Mike Krukow a finalist for the 2017 Ford C. Frick award

Mike Krukow is a gift, a treasure, one of the most enjoyable things about Giants baseball. He also cheeses Dodgers fans off. Is there anything he can’t do?

He can’t call himself a Hall of Fame broadcaster yet*. That’s something he can’t do. Not like his broadcasting partner Jon Miller. But Krukow will get his chance, as he was named a finalist for the Ford C. Frick award. From the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

The eight finalists for the 2017 Frick Award are: Gary Cohen, Ken Coleman, Jacques Doucet, Ken Harrelson, Pat Hughes, Bill King, Ned Martin and Dewayne Staats. The winner of the 2017 Frick Award will be announced on Dec. 7 at the Baseball Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Md., and will be honored during the July 29 Awards Presentation as part of the July 28-31 Hall of Fame Weekend 2017 in Cooperstown.

My only regret is that Krukow can’t be nominated in the same year as Duane Kuiper, and they can’t give their speech together. They can’t ride a tandem bike to the ceremony, and they can’t have a chicken fight with Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker in the Hall of Fame pool.

Cohen is a strong candidate, King is a longtime sentimental favorite, and Harrelson has, uh, people who, uh, you know, a sense of comfortable familiarity with him and his voice, so the odds are against Krukow. Still, it’s an honor for him to be a finalist, I would imagine, and this adds an extra layer of intrigue to the Winter Meetings.

Here’s how Krukow got onto the ballot this year:

A committee of historians will select the eight-person ballot each fall. A new election cycle has been established starting with the 2017 Award, rotating annually between Current Major League Markets (team-specific announcers); National Voices (broadcasters whose contributions were realized on a national level); and Broadcasting Beginnings (early team voices and pioneers of baseball broadcasting). This cycle will repeat every three years.

He’ll get in at some point, but it might take a while, especially with this new format. My guess is that King gets it this year, but it’s not like Krukow isn’t a strong candidate. Maybe they’ll let us vote with hashtags or something.

Congratulations to Mike Krukow, finalist for the 2017 Ford C. Frick Award! It would be more validation that the Giants have the best broadcasting booth in baseball, and if there’s anything I love more than sweet, sweet validation, I haven’t found it yet.

* The award isn’t technically the same as being a Hall of Fame broadcaster, but if you are bothered by this, please note that nobody likes you.