Duane Kuiper’s brush with a dreaded second big-league homer

SAN DIEGO - Tuesday was the 40th anniversary of the event that made Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper famous, his lone major-league home run, off White Sox pitcher Steve Stone in Cleveland.

Two years later, something terrible almost happened. Kuiper nearly homered again in Baltimore - off Stone again.

"It's better to hit one than none or two," said Kuiper, who would not have gotten nearly as much mileage over the years had the second ball gone out.

"The ball hit the top of the wall, like, literally, on top," Kuiper recalled Tuesday. "It should have bounced over, but it bounced backward."

Kuiper had one of his 29 career triples.

"When the second one didn't go out, I looked and Stone and he was…