If Awful Announcing can’t convince you that John Kruk is one of the most interesting analysts in Major League Baseball, then maybe John Oliver can.
The “And Now This” segment on Sunday on HBO Last week tonight featured “The Delightfully Bizarre Musings of Phillies Commentator John Kruk.” And without context, Oliver’s audience was immediately confronted with Kruk’s question about why men aren’t born with hair on their chests. Keep in mind, this question wasn’t asked off-air or during a blowout. Kruk brought up the topic of men having to wait for puberty to grow hair on their chests while the Phillies were trailing 5-3 in the ninth.
John Kruk montage at the end of Last Week Tonight pic.twitter.com/YLcx2bm3mF
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) 12 August 2024
Oliver’s show then touched on Kruk banishing Caillou from his household, recalling the time he woke up and saw a “damn giraffe” in his window, baseball games against a prison team, and some dating stories that involved a shotgun.
While Oliver gave his audience a nice overview of what the popular Phillies analyst is like as a commentator, amazingly that was just the tip of the iceberg of Kruk stories. They didn’t even mention Kruk’s squirrel hunting stories!
But Major League Baseball probably still owes Oliver or someone on Last week tonight staff, a big thank you. Because as the sport struggles to attract new fans, there may be no better way to reach a new audience than by showcasing what Kruk can do behind a microphone.
(Last Week Tonight, via Nick Piccone)
