- Grab some pine, meat! I love that phrase!
- Mike Krukow is more famous for his announcing of Giants games (along with Duane Kuiper), but he was a pretty good pitcher as well
- The Giants acquired Mike in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1982 season. Joe Morgan and Al Holland were traded to the Phillies for Krukow, Mark Davis, and a minor leaguer.
- Before the Giants got him, Krukow had a career record of 58-61 in seven seasons with the Chicago Cubs (6 years) and the Phillies (1 year)
- Mike made his major league debut on September 6, 1976 (my 10th birthday)
1983 Topps Traded #58T
- In 1983 Krukow was 11-11 with a 3.95 ERA in 31 starts
1984 Topps #633
- Krukow was 11-12 with one save and a 4.56 ERA in 35 games (33 starts)
- Mike led the NL with 234 hits allowed
1985 Topps #74
- Mike had a 3.38 ERA in 1985 but slipped to an 8-11 record in 28 starts
- Won the Willie Mac Award
1986 Topps #752
- Mike's best season was in 1986
- Krukow had a 20-9 record with an ERA of 3.05 in 34 starts
- Mike finished 3rd in NL Cy Young Award voting in 1986
- Krukow pitched a scoreless 9th inning in the 1986 All Star Game
- Beat the Dodgers 11-2 for his 20th win on the last day of the season.
- Won the Willie Mac Award for the second straight year
1987 Topps #580
- Slipped to a 5-7 record with a 4.80 ERA in 30 games (28 starts)
- Allowed 2 runs on 9 hits in a complete-game 4-2 win in game 4 of the NL Championship series
1988 Topps #445
- Went 7-4 with a 3.54 ERA in 20 starts in 1988
- Did not pitch from late June to mid August.
- Pitched his last game of the 1988 season on August 28
- Underwent rotator cuff surgery on September 13
1989 Topps #125
- Started eight games and was 4-3 with a 3.98 ERA
- His last major league game was June 4, 1989
- Underwent surgery on June 30 to repair a torn rotator cuff
1990 Topps #241
- Retired in March 1990 -- he wasn't able to come back from the rotator cuff injury
3 comments:
I did not know that Kruk made his debut on my 5th birthday. Good to know I have a great Birthday mate.
After the fantastic game that knocked the Dodgers out of the pennant race in 1982, on the final day of the season (Joe Morgan's HR 10/3/82), the consensus of the fans, local sportswriters & teammates was KEEP JOE MORGAN.
So you can imagine the uproar from the fans/writers/team when they traded Morgan to Philadelphia to get Krukow (and two others).
The Giants ended up falling from a 3rd place finish in '82 to fifth place in '83. They would fall further in '84 and lose 100 games in '85. Meanwhile, the 1983 Phillies would go on to win the pennant but lose the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles.
However, to think of the San Francisco Giants today WITHOUT Mike Krukow is nearly impossible. He has become (with Duane Kuiper) the Giant's biggest cheerleader. Who would've believed that one of the trade nearly 30 years ago would still resonate today.
On the final game of the 1982 season, Joe Morgan hit a 3 run homer to knock the Dodgers out of the playoffs. Having finished the season in third place, hopes were high that the Giants would improve in 1983. The first step to this goal, and the consensus of the fans, local sportswriters & teammates was KEEP JOE MORGAN.
So you can imagine the uproar from the fans/writers/team when they traded Morgan to Philadelphia to get Krukow (and two others).
The Giants ended up falling from a 3rd place finish in '82 to fifth place in '83. They would fall further in '84 and lose 100 games in '85. Meanwhile, the 1983 Phillies would go on to win the pennant but lose the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles.
However, to think of the San Francisco Giants today WITHOUT Mike Krukow is nearly impossible. He has become (with Duane Kuiper) the Giants biggest cheerleader. Who would've believed that one of the least popular trades would have such a huge impact on the teams history?
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