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The son of sportscaster Jack Buck, he worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, including roles as lead play-by-play announcer for the network's National Football League and Major League Baseball coverage. He served as a television play-by-play announcer for the World Series over a 25-year span from 1996 to 2021 (with the exceptions of 1997 and 1999, in which Bob Costas called those particular World Series for NBC).
Buck called play-by-play for the then-Louisville Redbirds, a minor league affiliate of the Cardinals, and was a reporter for ESPN's coverage of the Triple-A All-Star Game in 1989. In 1991, he did reporting for St Louis' CBS affiliate KMOV. Also, in 1991 Buck began broadcasting for the Cardinals on local television and KMOX Radio, filling in while his father was working on CBS telecasts. In the 1992–93 season, he was the play-by-play voice for University of Missouri basketball broadcasts.
Buck continued to call Cardinals games after being hired by Fox Sports, initially with his father on KMOX and later on FSN Midwest television. As his network duties increased, however, his local workload shrank, and before the 2008 season, it was announced that he would no longer be calling Cardinals telecasts for FSN Midwest. This marked the first time since 1960 that a member of the Buck family was not part of the team's broadcasting crew.[6]
Fox Sports (1994–2021)
Hiring at Fox
In 1994, Buck was hired by Fox, and at the age of 25 became the youngest man ever to announce a regular slate of National Football League (NFL) games on network television.[7]
In 1996, he was named Fox's lead play-by-play voice for Major League Baseball, teaming with Tim McCarver, who had previously worked with his father on CBS. That year, he became the youngest man to do a national broadcast (for all nine innings and games, as a network employee as opposed to simply being a representative of one of the participating teams) for a World Series, surpassing Sean McDonough, who called the 1992 World Series for CBS at the age of 30. McDonough had replaced Jack Buck as CBS's lead baseball play-by-play man after he was fired in late 1991.
On September 8, 1998, Buck called Mark McGwire's 62nd home run that broke Roger Maris' single-season record.[8] The game was nationally televised live in prime time on Fox. It was a rarity for a nationally televised regular season game not to be aired on cable since the end of the Monday/Thursday Night Baseball era on ABC in 1989.
During Fox's broadcast of the 2002 World Series, Buck paid implicit tribute to his father, who had died a few months earlier (he had read the eulogy at his father's funeral) by calling the final out of Game 6 (which tied the series at 3–3, and thus ensured there would be a Game 7 broadcast the next night) with the phrase, "We'll see you tomorrow night." This was the same phrase with which Jack Buck had famously called Kirby Puckett's home run off BravespitcherCharlie Leibrandt, which ended Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Since then, Joe has continued to use this phrase at appropriate times, including Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, in which the Boston Red Sox famously rallied off New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in the 9th inning to avoid elimination. When David Ortiz's walk-off home run finally won it for the Red Sox in the 12th inning, Buck uttered, "We'll see you later tonight," alluding to the fact that the game had extended into the early morning. He also used the phrase at the end of Game 6 of the 2011 World Series when the Cardinals' David Freese hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning against the Rangers to send the series to a seventh game (it was 20 years and a day since Kirby Puckett's home run).[9] The similarity of both the call and the game situation resulted in mentions on national news broadcasts.
Another notable Red Sox game in the ALCS was in 2013, Game 2 against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. The Red Sox were trailing 5–1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, with the bases loaded with David Ortiz at-bat. Ortiz hit a game-tying grand slam off Tigers' closer Joaquín Benoit. His call: "Hard hit into right, back at the wall," and then he calls, "TIE GAME!" as the ball flies over Torii Hunter, who flipped over the outfield wall.[10]
Later with Fox, Buck called a limited selection of regular-season games each year (typically featuring big-market teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals in which he called games for, and/or Cubs), as well as the All-Star Game, one of the League Championship Series, and the World Series. From 2016 to 2021, he was paired with color analyst John Smoltz and field reporter Ken Rosenthal. Besides working with Tim McCarver for 18 seasons (1996–2013), Buck also worked with former MLB player and current MLB Network/Fox Sports analyst Harold Reynolds and baseball insider Tom Verducci for 2 seasons (2014–2015). About a month or two after the 2015 World Series, Reynolds and Verducci were demoted to the #2 team and John Smoltz moved up from the #2 team (with Matt Vasgersian) to take Reynolds and Verducci's places.
From 1996 to 2021, Buck called 23 World Series and 21 All-Star Games for Fox, the most of any play-by-play announcer on network television.
As the lead play-by-play announcer for MLB on Fox, Buck called games between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox that were broadcast on Fox and FS1. He called many notable moments in the rivalry, including Aaron Boone's walk off home run in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, saying "The Boston Red Sox...were five outs away in the eighth inning, leading by three, as Boone hits it to deep left. That might send the Yankees to the World Series. Boone the hero of Game 7!"
Soon after arriving at Fox, Buck became the play-by-play man on Fox's #4 NFL broadcast team, with Tim Green as his color commentator. After three years, he stopped doing NFL games to concentrate on his baseball duties full-time. During the 2001 season, Buck occasionally filled in for Curt Menefee as Fox's number-six play-by-play man.
During the 2006 season, Buck briefly hosted Fox's pre-game show Fox NFL Sunday, with him and Curt Menefee jointly replacing James Brown. To accommodate his involvement, the show began to broadcast on-site from the location of Fox's top game of the week. In 2007, Buck stepped down as host to focus on his play-by-play duties, and Fox NFL Sunday reverted to primarily being broadcast from Fox Sports' studios in Los Angeles.[12]
On February 5, 2009, Buck signed with HBO to host a sports-based talk show for the network called Joe Buck Live, with a format similar to that of Costas Now, the monthly HBO program previously hosted by Bob Costas.[17] The show's debut on June 15, 2009, made national headlines due to the tension-filled banter between Buck and guest Artie Lange, a comedian from The Howard Stern Show, who made several jokes at Buck's expense.[18] Two more episodes aired in 2009. In March 2010, Buck told a St. Louis radio station that HBO might be planning to cancel Joe Buck Live, adding that he "won't miss" the program and that it involved "a lot more effort and hassle than I ever expected".[19] HBO subsequently confirmed the show's cancellation to Broadcasting & Cable.[20]
ESPN/ABC (2022–present)
On March 16, 2022, ESPN announced that it had signed Buck and Aikman to a multi-year deal with the network, which saw them become the new lead broadcast team of Monday Night Football beginning in the 2022 NFL season, and also work on projects for ESPN+. The move ended their 20-season tenure as Fox's lead NFL broadcast team.[21][22] As compensation for Buck leaving Fox Sports with one year left on his contract, ESPN sublicensed one of its Big Tencollege football games for the 2022 season to Fox.[23]
Buck was offered to fill in for an ESPN-broadcast MLB game as well, but declined, telling a Sports Illustrated podcast that he was no longer interested in calling baseball, since "I feel like I've done all I could do there. If someday I wanna go back and call a few games—maybe. But I don't have that itch."[25]
Other notable appearances
In the late 1990s, Buck hosted a weekly sports news show, Goin' Deep, for Fox Sports Net cable. He also called horse racing and professional bass fishing events early in his Fox career, as well as the network's first Cotton Bowl Classic telecast in 1999.
In 2007, Buck filmed a pilot episode for a prospective late-night talk and comedy program with former Saturday Night Live writer and director Matt Piedmont. Piedmont and Buck wrote and produced the pilot with Piedmont directing, filming in New York City and Los Angeles, and featuring Molly Shannon, David Spade, and Paul Rudd. Buck co-hosted the program with Abebe Adusmussui, an actual New York City taxi driver.[27] The pilot was not picked up as a series, however.
Buck has also appeared in various national television commercials for such clients as Holiday Inn and Budweiser beer. One of the more memorable spots for the latter had Buck goaded into using the catchphrase, "Slamma-lamma-ding-dong!" A 2008 commercial for National Car Rental had him using the catchphrase, "Now that's a good call". Buck has also done local commercials in the St. Louis market for the Suntrup chain of automobile dealerships.
He also contributes occasional opinion pieces to The Sporting News, and is a key contributor on KSLG/Team 1380 on the ITD Morning After program in St. Louis.
In the week before calling Super Bowl XLVIII, Buck starred in a Web video for Funny or Die in which he tries to report on the game from New York City but continues to get interrupted by locals who dislike him.[28]
On February 12, 2013, Buck made a guest appearance during Fox Sports Midwest's broadcast of a St. Louis Blues hockey game. Alongside their current commentators Darren Pang and John Kelly, he discussed his father Jack Buck having called Blues hockey along with Kelly's father Dan in the late 1960s. Buck briefly took over play-by-play from Pang and Kelly, stepping aside when the Los Angeles Kings inevitably scored a power-play goal on the Blues (joking in response that "I clearly bring no mojo to the party").[29][30][31]
In 2014, Buck was named as the new host of NFL Films Presents, to coincide with the program's move from ESPN2 to Fox Sports 1.[32]
From 2015 to 2018, Buck hosted Undeniable with Joe Buck, a sports interview series on Audience Network.
Buck published an autobiography, Lucky Bastard, in 2016.[33]
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported on April 17, 2021, that Buck would serve as a guest host on Jeopardy! as the game show continues to search for a replacement after the death of longtime host Alex Trebek.[35]Sony Pictures Television confirmed four days later that Buck's stint would air from August 9 to 13.[36]
In 2022, Buck became the announcer on Fox's Domino Masters hosted by Eric Stonestreet.[38] Buck also competed in season seven of The Masked Singer as "Ram" of Team Bad. He was unmasked in the competition's second week at the time when Stonestreet was a guest panelist as he and Robin Thicke correctly guessed Buck during the final guesses.[39]
On May 24, 2024, Buck was scheduled to call a Cardinals-Cubs baseball game on Bally Sports Midwest alongside his close friend Chip Caray. It would have marked the first time Buck had called a baseball game since the 2021 World Series. However, the game was rained out.[40][41]
Buck is generally regarded as "one of the most heavily criticized" announcers in sports,[46] with various fans complaining that he is biased on his calls towards or against particular teams.[46][47][48] Buck attributes this to the fact that most fan bases, especially Major League Baseball fans, are used to hearing local announcers and not those working national broadcasts:[47] "Fans are used to hearing their hometown guys. When you come at it objectively, people aren't used to it."[48]
Reporting from the field following the game in which Mark McGwirebroke Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 1998, Buck began his postgame interview on Fox by requesting (and getting) a hug from McGwire, which led to criticisms of Buck's on-air professionalism from some sources.[49]
In January 2005, Buck drew fire (attracting angry criticism) for his on-air comments during an NFL playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. After Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss simulated mooning the Green Bay crowd in the end zone, Buck called it a "disgusting act". The moon was a response to Packers fans, who traditionally moon the Vikings players aboard the team bus, which Buck did not know about, and therefore did not mention.[50] Buck's comment also indicated that he incorrectly believed that Moss had mooned the fans. It prompted Red McCombs, then the owner of the Minnesota Vikings, to request that Buck be removed from covering their upcoming playoff game, saying that Buck's comments "suggested a prejudice that surpassed objective reporting."[51] Buck also received criticism from other members of the media who felt he "over-reacted" and was being "inconsistent" given his network's history of programming.[52][53][54][55] Buck was much more restrained in his call of the New York Jets' Isaiah Crowell using the football to simulate cleaning himself after defecation during a 2018 Thursday Night Football contest against the Cleveland Browns. "That will draw a flag every time," Buck simply commented.[56]
In 2007, Buck was scheduled to call only eight regular-season MLB games out of a 26-game schedule for Fox (along with a handful of regional Cardinals telecasts on FSN Midwest).[57] In an interview with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, he defended his reduced baseball commitment:[58]
If you or the casual fan doesn't want to consider me the No. 1 baseball announcer at Fox, it's not my concern ... I don't know why it would matter. I don't know who had a more tiresome, wall-to-wall schedule than my father, and I know what it's like to be a kid in that situation ... He was gone a lot. He needed to be. I understood it. So did my mom. Because my career has gone the way it's gone, I don't have to go wall to wall. ...While I'm deathly afraid of overexposure, I'm more afraid of underexposure at home with my wife and girls.
In 2008, Buck drew criticism for comments he made during an appearance on ESPN Radio's The Herd with Colin Cowherd, in which he admitted to spending "barely any" time following sporting events he doesn't broadcast and facetiously claimed that he preferred watching The Bachelorette instead.[59]
In June 2015, Buck announced he had quit his Twitter account. Buck explained that he quit Twitter because he found himself engaging negative people and allowing criticism to affect how he was doing his job.[46] He would return to Twitter four months later to engage in friendly banter with a Kansas City Royals fan who started a petition to have him removed from the Fox broadcast team for the Royals' appearance in the 2015 ALCS.[60]
Also in June 2015, Buck and co-announcer Greg Norman were criticized for their "mistake-filled, error-prone mess" in covering the 2015 U.S. Open in golf.[61] In particular, they were questioned for prematurely anointing Dustin Johnson as the winner "at the start of a back nine".
Before a 2020 NFL broadcast between the Packers and Buccaneers in Tampa, Buck and his partner Troy Aikman were caught on a hot mic questioning the necessity of a military flyover when only 15,000 fans were allowed in Raymond James Stadium for the game. "That's your hard-earned money and your tax dollars at work," Buck commented. An Armed Forces spokesperson later said there is no additional cost to conduct the flyovers. Meanwhile, Buck and Aikman faced accusations of being unpatriotic.[62][63] Joe Buck said the comments were taken out of context and were sarcasm not meant for broadcast.[64]
On January 2, 2023, Buck served as the announcer for a Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals in which Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered sudden cardiac arrest. Buck claimed four times on the broadcast that despite the life-threatening injury, he had been told the league was adamant to resume play within minutes. The NFL's executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent denied the claims, saying those plans were never relayed to Buck and called his comments "insensitive".[65] The following day, Buck responded to the NFL and Vincent, and stood by the claim that he was told both teams had five minutes to warm-up before resuming the game.[66] A similar report regarding the players warming-up to resume play was aired on Westwood One.[67]
Vocal cord ailment
In 2011, shortly after broadcasting Super Bowl XLV for Fox, Buck claimed to have developed a virus on the nerves of his left vocal fold. Despite the ailment, which according to Buck "came out of the blue" and hampered his ability to raise his voice, he continued to broadcast baseball for Fox during the 2011 season and resumed as Fox's lead NFL announcer that fall.[68][69][70][71]
In 2016, Buck revealed that the problem was not due to a virus, but rather to vocal cord paralysis likely caused by anesthesia used during multiple hair transplantation procedures.[72]
Personal life
From 1993 to 2011, Buck was married to Ann Archambault, with whom he has two daughters. He married NFL Network and now ESPN reporter and former Bronco cheerleader Michelle Beisner on April 12, 2014.[73] They have twin sons.[74] The couple reside in Ladue, Missouri.[75]
Buck is a fan and season ticket holder of the NHL's St. Louis Blues.[76] He revealed in a tweet in 2023 that he was a Houston Oilers fan growing up,[77] and he supports St. Louis Cardinals in baseball.[78]
John Francis Buck was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. His play-by-play work earned him recognition from numerous halls of fame. He has also been inducted as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum. He was the father of ESPN sportscaster Joe Buck.
James Timothy McCarver was an American professional baseball catcher, television sports commentator, and singer. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1959 to 1980 for four teams, spending almost all of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. A two-time All-Star, he helped the Cardinals to the 1964 World Series title, batting .478 in the Series, including a three-run home run in the tenth inning to win Game 5. In 1966, he became the first catcher since the 19th century to lead the National League (NL) in triples with 13. McCarver was runner-up for the 1967 NL Most Valuable Player Award, behind teammate Orlando Cepeda, after batting .295 and leading NL catchers in assists and fielding percentage.
Matt Vasgersian is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and FOX Sports. In the past, he has served as an announcer for Fox Sports' National Football League and Major League Baseball coverage, ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball, NBC Sports' coverage of the Olympic Games, and NBC Sports' coverage of the original XFL. He formerly called play-by-play for the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres.
Richard Edward Stokvis, known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV. In Boston, he called Celtics games for WBZ-TV and Red Sox games for WSBK-TV before transitioning to national broadcasting, which included calling the 1975 World Series for NBC and later, the NBA Finals for CBS. In a career that spanned over five decades, Stockton worked for several different networks, most prominently CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and Turner Sports.
The NFL on Fox is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by Fox NFL Kickoff and Fox NFL Sunday and is followed on weeks when the network airs a Doubleheader by The OT. The latter two shows feature the same studio hosts and analysts for both programs, who also contribute to the former. In weeks when Fox airs a doubleheader, the late broadcast airs under the brand America's Game of the Week.
Fox NFL Sunday is an American sports television program broadcast on the Fox television network. The show debuted on September 4, 1994, and serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the NFL on Fox brand. An audio simulcast of the program airs on sister radio network Fox Sports Radio, which is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. As of 2014, the program has won four Emmy Awards.
Chris Myers is an American sportscaster for FOX Sports and Marquee Sports Network. He has covered the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the NCAA Final Four, The Masters, the U.S. Open, the Triple Crown, the Olympics and the Daytona 500.
MLB on Fox is an American presentation of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by Fox Sports, the sports division of the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox), since June 1, 1996. The broadcaster has aired the World Series in 1996, 1998, and every edition since 2000, and the All-Star Game in 1997, 1999, and every year since 2001. It has also aired the National League Championship Series (NLCS) and American League Championship Series (ALCS) in alternate years from 1996 to 2000 and since 2007, with the NLCS in even years and the ALCS in odd years.
Major League Baseball on CBS is the branding used for broadcasts of Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States.
Troy Kenneth Aikman is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from the Oklahoma Sooners, he played college football for the UCLA Bruins and won the Davey O'Brien Award as a senior. Aikman was selected first overall by the Cowboys in the 1989 NFL draft, went to six Pro Bowls, and won three Super Bowls. He was also named MVP of Super Bowl XXVII, the franchise's first title in over a decade. Aikman was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
David Sims is an American sportscaster. He is the radio play-by-play commentator for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was previously the television play-by play commentator for MLB's Seattle Mariners.
Kevin Burkhardt is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play voice for the NFL on Fox and lead studio host for Fox Major League Baseball.
The following is a list of announcers who called Major League Baseball telecasts for the joint venture between Major League Baseball, ABC and NBC called The Baseball Network. Announcers who represented each of the teams playing in the respective games were typically paired with each other on regular season Baseball Night in America telecasts. ABC used Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Tim McCarver and Lesley Visser as the lead broadcasting team. Meanwhile, NBC used Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, Bob Uecker and Jim Gray as their lead broadcasting team.
Joseph Daniel Davis is an American television sportscaster who serves as the lead play-by-play broadcast announcer for Los Angeles Dodgers telecasts on Spectrum SportsNet LA. He also calls national MLB, NFL and college basketball telecasts for Fox Sports and has broadcast other pro and college sports for various teams and networks during his career. Since 2022, he has been the main play-by-play broadcaster for the annual World Series and MLB All-Star Game on Fox.
In September 2000, Major League Baseball signed a six-year, $2.5 billion contract with Fox to show Saturday baseball, the All-Star Game, selected Division Series games and exclusive coverage of both League Championship Series and the World Series.
On August 28, 2012, it was announced that ESPN and Major League Baseball had agreed on a new eight-year deal that increased ESPN's average yearly payment from about $360 million to approximately $700 million.
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