "a ball" and the current number of strikes when the count is "no balls". Kuiper often uses the phrase "Got 'em!" when an out is recorded.

His trademark home run call is "He hits it high... hits it deep... it is (or this baby is) OUTTA HERE!" or "HIGH DRIVE... LEFT (or RIGHT) FIELD... IT IS (sometimes: THIS BABY IS) OUTTA HERE!" Another popular home run saying, "THAT ONE'S HIGH, AND DEEP, AND... GONE! A HOME RUN!"

In April 2010, Kuiper coined a new slogan from a fan's sign for the SF Giants club: "Giants baseball... torture!" This slogan is used generally if the games are either tense, tight, or very close, in which the Giants have later won by a small margin. [18] [19]

Personal life

Kuiper lives in Danville, California. He was married to Michelle Kuiper for 36 years before she died on February 20, 2022. [20] Together, they had two children: a son, Cole, who is married to Rachel Jensen Kuiper, and a daughter, Dannon, who is married to Zack Rease. Kuiper has two granddaughters: Andy (born 2019) and Kit (born 2021). [21]

Kuiper is just one in a family of baseball broadcasters, all working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His younger brother, Glen Kuiper, was the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics from 2006 to 2023, a job mirroring his older brother's a few miles across the bay. Their middle brother, Jeff, is a television producer for the Giants who produces Duane's broadcasts. [13]

For many years, Kuiper would visit his family's farm in Sturtevant, Wisconsin whenever the Giants played the Brewers in Milwaukee. [22] The farm continued to be owned by his father, Henry Kuiper, until the elder Kuiper sold it in 2018 so that the land could be redeveloped into a hospital complex. [23] Henry Kuiper died in 2019 at age 95.

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References

  1. ↑ "Cleveland Indians 7, Detroit Tigers 1". Baseball-reference.com. September 9, 1974.
  2. ↑ "Cleveland Indians 9, Chicago White Sox 2". Baseball-reference.com. August 29, 1977.
  3. ↑ "CWS@CLE: Kuiper launches first and only career homer". YouTube. August 29, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  4. ↑ Franz Lidz (June 25, 1984). "A Sultan Of Swat He's Not: San Francisco's Duane Kuiper has hit one home run in nine seasons". Sports Illustrated .
  5. ↑ Alex Pavlovic (April 24, 2014). "Kuiper: "If I would have hit two, would there be a bobblehead? No? Well, then this is fantastic!"". San Jose Mercury News .
  6. ↑ "California Angels at Cleveland Indians Box Score". Baseball-reference.com. May 30, 1977.
  7. ↑ "Cleveland Indians 17, New York Yankees 5". Baseball-reference.com. July 27, 1978.
  8. ↑ "Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Indians Box Score". Baseball-reference.com. May 15, 1981.
  9. 1 2 "The San Francisco Giants Sunday traded right-handed pitcher Ed...," United Press International (UPI), Sunday, November 15, 1981. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  10. ↑ Wancho, Joseph (June 17, 2014). "Duane Kuiper". Society for American Baseball Research . Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  11. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (April 6, 1993). "Rocky Mountain First for an Old Familiar Voice". The New York Times.
  12. ↑ "San Francisco Giants Broadcasters". MLB Advanced Media. SFGiants.com. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  13. 1 2 Ortiz, Jorge L. (June 26, 2006). "Work ethic makes for good TV from Kuipers". USA Today. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
  14. ↑ Landers, Chris (June 13, 2018). "Matt Cain's dominant perfect game cemented his place in Giants history". Cut4. Major League Baseball . Retrieved June 1, 2024.
  15. ↑ Schulman, Henry (December 24, 2010). "Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper to get extensions". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Krukow reflects on Kuiper's return to booth: 'Hair on the neck just went straight up'". KNBR. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  17. ↑ McDonald, Jerry (March 23, 2022). "SF Giants announcer Duane Kuiper returns to KNBR after personal tragedy". Monterey Herald. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  18. ↑ Kroner, Steve (October 6, 2010). "The Season". SFGate.com (San Francisco Chronicle). Hearst Communications. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  19. ↑ Eskenazi, Joe (October 4, 2010). "'Giants Baseball: Torture.' Can That Phrase Be Trademarked?". sfweekly.com. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  20. ↑ "SF Giants Broadcaster Duane Kuiper's Wife Dies At Age 64". CBS News Bay Area. February 24, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Giants Broadcasters". MLB.com .
  22. ↑ Schulman, Henry (August 22, 2000). "GIANTS CLUBHOUSE / Kuiper Boys Weren't Cut Out for Farming". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  23. ↑ Jackel, Peter (October 7, 2018). "Farewell to the farm / Duane Kuiper takes one last visit to the place that shaped his life". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved April 1, 2022.

Further reading

Achievements
Preceded by Two bases-loaded triples in a game
July 27, 1978		Succeeded by
current
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