John Kruk has no clue who Newman or “the woman” from Seinfeld are

As we get further removed from Seinfeld’s zenith, I get that younger athletes and broadcasters might not be aficionados of the show. But John Kruk is 61 years old. That’s like peak Seinfeld superfan age.

Ever since Keith Hernandez trashed Philadelphia’s ability to play defense and display proper fundies, the Phillies broadcast has been tireless in their efforts to prove him wrong. Throughout their constant trolling of Hernandez Wednesday night, the topic of Seinfeld broached the broadcast. Because as most of us know, Hernandez was once a legendary guest star on the popular sitcom.

Safe to say John Kruk is not a Seinfeld fan pic.twitter.com/3eQt1lABsh

— Brandon Contes (@BrandonContes) August 11, 2022

“I think he spent most of his career catching flack from opposing fans,” play-by-play voice Tom McCarthy said of Hernandez. “I mean he had mailmen screaming ‘pretty boy’ at him all the time.”

“Who?” Kruk asked with bewilderment.

The fact that McCarthy had to explain the “pretty boy” reference was stunning. “Newman, from Seinfeld,” he said.

But it didn’t appear to ring a bell with Kruk. “I know I’m gonna get a lot of junk for this. Oh yeah, I remember that episode,” he added sarcastically. “Didn’t he date the woman?”

The woman? That’s the extent of Kruk’s Seinfeld knowledge?

“I got a good story about her, but I can’t tell you on-air,” Kruk continued. “It’s not me, I’ve never met the woman. A friend of mine, Tom Arnold had some issues with her over parking spots when Tom was on the Roseanne show and she was on Seinfeld I guess. No, what other show was she on? Christine, something about old Christine or something.”

This deserves the cliché sports radio “there’s a lot to unpack here” line. Kruk might be the only person in America who recognizes Julia Louis-Dreyfus from The New Adventures of Old Christine before attributing her to the role of Elaine Benes in Seinfeld.

The New Adventures of Old Christine ran from 2006-2010, while the first installment of Roseanne aired between 1988-1997. So whatever parking spot scrap Arnold had with “the woman” definitely would have occurred while she was starring on Seinfeld. Roseanne and Seinfeld were both filmed at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA

Also, the visual of Tom Arnold and Julia Louis-Dreyfus engaging in a noteworthy argument over a parking spot at the studio, where I’m confident the dispute wasn’t going to cause either one of them to have a long walk to work, is something. Just an all-around great clip from Kruk.

[NBC Sports Philadelphia]