Duane Eugene Kuiper (born June 19, 1950 in Racine, Wisconsin) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians (1974-1981) and San Francisco Giants (1982-1985). Kuiper was a good fielder. His career batting average was .271, about average in the league at the time, but his power was virtually non-existent--in 3,379 at bats he had only one home run, which was against Chicago White Sox's pitcher Steve Stone on August 29th in 1977. It is the major league record for most at-bats with only one HR. However, since the game was on national television, Kuiper's amazing feat was captured on video--the Giants telecasts (of which he is a part) will run the highlight from time to time to poke fun at Kuiper. Upon pitcher Matt Cain's first career home run, Mike Krukow said "Matt Cain has now tied Kuip on the all time home run list." Kuiper holds the distinction of being the only Major League player to hit two bases-loaded triples in a game, July 27, 1978 at Yankee Stadium. Kuiper is currently a radio and television sportscaster for the San Francisco Giants, and is part of the duo known as "Kruk and Kuip" along with Mike Krukow. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for games on FSN Bay Area. Both Krukow and Kuiper can be heard in the Electronic Arts video games MVP Baseball 2004, MVP Baseball 2005. Kuiper made the TV call for Barry Bonds' histoic 756th home run which broke Hank Aaron's record, although the historic call is that of KNBR radio announcer Jon Miller. His call of Bonds' 715th home run to pass Babe Ruth however is considered the historic call for that home run as radio announcer Dave Flemming's microphone cut out at the exact moment the ball was hit. Kuiper's trademark home run call is "He hits it high... hits it deep...OUTTA HERE!" Kuiper is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Kuiper now lives in Danville, California with his wife Michelle, son Cole, and daughter Dannon.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
