More than anyone, Chris Berman is associated with ESPN. He\u2019s been with the network since near its beginning and has continued to work there in some capacity ever since. But in the late 1980s, he nearly left the network to take a job as the primary play-by-play man for the San Francisco Giants.<\/p>\n
Berman shared the story on Pardon My Take recently. He recalled Bob Lurie, then the owner of the Giants, wanting to meet with Berman at New York\u2019s 21 Club while the Giants were on the road, playing the New York Mets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe meet and he goes, \u2018Well, up \u2019til now, most teams, the announcers are hired by the station they work for.\u2019 But just about a year or two before that, teams were hiring the main guy, or woman, but let\u2019s just say guy, at the team, was a team employee. I don\u2019t know when that happened, in Chicago with Harry or with Jack Buck, I don\u2019t know. But it was starting, but only like one. He goes, \u2018Next year, it\u2019s going to be our hire. We think you\u2019d be a great San Francisco Giants play-by-play guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Berman tells the story of how he almost left his job as the host of SportsCenter to become the San Francisco Giants play-by-play announcer in the late \u201980s.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfa5@PardonMyTake<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/eSvZHxgdbm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 KNBR (@KNBR) May 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Berman earlier noted that while he grew up in the northeast, he\u2019s been a lifelong Giants fan. As a seven-year-old, he remembered cheering for the Giants and Willie Mays in the 1962 World Series.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of my goals, to do the Giants. And I told him, I said, \u2018Well, we just got football. I\u2019m kinda\u00a0that\u00a0guy.\u2019 We didn\u2019t have baseball yet. And it would have been a salary increase. At that time? Oh, God, yes. Not times four, but times two, maybe. Never discussed. Move to the Bay Area, which I love, from afar. Young family. I\u2019d be hired by them. Hmmm. He goes, \u2018Well, think about it. Call me in a day or two.\u2019 I did. And I said, \u2018Mr. Lurie, I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m telling you this. It\u2019s been my life dream. But I\u2019m gonna have to turn it down.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd here\u2019s what he said. This is what a good guy he was, is. \u2018After what you told me about ESPN, about, \u2018You\u2019re the host, you\u2019re Brent Musburger. You made the right decision.\u2019 That\u2019s the guy who offered me the job. That\u2019s \u201988 and \u201989. Since then, I\u2019m a tourist. I\u2019m stubborn. I ain\u2019t leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n Berman\u2019s situation at ESPN continued to get better over the years. It was roughly in that same era when the Giants announce team of Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow was formed. Kuiper got into announcing in 1986, just after his playing career ended. Krukow\u2019s playing career ended in 1989 and like Kuiper, he quickly got into broadcasting, as well. Those two are mainstays on an announce team that is consistently regarded as one of the best<\/a>, if not the best<\/a>, in baseball.<\/p>\n It can be fun to play the \u201cwhat-if\u201d game here, wondering what might have happened had Berman taken Lurie up on his offer. Fortunately, in this case, it\u2019s hard to imagine a \u201cwhat-if\u201d scenario that would have worked out better professionally for all parties involved.<\/p>\n \t