Giants TV Legend Tells Hilarious Story of Trying to Fail Physical on Purpose

It’s hard to imagine the San Francisco Giants without Duane Kuiper.

The former Giants pitcher has become an institution to generations of Giants fans for his work on both KNBR and NBC Sports Bay Area calling San Francisco Giants game alongside another former player, John Krukow.

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His sense of the moment and his candor draw fans in. As an announcer, he called Barry Bonds’ record-breaking home runs and Matt Cain’s perfect game, among other seminal San Francisco baseball moments.

He’s part of the fabric of Bay Area baseball. He also tried everything possible to not join the Giants when he was traded from Cleveland before the 1982 season. In fact, he tried to purposely fail the physical.

Duane Kuiper’s Failed Physical

KUIP: "How do I flunk this physical, I don't wanna go to San Francisco."

Giants: "We want him anyway!"

The Maxx Crosby situation reminded Duane Kuiper of a time when he tried to weasel his way out of his trade to the Giants. Thankfully for all of us, the Giants insisted.

(via… pic.twitter.com/kZJH4CWaT4
— KNBR (@KNBR) March 11, 2026

The Racine, Wis., native was eight years into his Major League career with Cleveland when he was dealt to the Giants. As he told KNBR’s “Markus and Murph” earlier this week, he didn’t want to go. In fact, he really didn’t want to go, to the point where he met with a Cleveland doctor to figure a way not to go.

“I went to a doctor friend of mine in Cleveland because I had to fly out to see the Giants team doctors,” he said. “So, I went to a Cleveland doctor and I said, ‘How do I flunk this physical? I don’t want to San Francisco.’”

Kuiper got his tips, went to San Francisco and took his physical. Incredibly, he failed it.

That put then-Giants general manager Tom Haller in a pickle. The former Giants player now had to figure out what to do as he thought Kuiper was healthy. Today, a player that fails a physical means the trade gets nixed, as was the case in the NFL earlier this week when Maxx Crosby failed a physical in his trade to the Baltimore Ravens.

Well, today wasn’t 1982 and Haller went a different direction.

“So I take the physical and I’m sitting in Tom Haller’s office right after the physical,” Kuiper said. “And he calls the [Guardians] about this physical and what it means. I can only hear Tom Haller talking … All I hear Tom Haller say is, ‘We want him anyway.’” I was like, ‘What?! What?! We want him anyway?!’”

Giants fans are better for it, and frankly so is Kuiper. Aside from one year with the Colorado Rockies during their expansion season in 1993, he’s been with the Giants. Haller made the right call.