The best moment of the Giants’ season so far didn’t happen between the lines. It came Saturday night, when Duane Kuiper surprised broadcast partner Mike Krukow after more than six weeks away because of chemotherapy treatments.

Krukow had a stunned look on his face as Kuiper walked back into the booth they have shared for just about every game in Oracle Park’s history. After a quick hug, Krukow yelled, “I got my boy back!”

Kuiper had wanted to get back to call other games in recent weeks, and when he was finally set to return he shared the news with a very small circle of family members and coworkers. On Thursday’s “Giants Talk” podcast, he explained why he needed it to be a surprise with Krukow.

“I’m sure you guys have somebody in your life where it’s impossible to keep a secret from them and it’s impossible to have them keep a secret if you ask them to — and Mike falls into that category of both,” he said. “One, he has a hard time keeping a secret, and two, because he has so many contacts and people that are calling him or texting him, it was really hard to keep this one from him.”

Kuiper told Dave Flemming and Jon Miller — who have filled in with play-by-play on the TV broadcast — as well as his brother, Jeff Kuiper, who produces NBC Sports Bay Area’s broadcasts, and KNBR producer Darren Chan. He thought it was going to be impossible to keep his return from Krukow, but he was able to surprise his partner and was thrilled that a camera in the booth caught the whole thing.

“I wanted his reaction,” Kuiper said. “We got his reaction, and it’s really what I wanted people to see — a little bit of our relationship and how far it goes back and how much we do mean to each other.”

Kuiper is still undergoing chemo but hopes to be back in the booth soon. He said he was initially concerned that he might wear down during the broadcast, but everything went smoothly. Well, almost everything.