Duane Kuiper plans to be back in the Giants’ radio and television booth Tuesday after revealing that he has begun treatment for throat cancer, a diagnosis that kept him from joining the club in Los Angeles over the weekend.
The 76-year-old broadcaster said treatment started last week at Stanford Medicine. Kuiper described the condition as separate from the cancer diagnosis that sidelined him in 2021, when chemotherapy forced him away from his regular assignments.
“I’m hopeful the treatment will be successful,” Kuiper said in his statement.
Kuiper had hoped to make the trip south for the Giants’ Saturday and Sunday games against the Dodgers, but his health prevented the visit. He expects to return Tuesday, then work the final three regular-season Giants-Dodgers games at Oracle Park.
A difficult week for the booth
The news arrives as the Giants prepare for an emotional final home stretch with Mike Krukow, Kuiper’s longtime on-air partner and closest friend. Krukow is set to retire when the 2026 season ends, closing a 36-year broadcasting career.
Kuiper said he is eager to be present for Krukow’s final broadcast before retirement.
“I’m looking forward to getting back Tuesday and being there this weekend to honor my partner, Mike Krukow, and the tremendous career he has had,” Kuiper said. “I’m very thankful for the medical care, along with the support from my family, the Giants, my broadcast teammates and so many people who have reached out.”
Krukow has continued working while managing inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disorder that has increasingly limited his mobility. Kuiper, meanwhile, has indicated that he intends to continue calling Giants games after this season.
Miller fills in during Dodgers series
Jon Miller handled play-by-play duties on the NBC Sports Bay Area telecasts during the Los Angeles series. Miller knew Kuiper was dealing with a medical matter before Sunday, though he did not know the exact diagnosis until then.
“I knew it was serious,” Miller said. “I knew that if he were all right, he would have been here.”
Miller said Kuiper’s commitment to the job has remained unmistakable through every challenge. He described both Kuiper and Krukow as broadcasters who still relish arriving at the ballpark, regardless of the physical obstacles each has faced.
“He’s a professional,” Miller said. “He comes prepared and wants to be there. At the ballpark, it is where we all want to be. That is not something you can say about every city or every broadcast crew. Even with everything Kuip and Mike have dealt with, I have never heard either of them ask for a fast game. Not once.”
The final game shared by “Kruk and Kuip” is scheduled for Sept. 27, a date Miller admitted he is trying not to dwell on. He joked that he would love to hear Krukow use his retirement ceremony to announce a change of heart, only to concede that the farewell is real.
For now, the Giants’ booth is preparing to welcome Kuiper back while also beginning to reckon with the closing chapter of one of baseball’s most familiar partnerships.
