John Kruk shares jokes, stories about Padres announcer Mark Grant

With the San Diego Padres in town to take on the Philadelphia Phillies, John Kruk did not let the opportunity to tell jokes and stories about his friend and former teammate, Padres analyst Mark Grant, go to waste.

While Grant, nicknamed Mud, normally serves as the television color analyst for the Padres, he was on radio for the Philadelphia series while Tony Gwynn Jr. worked on television. That gave Kruk, the color analyst for the Phillies and Grant’s teammate in San Diego in the late 1980s, a chance to tell the classic joke.

“Mud’s on radio for this series,” play-by-play man Tom McCarthy noted after the NBC Sports Philadelphia cameras showed Gwynn.

“There’s a reason for that. He’s ugly,” Kruk replied, drawing a laugh from McCarthy.

During Monday night’s Padres-Phillies broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia…

Tom McCarthy: “Mud (Mark Grant) is on radio for this series.

John Kruk: “Well, yeah. There’s a reason for that… He’s ugly.”

(Kruk and Grant are friends and former teammates) ⚾️🎙️ #MLB pic.twitter.com/MdUK7iLMMf

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 2, 2025

After an out, the conversation continued, with Kruk recalling his first time meeting Grant.

“He’s a good man,” McCarthy said of Grant.

“Oh, yeah,” Kruk confirmed. “I first met Mud in Double-A. To get to our dugout at Lamar, we played at Lamar University, and to get to our dugout from the clubhouse, you had to walk underneath the bleachers. I’m walking toward our dugout and Mud’s underneath the stands.”

“What was he doing?” McCarthy asked.

“Just standing,” Kruk answered. “He was pitching that night. I walked past him, I introduced myself. He introduced himself to me. I said, ‘You hungry?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘You want a hot dog?’ We went and got some hot dogs.”

On Wednesday, Kruk was back to joking.

Kruk was discussing San Diego’s Luis Arráez’s ability to put the ball in play. But while praising Arráez, he got another dig in at his buddy.

John Kruk: “We were talking to Mark Grant, the radio announcer for the Padres. Bonafide… halfwit.” ⚾️🎙️#MLB https://t.co/9gLVx1jPVo pic.twitter.com/OofK38fbPC

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 2, 2025

“We were talking to Mark Grant, the radio announcer for the Padres. Bona fide… halfwit,” Kruk said. “We looked up. He has seven strikeouts this year, Arráez. And I think only 15 walks.”