Giants Broadcaster Duane Kuiper Announces New Cancer Diagnosis

The San Francisco Giants will be without one of their top broadcasters for the next few games before he returns for the final week.

San Francisco Giants television announcer Duane Kuiper. Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

As the San Francisco Giants prepare to celebrate the legendary broadcast career of the beloved Mike Krukow, his broadcast partner is dealing with a new health issue.

Duane Kuiper, who has been Krukow’s broadcast partner for decades, announced that he has throat cancer. That cancer has altered his broadcast schedule for the final week of the season but said he will be on hand to celebrate Krukow, who earlier this season announced his retirement from broadcasting.

San Francisco returns home to host the Minnesota Twins for three games starting on Monday. After an off day on Thursday, the Giants will wrap up the season with three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, also at Oracle Park.

Duane Kuiper On His Cancer

San Francisco Giants television announcers Mike Krukow (left) and Duane Kuiper (right). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Giants released Kuiper’s statement on his behalf, and it was reported by multiple outlets, including USA Today.

“I was recently diagnosed with throat cancer and began treatment last week with my doctors at Stanford Medicine. This cancer is unrelated to the one I experienced five years ago, and I'm optimistic that it will be successfully treated. I'll miss the broadcasts tomorrow and Wednesday as I continue treatment, but I'm looking forward to returning Tuesday and this weekend to celebrate my partner, Mike Krukow, and his remarkable career as he calls final game before retirement. I'm incredibly grateful for the care I'm receiving and for the tremendous support from my family, the Giants organization, my broadcast partners and so many others.”

Aside from a one-year stint with the Colorado Rockies in 1993, Kuiper has called Giants game for either television or radio since he retired in 1986. He was diagnosed with cancer and missed most of the 2021 season due to chemotherapy. He took on a limited schedule in 2022 as a remote broadcaster.

Kuiper batted .271 with a home run and 263 RBI in an 11-year Major League career in which he played for Cleveland (1974-81) and San Francisco (1982-85).

Krukow and Kuiper were teammates from 1983-85. Krukow played from 1976-89 with the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Giants and went 124-117 with a 3.90 ERA and 1,478 strikeouts. Krukow joined the broadcast team in 1996.

The pair were part of calling three World Series title runs in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and helped call the major milestones of Barry Bonds’ career, including breaking the single-season and all-time home run records.