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Former Giants' reliever Javier Lopez reflects on his relationship with Mike Krukow
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00:00on 95.7 The Game.
00:02Alrighty, all guests on 95.7 The Game
00:05appear on the River Islands guest line.
00:07Isn't it time for you to discover the islands,
00:09River Islands, and Lathrop?
00:11Let's welcome in Javi Lopez,
00:13four-time World Series champion,
00:15special assistant to Buster Posey,
00:18and he made the Giants' Wall of Fame two years ago.
00:22Javi, thank you so much for joining us.
00:24I understand you're on your way out here
00:26for Saturday's Wall of Fame events.
00:30Yeah, if everything goes right,
00:31I'll be heading out there tonight.
00:33Living in Atlanta, you always have
00:35afternoon pop-up thunderstorms,
00:36so you never quite know when kickoff will be,
00:38but you hope for the best.
00:40But thanks for having me, fellas.
00:41Absolutely, and obviously we want to talk to you
00:44about Mike Kruko, and I guess my first question is,
00:46when did, if you don't mind me asking,
00:48when did you first come to know Mike?
00:52Actually, I didn't even, not until I got traded,
00:55and I tell you what, he was one of the first guys.
00:58Yeah, so Krukenkaip had been one of the first guys
01:03that I saw in the clubhouse as a broadcast team
01:07that would be in there kind of hanging out with the boys,
01:09and he came up to me pretty early and said,
01:13hey, you know, shook my hand,
01:14and welcome to the Giants,
01:16and kind of went through a brief history
01:18of what goes on with the Giants,
01:19and then quickly dug into what I do,
01:22what my pitches are,
01:23how do I like to work hitters,
01:26and it was really, it was an interesting thing to do
01:28because that's the conversation
01:29that you have every day in a locker room
01:32that you just, with people that you don't know,
01:34and he's been in there, he's been in the fraternity,
01:36he's one of the boys,
01:37and it was very great to kind of just be able
01:39to go over those things,
01:41and, you know, obviously used it for those telecasts,
01:43but it was nice to just have a,
01:46make the introduction with both him and Kipe.
01:50He was doing the same thing,
01:51kind of bouncing around,
01:51and they're very much of that salty nature
01:56where it's like, hey, we want to be calling good things,
01:58so make sure you don't screw up when you're out there,
01:59you know, just joking around,
02:01but it was fun.
02:01It was, that's the first time I got to meet him,
02:03and then spending my last seven seasons in San Francisco
02:06was, you know, I finally got to actually hang out
02:09with him a little bit more
02:10and be able to spend some time with him,
02:12and it's been, it's been a, it's bittersweet,
02:15you know, it's not one of those things
02:17where we want to eulogize, we want to celebrate,
02:19and I think it's, it's an amazing time
02:21for many Giants fans.
02:23It's a sad day, but it's also a time of reflection
02:26and time to enjoy what we get to hear
02:29for the next couple months.
02:31Javi, that was well said, man, spot on,
02:33and, you know, I told my partner and the listeners here,
02:36you know, I've never met Mike, you know,
02:38on an individual basis,
02:39but I felt like he's a family member, a friend,
02:41you know, and I want to ask you,
02:43what do you think made Mike so successful
02:46and, and a lot of baseball Giant fans here in the Bay
02:49gravitate to him and how he lasted this long?
02:53Well, I think first and foremost,
02:54he's a great storyteller,
02:55and he's been in the fight.
02:57Like once you, when you've been in the locker rooms,
02:59you know how much work goes into that
03:01and the preparation,
03:02and just because you put in work
03:03doesn't mean you're going to nail it, right?
03:05You're, you're going to fail.
03:06The whole sport's built on failure,
03:08and it's oftentimes it's how do you bounce back
03:10from that failure,
03:12and so he understood that,
03:13and I think he did a great job
03:14of relaying that to the audience,
03:17and I think another thing about what he
03:20and, and Kuyper would do
03:22as far as making themselves
03:24part of what was going on in the locker room,
03:26and this is a credit to him,
03:28and this is kind of things that I've learned from him
03:29since I started my broadcasting,
03:32is always be available,
03:33always be around,
03:34so if he ever said anything
03:36that he might have taken offense to
03:38or whatever,
03:40he was always in there
03:41to have that conversation,
03:42and it was never,
03:43he was never too,
03:47you know,
03:47it's like the way he would deliver,
03:48it was just great.
03:49Like when you go in there,
03:51understand that we've been in this,
03:52and now that I've been removed,
03:54you know, he'd been,
03:55his playing days are long over
03:56by the time he just was,
03:58when I was here in 2010,
04:00he would be in there,
04:02he's like, hey, listen,
04:02and sometimes I might say something
04:04in the heat of the moment,
04:05and somebody catches feelings,
04:07and you just talk it out,
04:08and he's like,
04:09I've gone through that moment
04:10with many a guy,
04:11and after that,
04:12we've bonded even more
04:13and become stronger,
04:14so I think that's what,
04:15what I think the players
04:17really enjoyed from him,
04:18I know I certainly did,
04:19is that he just,
04:20he knew what it was like
04:21to be in the fight,
04:23and could explain away some things,
04:25but he wasn't short of criticism,
04:27too,
04:27when you weren't doing the job
04:29you were supposed to do,
04:30he'd let you know,
04:31and I think that's what
04:31you also appreciate,
04:32and the fans appreciate,
04:33too,
04:34they're not,
04:34you can't fool the Giants fans,
04:36they watch it,
04:37and they can see what's going on
04:38during the game,
04:39too,
04:39so you can't sugarcoat everything.
04:41Well,
04:41that's an interesting point,
04:42Javi,
04:43and we're joined by Javi Lopez,
04:45four-time World Series champion,
04:46you know,
04:47it sounds like when he was a player,
04:49he probably had those conversations
04:51with the people
04:53who were announcing him,
04:54and realized the other side
04:57of the coin,
04:58at that point,
04:59it probably helped make him
05:00a great announcer,
05:01as well as a great player.
05:04Yeah,
05:05I don't doubt that at all.
05:06I think when you talk to him
05:09about his playing days
05:11and what it was like,
05:11it was definitely a different time,
05:13we understand that.
05:14You know,
05:14social media and all that stuff
05:16is even different from my playing days
05:18to what it is now,
05:19but ultimately,
05:21he really grasped the idea
05:25of what a guy was trying to do,
05:27he tried to learn everyone
05:28as quickly as he could,
05:29especially in this world
05:30of a lot of roster churn,
05:32and you're not getting
05:33the usual 25,
05:3426 guys that you're seeing
05:36all the time.
05:36You're getting a lot of new faces,
05:38so he was quick
05:39to try to make those introductions,
05:41break down any walls
05:43that might be up
05:44that are just inherent
05:45in a locker room
05:46when you don't know anybody,
05:47and especially as a media member,
05:49even though he's calling your games,
05:51you still kind of are a little cautious
05:53around those kind of guys,
05:54but he was quick
05:55to break those walls down
05:56and have those conversations,
05:58and you know,
05:59it's something that I've always enjoyed
06:01and taken pride in
06:03when I do get to call games,
06:06whether it's with John Miller
06:07or Dave Fleming
06:08or when I get to work with Kipe,
06:10and you get that same experience.
06:13It's kind of,
06:14you want to be the same guy every day.
06:15You always want to be around people
06:18that do that,
06:18and I think the Giants fans
06:20have been blessed
06:21to have four guys
06:22that constantly do that
06:23every single day.
06:24No doubt, Javi.
06:26You kind of just nailed it,
06:27you know, earlier too
06:28when you said,
06:29you know,
06:30this is a celebration,
06:31and I'm going to be a part
06:33of that celebration.
06:33We all are.
06:35Javi,
06:35I got a lot of personality faults,
06:38but one thing I try to do
06:40is keep it real,
06:41so I'm going to be real here.
06:43When you were doing the games,
06:45my goodness,
06:45I told my partner,
06:46I'm finicky on announcers.
06:48They matter.
06:49They just do,
06:49and obviously Kruko and Kipe,
06:51but man,
06:53you know,
06:54can you share with us
06:55as much as you can
06:56because I know you're working
06:57for the Giants,
06:58but are the play-by-play
06:59or the announcing days,
07:00are those over?
07:02Because when you were in there,
07:03man,
07:03you nailed it,
07:04and a lot of people want to know,
07:06like,
07:06what's up with Javi Lopez
07:07and calling games?
07:09Is that over?
07:10Well,
07:11honestly,
07:11I really appreciate
07:12the comments there.
07:13I think it's something
07:14that I've taken pride in,
07:16and again,
07:17to touch on what we've
07:18just been talking about,
07:19it's,
07:20you're never going to replace
07:21guys like this.
07:22You know,
07:23these are true legends.
07:24These are,
07:26you know,
07:27they're the unicorns
07:28in the field,
07:29to be honest with you.
07:30Like,
07:30you're never going to replace them,
07:32but I've learned so much
07:33from them
07:33and how to try
07:34to broadcast the game
07:35and talk about it
07:37like you're sitting at a bar
07:38and you're talking to buddies
07:39and always be mindful
07:40that you're going to talk
07:41to the significant other
07:42of a player
07:44and their parents
07:45and,
07:45you know,
07:45be mindful of your words
07:47and things like that.
07:48So I take all that to heart
07:49and know the situations
07:51and innings and outs
07:52and I try to,
07:53again,
07:53I learned through all that
07:54and just been reinforced
07:56with the group
07:57that the Giants have
07:58and as far as
07:59the broadcasting days,
08:00you know,
08:01again,
08:01the front office,
08:02I enjoy doing it.
08:03I did a one-year deal
08:04here with the Giants
08:05as far as the front office
08:06is concerned.
08:07I wanted to make sure
08:08I was going to be a value add
08:09and I think we'll touch base
08:11on that at the end of the year
08:12when the contract is up
08:14and see if it's a fit.
08:15I've enjoyed my time doing that,
08:17but all this stuff
08:18is very fluid,
08:18so I have no idea
08:20what the future looks like,
08:21but again,
08:22I appreciate the kind words.
08:23Got you.
08:23Absolutely.
08:24I know I speak
08:25for a bunch of fans out here.
08:27You know,
08:28we'd love to have you
08:29more involved.
08:29We all think you're
08:30a class act out here
08:32and as long as you're
08:33part of the Giants,
08:34you know,
08:34that's a good sign,
08:35but I just wanted to say that
08:37and thank you for coming on
08:39and sharing some of these
08:40stories about Mike.
08:42Hey,
08:42no problem,
08:43fellas.
08:43I really appreciate you guys
08:44reaching out
08:45and again,
08:45we're going to celebrate this
08:46and enjoy every call
08:48that we get.
08:48Hey,
08:49Javi,
08:49before we let you go,
08:50I got to share with you,
08:51I had predicted the Giants
08:53this year to win 90 games.
08:55I felt it,
08:56so obviously that hasn't
08:58happened,
08:58but real quick,
08:59when you look at this season
09:00in a nutshell,
09:02where do you think
09:03it just got out of hand?
09:04Like,
09:04how shocked are you
09:05that it's not going
09:06like we thought?
09:07I am a little shocked,
09:08to be honest with you.
09:09I wasn't as bullish
09:10at 90 games,
09:12but I thought it was going
09:12to be a really good team.
09:15I thought the offense
09:17was just way better
09:18than the Giants
09:19it had in recent years,
09:20but obviously everything
09:21begins and ends on the mound,
09:22and I think the pitching
09:23just unfortunately
09:24never got into a good rhythm,
09:26and as a former bullpen guy,
09:28you know,
09:29you got to be able
09:29to shut the door,
09:30and the Giants
09:31have struggled to do that.
09:32I mean,
09:32they've been walked off
09:3310 times,
09:34blown,
09:35I think,
09:35I don't know,
09:3611 or 12 saves
09:37at this point,
09:38and that matters,
09:40and I think the big punch
09:41in the gut was,
09:43for me,
09:43it was in Philly,
09:44that double dip,
09:45that they had
09:46in Philly in April,
09:47where they got walked off
09:49on both ends of it,
09:50and I think that was
09:51just a big punch,
09:52and I think the bullpen
09:54kind of just struggled
09:56to kind of find a rhythm
09:57after that,
09:57and,
09:58you know,
09:59it's tough to win
10:00when you're not
10:00closing out games,
10:01and,
10:02you know,
10:02ultimately,
10:02I think that's going
10:03to be a focus,
10:04as you can see
10:05by the draft,
10:06getting a bunch of arms,
10:07trade,
10:08getting a bunch of arms,
10:08like trying to solve
10:10that problem from within
10:12the best you can.
10:13Javi,
10:14thank you so much again
10:14for joining us,
10:15really appreciate it,
10:16and best of luck to you.
10:18I appreciate it,
10:19guys,
10:19thanks again.
10:20Alrighty,
10:20that's Javi Lopez.
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