Mike Krukow's message to Giants fans? ‘You did more for me than I've ever done for you'

Mazi, Cruz, Hana and Ben Skinner told Mike Krukow how much he's meant to them before Monday's game at Oracle Park, with son Zion later getting a lesson on proper handshake technique. (Susan Slusser/S.F. Chronicle) RENO - Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper celebrate the fans as much as the game itself when they are behind the mic. The relationship is deeply personal.

>Who's had it better? No one, Krukow always says, and the San Francisco Giants TV analyst never takes that for granted. In the past six weeks since Krukow announced his pending retirement, the fans have rushed to share their memories, to give him love, to show appreciation for 37 years of providing a soundtrack to their summers.

>It's been a lot. It's been wonderful.

Related:Mike Krukow opens up about life in and after baseball - and the first time he met Duane Kuiper"Everybody these last couple weeks has gone out of their way to tell me thank you and how much our broadcasts have meant to them and to their families and how much a part of their lives that we've been," Krukow said, "Beautiful, beautiful testimonies, and I feel like saying, ‘Believe me, you did more for me than I've ever done for you,' and it's a fact. We all feel the same: Our audience is so special."

>A quick stroll around the Oracle Park concourse with Krukow one night demonstrates how much he loves the fans and they, him. A gentleman from Austria tells Krukow he learned baseball from listening to Kruk and Kuip and is now a massive Giants fan. A young man from Reno gets choked up, telling Krukow his father recently died and this was his first game since then. The two share a moment, Krukow holding his hand.

Fans Rocky Benedetto, daughter Brooklyn and friend Edie Bellinger chatted with Giants announcer Mike Krukow in the concourse before Monday's game at Oracle Park. (Susan Slusser/S.F. Chronicle) Ben Skinner, attending the game with wife, Hana; daughters Cruz, 13, and Mazi, 10, and son Zion, 4, also got emotional when talking to Krukow and about him.

>"When our oldest was a baby, we didn't have enough money to go to the games," Skinner said, his voice cracking. "We would sit on our back porch and eat peanuts and she would be on my lap and we would listen to the whole game."

>In a 15-minute span, Krukow took photos with about 30 fans ("You've got to snuggle up!" he said to one group), heard numerous stories, complimented babies and taught two youngsters, Brooklyn Benedetto and Edie Bellinger, how to properly shake hands, making sure the handshakes were firm and that they said their names clearly and confidently.

>Kruk and Kuip always have seen this as a two-way street, an "ongoing conversation" with the entire fan base. They know that if they refer to something two days later, their listeners will know exactly what they're talking about.

Mazi, Cruz, Hana and Ben Skinner told Mike Krukow how much he's meant to them before Monday's game at Oracle Park, with son Zion later getting a lesson on proper handshake technique. (Susan Slusser/S.F. Chronicle) "We're having dinner with everybody every night," Krukow said, "plus, we talk about them when they come to the games."

>During home games, the fans provide fodder that's occasionally better than what's happening on the field. Trying to balance a big tray of food while catching a foul ball? Make a good play on a ball, flub a play? Kruk and Kuip will focus on you for the rest of the game. Panda hats, Melk Men, babies, groups of friends - you name it, they'll find a fun descriptor and incorporate it the rest of the broadcast.

>Many of those people, some of them babies or toddlers when Kruk and Kuip singled them out, have reached out in recent weeks.

>"All the time, especially now," Krukow said. "I feel like in the last 37 years, at one point or another, we put every Giants fan that ever came to the ballpark in the history of the Giants on TV. They'll tell you, ‘Hey, I'm the guy, remember me from …'

>"There was Len Herzstein, the Ball Dude with big feet who got hit in the foot one night and Kuip said, ‘Well, we have to change his name to ‘Len My Foot Still Hertzstein.' Well, one of his relatives came up and said, ‘Len was my uncle, we really appreciated you talking about him but you were a little hard on him,' and laughed."

>The Gamer Babes - groups of female friends who made regular visits to the park - always got shout-outs. Krukow hears from them, too.

>"There would be three or four or six or however many of them, there'd be a hen party or whatever, and they were having fun," he said. "They became ‘The Gamer Babes of Half Moon Bay,' because it sounded good. Well, we drove into Half Moon Bay one day and they were selling ‘Gamer Babes from Half Moon Bay' T-shirts. It was great.

>"Pretty soon, you started seeing signs: ‘The Gamer Babes of Visalia.' ‘The Gamer Babes of Petaluma.' It grew and grew, they started forming clubs and they became support groups for one another. I get stopped all the time by women who were part of that. It's so positive, those groups became really beautiful things."

>Since Krukow announced that this is his final season, the Giants have held a special appreciation for him between innings at every home game he works. Krukow waves from the broadcast booth - though it took him some time to figure out what kind of wave he wanted, he said, "Rose Queen or Pope's walk?" demonstrating the cupped hand of the British royals and the Pope's benediction gesture with a laugh.

>Krukow loves the fans as much as they love him. He'd tell everyone so individually were it possible.

>"I really thought I was going to get all the names of everybody at the ballpark Sunday because I wanted to go right down the list and thank them all," Krukow said. "They were the show for 37 years."

SubscribeThere’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Mike Krukow's message to Giants fans? ‘You did more for me than I've ever done for you'.