2026 may not end up being Mike Krukow's final goodbye to SF Giants after all

The news that beloved SF Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow will be retiring at the end of this season became a bit more real on Friday night. The news was announced at Oracle Park and the entire stadium gave him a round of applause as Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” the song Krukow quoted in his retirement announcement, played.

It was an emotional moment and many fans couldn’t help but get a bit teary-eyed as it set in that this is real, Krukow will actually be stepping away at the end of September.

September 27 may not be the last time we hear the voice of a man who has defined Giants baseball for decades, though. San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser appeared on KNBR after the news became public and said that when she spoke to Krukow and she broached the idea of him still filling in as an analyst in future years on occasion, he was very receptive to the idea.

That is great news because at least it means there's a chance that Krukow isn’t fully stepping away forever and won't ever call another game for the Giants. Obviously, his health has made it difficult to call games for a long time but he has battled through it and the broadcast has gotten creative to ensure he and Duane Kuiper can call games together even if they aren’t in the same location.

Even if it’s just one or two series per year, it would still be so nice to have Krukow call a couple of games just so we don’t lose that unique voice forever.

He said in his retirement announcement that he’d be spending the bulk of his time at his home in Reno since that is the best for his health, but one imagines he will be in San Francisco every now and then. Whenever he’s in town if they’re able to get him in the booth that would make a lot of Giants fans very happy.

Obviously, one hopes that Krukow will at least return to the booth one more time whenever Kuiper decides to retire. Those two deserve to take one final bow together so if health permits him to do that then it would be the storybook finish those two legends deserve.

Who will replace Mike Krukow after his retirement?

Of course, one can only wonder who will assume the bulk of the broadcast duties from Krukow going forward. Hunter Pence seems like the most logical choice especially for home games since he lives in San Francisco. He’s also traveled with the team and called a ton of road games in recent years so he has to be the favorite.

Pence is great in the booth so Giants fans will at least have another franchise icon calling games going forward, but no one will ever be able to fully match what Krukow brought to the table on a nightly basis.

Even though September 27 will be a very emotional goodbye, at least it seems like it won’t necessarily be goodbye forever to Krukow and one can only hope he will fill in and call some Giants games in the future.

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