John Kruk Joins ESPN Sunday Night Baseball

The self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports has made yet another comically bad move.

ESPN’s decidion to use Kruk in the Sunday Night booth has the potential to be epically bad. Image: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN introduced a three-man booth for their iconic Sunday Night Baseball telecast after breaking up the longtime tandem of John Millerand Joe Morgan, much to the delight of FJM fans everywhere.

Unfortunately, the network has been unable to find the right fit to go alongside Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser, who both do a wonderful job on the games. In 2011, the pair was working alongside Bobby Valentine and last season it was Terry Francona, with the two trading jobs as Red Sox manager. Now, with Francona off to manage Cleveland, the brass at ESPN have decided that John Kruk should leave the studio and join Shulman and Hershiser in the booth.

I can hardly wait to hear the thoughtful, intelligent analysis Kruk will offer… about the ballpark food.

Kruk scored his gig with ESPN based solely on a short run on FOX Sports Net’s Best Damn Sports Show Period. In a setting where he was surrounded by the likes of Tom Arnold and John Salley, Kruk’s baseball analysis probably didn’t look that bad. Over at ESPN, however, it’s been clear that comic relief is Kruk’s only playable tool, and even that struggles at times.

Putting him the booth will do nothing more than encourage Kruk to force more fat jokes and played-out anecdotes from his playing days. While Hershiser and Shulman will be pining for Francona, the rest of us may be left longing for the days of Little Joe calling games on Sunday Nights.