John Kruk

Former major league baseball All-Star John Kruk joined ESPN in 2004 as one of their main studio analysts for Baseball Tonight. Kruk primarily appears on Baseball Tonight on Sunday through Wednesday each week during the season, and of course almost daily during the playoffs and World Series.

Prior to joining ESPN, John Kruk worked as a game analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies and was a member of Fox Sports Net’s BEST DAMN SPORTS SHOW PERIOD. BDSSP was the first sports/entertainment television show combining the sports and comedy worlds in a unique “guy talk” format.

Since joining ESPN, Kruk has received numerous marketing opportunities and just recently secured deals with Hershey’s and Microsoft. With regards to Hershey’s, Kruk will be appearing on some of their packaging and making appearances at minor league parks. With regards to Microsoft, John Kruk will be serving as a spokesperson for a media driven campaign for Windows Live Expo, Microsoft’s competitor to EBay. Kruk will also be hosting his own weekly radio show in Philadelphia beginning in May of 2006.

The former three-time All-Star outfielder/first baseman retired in 1995 after a 10-year major league career with the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago White Sox, in which he hit for a .300 average, with 100 home runs and 592 runs batted in.

In one of the most bizarre retirements in the sport, John Kruk simply walked off the field after singling in the top of the first inning off Scott Erickson on July 30, 1995 in Baltimore. After the portly ballplayer stroked the single, he simply said goodbye to his teammates in the dugout and left Camden Yards with his family.

After his baseball career came to an end, John Kruk appeared as a baseball teammate of Wesley Snipes in The Fan with Robert DeNiro. A year later, he predictably opened up a bar in West Virginia. When asked why he called the bar “Third Base,” Kruk replied: “Third base is the last stop before you go home.”

It was his contagious personality as much as his statistics that helped turn the Phillies around from last place in 1992 to first place in 1993. Teamed with other hard-nosed players like Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton and Dave Hollins, John Kruk led the “Fighting Phils” to the 1993 World Series. The team ultimately lost in six games to the Toronto Blue Jays, but Kruk batted .348 with four RBIs in the cause.

Born on February 9, 1961 in Charleston, West Virginia, John Kruk currently resides in New Jersey with his wife Melissa and their two children.