Should Duane Kuiper be added to the Giants’ Wall of Fame?

Kruk without Kuip is like peanut butter without jelly, Mike without Ike, Tommy Lasorda without his spaghetti…

Yet, there it is.

Glaringly obvious to any fan who’s moseyed past the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame outside AT&T Park.

Mike Krukow has a spot on the wall, but Duane Kuiper is…missing.

I’ve double-checked it, triple-checked it. Krukow’s better half ain’t nowhere to be seen.

Technically, the Wall—which was first unveiled in 2008 for the 50th anniversary of the team’s move from New York to San Francisco—is reserved for Giants players who have “played a minimum of nine seasons for the San Francisco Giants, or five seasons with at least one All-Star selection as a Giant.”

That’s why Krukow’s there. He only played seven seasons with the G-men, but was an All-Star in 1986 when he went 20-9 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.057 WHIP, finishing third behind Houston’s Mike Scott and the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela in Cy Young voting.

Kuiper played for the Giants, too. But the Racine, Wis. native was only in a Giants uniform for four of his 12 major league seasons and never made an All-Star appearance.

That’s the “technical” explanation.

Still, it baffles me that guys like Johnnie LeMaster, Kirt Manwaring, Randy Moffitt, Bobby Bolin, and Marvin Bernard are honored. I guess longevity counts for something.

I get why Kuiper the player isn’t there. The dude holds the major league record for most career at-bats (3,379) with exactly one home run. Not exactly Barry Bonds. In comparison, that slugger LeMaster (who was never named an All-Star) clubbed a mind-blowing 22 homers in 12 years! < /sarcasm font here >

Obviously, his performance at the plate isn’t what’s keeping the Giants from putting Kuip’s plaque on the wall outside AT&T Park.

It’s is his service time, or lack thereof, with the Giants—as a player.

But as a broadcaster, Kuiper is now entering his 24th season with the Giants.

Call me crazy, but I think it’s time the Giants recognized the guys in the booth for their contributions to the club, don’t you?

I grew up listening to Hank Greenwald and Joe Angel call games on KNBR (long after the days of Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons and Ernie Harwell, mind you). To this day, I can’t say for certain whether my love for the game would have run as deep without their influence. As a kid, I remember wanting to become a sportscaster—because of guys like Greenwald, Angel, Al Michaels and Lindsey Nelson.

I’m sure the same can be said for today’s younger generation of Giants fans, who have Jon Miller, Dave Flemming, Erwin Higueros and Tito Fuentes (on the Spanish side), and of course, Kruk & Kuip.

Miller’s accolades speak for themselves. The former ESPN Sunday Night Baseball announcer is a Ford C. Frick award winner, National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall-of-Famer, and a universally-respected broadcaster.

Kruk & Kuip are two of the best in the business, too.

Kuiper, 61, is a seven-time Emmy award winner.

He and Krukow were selected to be the announcers for EA’s MVP Baseball in 2003, ’04 and ’05.

His home run slogan “This baby is outta here!” is uttered by Giants fans of all ages whenever someone in the Orange & Black goes deep.

And it was Kuiper who first coined the phrase, “Giants baseball…torture!”

Plus, who can forget this call?

Cruz waiting on Wilson. And the right hander for the Giants throws…SWING AND A MISS! AND THAT’S IT! The Giants… for the first time in 52 years, the Giants are world champions, as they come POURING OUT OF THE DUGOUT….circling Brian Wilson! The bullpen…flying in from left-center field…dancing, hugging….and you can’t help but think, that this group is celebrating….for the Say Hey kid, for Will The Thrill, celebrating for number 25, and celebrating for all you Giants fans, wherever you are… Giants fans…this party is just getting started!

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the day Kuiper hit his lone home run, off White Sox starter Steve Stone—an eventual Cy Young winner (1980) and a well-known baseball broadcaster in his own right.

It happened in the first inning on August 29, 1977.

With one out and the bases empty, Kuiper swung at a 1-0 offering from Stoney and hit a “HIGH DRIVE! RIGHT FIELD! OUTTA HERE!”

I don’t know who makes these types of decisions for the Giants (I mean, why nine years vs. eight or 10?). But this much I do know: It’s time for the Giants to expand the Wall of Fame requirements to include broadcasters.

Hodges, Simmons, Greenwald, Miller…and Kuiper…all thank you in advance.