You never know what you’re going to learn when John Kruk is broadcasting a Philadelphia Phillies game, but you’re going to learn something. Whether you like it or not.
One of Major League Baseball’s true bon vivants, Kruk was on the call alongside Tom McCarthy for Monday night’s game between the Phillies and Baltimore Orioles. With the Phils cruising to a 13-3 lead in the top of the ninth, it was the opportune time for some banter by the announcers, and the former Phillies slugger did not disappoint with his topic of choice.
“You know what I found out at the Franklin Institute?” Kruk asked McCarthy.
“You went to the Franklin Institute?” responded McCarthy, appropriately.
“25 pounds of pressure, if someone is attacking you, and you can rip their ear off,” said Kruk. “They said it’s the same amount of pressure to open up a pickle jar, and you can just rip their ear off.”
John Kruk spent a portion of the 9th inning last night talking about how ripping someone’s ear off is as easy as opening a pickle jar pic.twitter.com/dQC8Xb8djU
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 5, 2025
With his interest piqued, McCarthy asked Kruk how he would go about ripping someone’s ear off, as you do. He explained that he went to the science museum in Philadelphia with his daughter, who is studying to be a nurse and therefore has an interest in the human body and how it works.
“Keira is going to be a nurse, and they had a body thing where they had all the heart, the livers, kidneys, and what do they call dead people that they take the skin off and whatever. It was very disgusting, some of it. But she was explaining it all to us. Then we got to that one where you can rip someone’s ear off.
“If you can open up a pickle jar, you can rip their ear off.”
It sounds like Kruk and his family were visiting the Body Worlds exhibit in the Franklin Institute, which includes several full-body plastinates (preserved bodies). Honestly, if there’s a chance to hear Kruk’s further thoughts on the exhibit and the wonders of the human body, we’d love to listen to it during the next Phillies game.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.